Parliament Not Your Classroom - Muntaka To Speaker

Minority Chief Whip Muntaka Mubarak has wondered if Speaker Prof Mike Oquaye sees the chamber as his political science lecture hall and the MPs as his student who cannot question his actions.

Mr Mubarak said this on Class91.3FM’s 505 news programme on Tuesday, 1 August 2017 vis-à-vis the Minority side’s concerns that the Speaker is gagging them in the chamber.

“It is very unfortunate that we have to come to that. Sometime last week, we had virtually about the same kind of problem and raised our concerns on the floor in a very boisterous manner thinking that that will help the Speaker appreciate it and probably call a detailed meeting of the leaders so that we all agree on how to go around things but it’s clear that the Speaker has made his mind.

“In fact, since that Thursday he has shown more, he has even shown he really doesn’t care and he will continue to do as he pleases regardless of the rules of the house and the concerns that the Minority will continue to raise and it’s very unfortunate that as somebody who has written so much about parliament, has been a Member of Parliament before, sometimes I doubt whether he thinks that he is in a political science classroom where he talks to students and nobody will have the right to question anything that he does. I think that doesn’t auger well for our democracy,” Mr Mubarak stated.