Parliament suspends sitting for lack of quorum
20-11-2019The Speaker, Rt. Hon. Mike Aaron Oquaye on Tuesday morning suspended parliamentary sitting for more than one hour as the House failed to form a quorum to resume debate on the government Financial Policy and Budget Statement for the year ending 31st December 2020.
He said the suspension was to enable the House to reconvene to take important procedural matters hinging on the budget and other business of the House listed on the Order Paper.
At 10:30 hours, the Speaker who was visibly worried about the few MPs in the House said it did not form a quorum to enable him to put questions that decisions could be taken on and asked for the bell to be rung to bring in more members.
Out of 275 Parliamentary seats in Ghana's Parliament less than two-third have been occupied by some Members of Parliament for business as at 10:30 am.
The reason for their low turnout is unclear but it appears the fatigue of the Post-Budget Workshop held for the legislators at the weekend might have taken toll on them while others may have sought permission from the House to be absent or be at Committee Meetings.
The Rt. Hon. said he feared that if the House did not meet to resume debate on the 2020 Budget Statement and Financial Policy it could not rise sine die on November 21 and would need additional days to do that.
He said that Parliament cannot carry out its constitutional duties without recourse to the law and therefore suspended sitting to meet with the Leadership of the House.
