President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo may have won the presidential elections but the success of his next government hangs in a balance, as he is on a brink of being supervised by a hung parliament.
As it stands, there is no clear
majority in parliament per the data released by the Electoral Commission. The
NPP caucus which initially held 169 seats has lost 32 of them in the December 7
elections.
The NDC caucus, almost at par
with the NPP holds 136 seats with one outstanding result yet to be declared and
an independent candidate.
However, in what many have
described as an intriguing turn of events, the Member of Parliament for Fomena,
Andrew Amoako Asiamah who was ousted from the NPP for his decision to go
Independent after deciding not to contest his party’s primaries, has won his
seat.
He, according to many has become
the literal representation of the famous biblical quote “the stone which the
builders rejected will become the cornerstone.”
For NPP to hold majority seats,
Mr Amoako Asiamah’s alignment with them will be key. But with all that has
transpired, the question remains if he will be ready to sweep it under the
carpet and go back to his party.
-I can’t work with Fomena MP – Akufo-Addo-
The president-elect, Nana
Akufo-Addo during one of his campaign trails in the Fomena enclave announced
categorically, that he will not be able to work with the Fomena MP.
His reason was that the MP,
Andrew Amoako Asiamah has disrespected him.
In the Presidents words; “Anyone
who parades himself as a member of the NPP yet goes independent is not a true
member of the party. Yes, if you’re a dyed-in-the-wool member of the party, you
won’t go independent. Especially when I personally made attempts to engage you
and you fail to show up. Then you have no respect for me and you can’t work
with me. I can’t work with anyone who doesn’t have respect for me. That’s why I
ask you to vote for NPP.”
This was an attempt to court
dissatisfaction for the MP who had chosen to go independent.
Go and burn the sea – Napo tells
Fomena MP
With similar disdain and
aggression, the Education Minister Dr Mathew Opoku Prempeh who is also the MP
for Manhyia South stated his resentment towards the MP for his decision.
Napo said amongst other things
that the NPP could win hands down without Mr Asiamah. But they lost.
Visibly angry Dr. Matthew Opoku
Prempeh said during the campaign; “…They said he’s called Asiamah. Listen
carefully, if our predecessors had not made room for us to compete too, we
wouldn’t have been here. If Atta Boafo had left the party after losing, he
wouldn’t have been an Ambassador now. But if you won power for us recently but
Fomena constituents have rejected you yet you have refused to understand, then
go and burn the sea. Because this is not the first time the people of Fomena have
changed their MP.”
The MP was subsequently expelled
from parliament after the leadership of the NPP wrote to demand such actions.
General Secretary of the party,
John Boadu wrote, “The Party has noted that the Member of Parliament for the
Fomena Constituency in the Ashanti Region, Hon. Amoako Andrew Asiamah, who was
elected to Parliament on the ticket of the Party has filed to contest as an
Independent Parliamentary Candidate. By so doing, he has presumably vacated his
Seat in Parliament pursuant to Article 97(1)(g) of the 1992 Constitution of the
Republic.”
Now, he’s back as the man in the
spotlight.
-We’ll welcome you back – NPP to
Fomena MP…-
Coming to full terms with the
reality and the changes he could bring to the table, the Fomena MP-elect has
been invited back into the NPP.
During an interaction on
CitiNews, the General Secretary of NPP John Boadu said the party will be
willing to take him back, via all the processes, if he decides to align with
them in parliament.
“He still insists that he is a party
member but by his actions, he forfeited his membership. He can reapply, he can
decide to join us. It is not a decision that can be taken by another body on
the National Executive Committee. It is early days yet but if he clearly shows
up to join the party, we will take him through the process and see what can be
done about it”, he explained.
As a matter of fact, the
Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu confirmed in a media interaction that
the party has begun engagements with Andrew Amoako Asiamah to get him back of
their side to secure majority seats.
“He will decide. [Currently]
there is an engagement by both sides [both NPP and NDC] to get him on their
side,” Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu told JoyNews.
It waits to be seen what
decision Mr Asiamah would take ahead of the inauguration of the 8th Parliament
on January 6, 2021.
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