Minority in parliament
The recent misconduct of leading members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the House of Parliament was, to state the least, unbecoming of persons who consider themselves worthy of respect in the Ghanaian society.
They have done such dishonor to the august house that it would take time for the sacrilege to dissipate. Disrespect to the House can only originate from the NDC, a party which is also discredited with showing wanton disrespect to the judiciary and to acceptable etiquette.
They ran riot, screamed and charged on both marshals and police officers on duty. They left nobody in doubt about their crudeness as well as uncouthness. Those who maintain that such appalling misconduct is in their DNA are not wrong because it shows in their speeches, conduct and indeed everything emanating from them.
There are good reasons for Parliament to be regarded as a special place where the people’s representatives, herein called Members of Parliament, are immune from prosecution for everything they say on the floor of the legislature. Not so those who turn up to watch proceedings. Such persons, strangers as they are referred to, are restricted in what they can do during the time that they are in the House. When they arrive within the premises of Parliament posting signs of persons ready to breach the standards of the House, the applicable sanctions must be applied.
Last Friday, the black Friday in the history of the House saw such strangers violating the standards of the legislature. They could not care a hoot about the presence of the Speaker in the House let alone understand their limits. After all a leading MP on the Minority side threw African values overboard and passed harsh remarks on the Speaker a few months ago. He told the venerable man that he would no longer respect him.
We observed how on that fateful day, the Marshals of Parliament were reduced to nothingness by the NDC hooligans. We were saddened by the inability of these security personnel of the House to deal with the glaring disrespect and act of hooliganism by the unruly strangers; some of them with experience of serving as MPs.
How could they breach the security of the House and enter the gallery draped in telltale red bands with nobody finding them an eyesore and nuisance?
They had the effrontery to even accost not only the marshals but cops outside the House of Parliament and none of them was arrested for questioning and possible detention?
It is not yet over. Those of them identified to have organised the uncultured behavior in the House must be arrested and charged to serve as a lesson to others in the future.
They would try it again in the future and it is for the relevant authorities to deal with such deviants so that there is no repeat of the abomination we witnessed last week.