The race for the next Speaker of Parliament appears to have been narrowed to two persons, the outgoing Speaker, Prof. Aaron Mike Oquaye and current National Chairman of the governing party, Freddie Blay.
The two front-runners for the position of Speaker emerged after the steering committee meeting of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) where the issue came up for discussion.
According to sources, Chairman Blay was asked to step out since the meeting was likely to take a decision on a position he was interested in, thereby making him a judge in his own court.
The former First Deputy Speaker in the Fourth Parliament of Ghana appears to have cemented his status as a front-runner for the Speakership position, having won the hearts of his party people with many rooting for him ahead of the current Speaker, Prof. Mike Oquaye.
He has a decisive lead over his rival in the NPP parliamentary caucus, which is expected to select a candidate for the slot.
But there is a long way to go until a nominee is confirmed.
The current Speaker was predicted to step down at the end of the Seventh Parliament as norm having served one term of four years but he is fighting to have a second shot at the position, mobilizing Ga opinion leaders to intervene even though the party lost both the parliamentary and presidential polls in Accra.
Initial reports had suggested that the party had settled on a Supreme Court judge, Justice Jones Victor Mawulorm Dotse to be the Speaker of the Eighth Parliament, but latest reports say the party leadership was not enthused since he is not known to be affiliated to the party, pointing out the Martin Amidu saga.
The party is also afraid that he may not get the support of the minority having signaled his rejection.
The party people say Mr. Blay, a lawyer and member of the Second, Third and Fourth Parliament of the Fourth Republic, representing the Ellembelle Constituency in the Western Region of Ghana, has enough experience to steer the affairs of the Eighth Parliament, described as hung.
DGN Online has picked information about some other people who are likely to be considered for various leadership positions in the House, especially on the Majority side including the First Deputy Speaker.
So far, the only names which have been spilled into public domain are Joseph Osei-Wusu, the Members of Parliament (MP) for Bekwai; Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, MP for Suame; Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin, MP for Effutu; Frank Annoh Dompreh, MP for Nsawam-Adoagyiri; Habib Iddrisu, the MP-elect for Tolon; and Ophelia Hayford, the MP-elect for Mfantsiman.
According to close sources, while the National Democratic Congress (NDC) was contemplating on replacing or pairing the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu with MP for Bawku Central, Mahama Ayarigya, the NPP has decided to maintain Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu as its leader.
He will be assisted by Mr. Afenyo-Markin, who replaces the Dome Kwabenya MP, and Minister of Procurement, Sarah Adwoa Safo, in the face of the hung parliament.
Mr. Annoh Dompreh, who is currently the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, is designated to occupy the Chief Whip slot for the NPP that looks forward to forming a majority.
The Nsawam-Adoagyiri MP will be assisted in his work by Mr. Habib Iddrisu and Ophelia Hayford who are both new entrants to Parliament.
The positions are currently occupied by the Trobu MP, Moses Anim and the Kpandai MP Matthew Nyindam.
It was not anticipated that new MPs would be nominated to be on the front bench as it was suggested at the NPP steering committee meeting on Thursday that the outgoing Executive Director of the National Service Scheme (NSS), Mustapha Ussif, and MP for Ayawaso West Wougon, in the Greater Accra region, Lydia Alhassan could be part of the Whips instead of the freshers.
Afenyo-Markin and Ophelia Hayford who replaces her slain husband as MP for Mfantseman are both from the Central region.
Mustapha, MP-elect for Yagaba Kubori in the North East region is going to the house for the second time.
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu was not available at the steering committee meeting, DGN has learnt.
By Ernest Kofi Adu