Three Members of Parliament (MPs) of the Austria Parliament have paid a courtesy call on the Second Deputy Speaker, Andrew Amoako Asiamah as part of their visit to Ghana.
Dr. Axel Kassegger, Christian Hafenecker and Gemeinderat Berno Mogel, all opposition MPs, have been in Togo and Côte d’Ivoire, and Ghana is the third African country they have visited as part of their tour.
They were accompanied by the Honorary Consul of Austria, Rosemary Orthner.
Second Deputy Speaker, Mr. Asiamah, on behalf of the Speaker, welcomed the delegation to Ghana’s Parliament, saying that the legislative assembly is the democratic fulcrum of the country.
“You might have heard what transpired here. We are going through the process of approving the budget for the ensuing year, which is 2022 and because Ghana’s Parliament has equal strength of numbers between the two major parties, approving the budget has become another issue,” he stated.
Mr. Asiamah said the ensuing disagreements were all part of the democratic arrangements and hoped a middle ground would be found to get the budget through for the government’s business to go on.
“Ghana is doing well in its democratic journey. We are talking and it is part of the characteristics of democracy,” he intimated, and added that Ghana is practicing a hybrid presidential and parliamentary form of democracy which has its ups and down.
He expressed gratitude to Austria for its support to Ghana’s education sector, especially in the area of technical education.
Dr. Kassegger, on behalf of his colleagues, praised Ghana for choosing the democratic path, and said the alternation of power underscored the strength of the country’s democracy.
“Currently, you have a very interesting situation – thus the 137 each for both parties in Parliament which means negotiations should define the way to go,” he indicated.
He wished the Ghanaian parliamentarians a fruitful discussion and result for the betterment of the country, noting that budget is a very important thing for a nation.
“In Austria, we had our budget approved for 2022 which unfortunately due to COVID-19 reasons left us with a huge deficit. We are very much looking forward to getting rid of this,” he noted.
“It is weakening the economy to such an extent which is really frightening from my point of view,” he added.
According to Dr. Kassegger, Ghana and Austria have histories and traditions of good relationships in the areas of business, loan agreements, education and military cooperation, and that their mission in Ghana is to deepen this symbiotic relationship.
By Ernest Kofi Adu, Parliament House