The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has been accused by the Deputy Majority Leader of obstructing government business by pressuring its legislators not to collaborate with the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) in Parliament.
When the Majority Caucus makes progress with the Minority, some NDC “hardliners” step in, making the efforts worthless, according to Alexander Afenyo-Markin.
The Efutu MP argues that partisanship has hampered the passage of various government programs, notably the contentious Electronic Transaction Levy (E-levy) law.
“We’ve had out-of-Parliament meetings, we’ve sat at round tables, and all parties agree that we need to make progress on this.”
“However, there are those hardliners, hawks, and foreign forces on the NDC’s side who still believe that if this passes, their prospects of gaining power in 2024 will be harmed, so they must hold this and squeeze as much blood out of it as possible,” he stated on Citi TV in Accra on Monday.
The Effutu lawmaker indicated that the administration prioritizes consensus building above the E-hibernation. levy’s
As a result, despite the NDC’s interference, the Majority Caucus is actively engaging the Minority Caucus on the passage of the E-levy and other crucial choices that the government requires parliamentary support for in order to operate efficiently.
“The fact that we haven’t moved forward [with E-levy] and are still engaging merely demonstrates that we believe there must be some agreement.” [It was after consensus] that the 1.5 percent cut occurred. We wouldn’t have engaged them if we didn’t see the importance of consensus,” he said.
He also expressed optimism that the government and the Majority are making substantial headway in gaining the consent of the Minority on several crucial steps to revive the economy.
“We’ve been interacting, and the interactions are promising,” he said. “I feel that if we keep going in the same direction, we’ll be able to complete this,” he added.
