The Managing Editor of the Insight newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr has spoken about how strategically the NDC cornered the ruling New Patriotic Party into a tight corner.
He was reacting to incidents that preceded the swearing-in of the 8th Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Bagbin.
It may be recalled that the NDC MPs insisted on the adherence to the secret ballot rule despite the opposition by the NPP side. This created confusion even though in the end it was adhered to.
Apart from that at the end of the day, the NDC managed to get a Speaker and left the first deputy Speaker to the NPP and the second for the Independent candidate who has already indicated that his vote will be for the NPP.
According to Kwesi Pratt, everything that went on was carefully calculated by the NDC side.
It is clear that the NDC was tactically far more superior than the NPP. In the first place, the NPP sought to engineer a majority in the house by using judicial and executive maneuvers; court here court injunction there…
Why do you think the NDC insisted on secret balloting? because they had done their homework and calculation and knew that if there was no secret balloting some people would change their minds. They had read the game and knew what will happen if there was secret balloting… more importantly, they were insisting on a constitutional provision.
Kwesi Pratt who was speaking on Alhaji and Alhaji on Pan African TV said by the current arrangement in Parliament, if Speaker Alban Bagbin is not around, the First Deputy Speaker will take his place and that will reduce the 137 seats the NPP has.
This is purely “superior tactical maneuvering…Superiority in tactics and the NPP couldn’t see this…they signed their own death warrant; they have been tactically maneuvered….
“The NDC is in a position to frustrate the appointment of ministers and other appointees; where does that leave the executive…” he wondered.
Meanwhile, Kwesi Pratt has described as ’embarrassing’ Carlos Ahenkorah’s snatching of ballot papers.
“An honorable member of parliament snatching ballot papers and attempting to run…if ministers or MPs can become ballot snatchers then what will Ho scorpions and Bolgatanga bulldog do? What will the others do? I am so deeply embarrassed, extremely deeply embarrassed by these developments”
