New Year School recommends election of Speaker by Parliament

The 70th Annual New Year School and conference has recommended that Speakers of Parliament should be elected instead of the Executive appointing them.

A communiqué at the end of this year’s New Year School said the election of Speaker by Parliament would ensure that the Speaker remained committed to the work of Parliament and fair to both sides.

It suggested that legislation must be made to limit the number of ministers that could be appointed by the President and proposed that the constitutional provision that more than 50 per cent of Ministerial appointments should come from Parliament must be reviewed.

“The Constitutional Review Implementation Committee has recommended a review of 97 provisions of the Constitutions including; 46 that are entrenched. We observe that this will require several referenda leading to a piecemeal and costlier approach to amending the constitution.

“The government should therefore initiate steps to rewrite the entire Constitution towards strengthening our institutions and consolidating our democracy.”

It said to ensure that political parties performed their developmental functions and delivered on their manifestos; Government through Parliament should consider some form of state funding for Political Parties.

It said the sanctions regime for political parties that flouted the regulations governing party funding, accountability and transparency in their operations must be strengthened and enforced by the Electoral Commission.

The 70th Annual New Year School and Conference, which took place from January 14 to 18, was on the theme: “Building Strong Institutions for Democratic Consolidation in Ghana”.

It was organised by the School of Continuing and Distance Education of the College of Education, University of Ghana, in collaboration with the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development.

Source: GNA

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