Outgoing Majority Leader in Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has commended President John Mahama and President-elect, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for the show of statesmanship in the just ended general elections.
According to him, the country chalked another success and received a lot of commendation from the rest of the world because of the peaceful nature of the election.
“I will take this opportunity to commend the president and the president-elect for exhibiting a very high sense of democratic maturity and statesmanship,” he added.
Delivering his closing remark in Parliament today [Friday], before the dissolution of the sixth Parliament, Alban Bagbin repeated a statement he made during the dissolution of the third Parliament in 2005.
“Nobody can stand against change, change is natural and it will come when it will come. It is therefore imperative that as leaders we develop the capacity to accept change when it comes. We should respect the will of the people anytime it is expressed,” he said.
Change had been the main campaign message of the the New Patriotic Patriotic Party (NPP) and its leader, Nana Akufo-Addo, prior to the December 7 polls.
Before making the above statement, the Majority Leader highlighted some happenings in the country that improved the nation’s democratic credentials, including the Election Petition case in 2012.
“We recall that following the declaration by the Electoral Commission of his Excellency John Dramani Mahama president-elect after the 2012 Presidential and parliamentary election, our colleagues on the other side were dissatisfied with the declaration and took to the Supreme Court. Mr. Speaker, the verdict of the court was delivered after eight months of thorough and laborious process. The then presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party, now president-elect, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, did register his disappointment with the verdict, but nonetheless accepted it. This marked another milestone in our democratic experiments and the country received waves of approval from across the globe. It was another demonstration of our resolve as a country to settle our electoral disputes through peaceful democratic means.”
“Mr. Speaker, this country scored another high mark in our democratic practice when the President, his Excellency John Dramani Mahama, called his main contender in the just ended presidential and parliamentary elections, his Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to concede defeat and to congratulate him for his electoral victory,” he added.
He also highlighted the achievements of the Sixth Parliament as well as the Bills they passed, and that which they were unable to conclude.
The Majority Leader touched on the renovation of the Job 600 building to serve as offices for Members of Parliament as well as the provision of adequate security for MPs.
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(Via: CitiFM Online Ghana)
