Majority brawl: ‘Adopt Leader of Government Business and Leader of Opposition titles’ — Bright Simons to Parliament

Bright Simons, Vice President of IMANI Africa, has proposed a novel solution to the contentious majority-minority debate in Ghana’s Parliament.

Simons made the suggestion in a social media post on Thursday, November 14 following the recent Supreme Court ruling.

The Supreme Court decision, which overturned Speaker Alban Bagbin’s declaration of four parliamentary seats as vacant, has caused tongues waging.

The policy advisor questioned the scope of the Supreme Court’s ruling, stating, “My understanding is that the Supreme Court ruled that the 4 seats are not vacant. Did they also rule that the 3 ruling party MPs running as independents are still MEMBERS of the NPP? Was that matter REALLY before the Supreme Court? I don’t think it was.”

Simons argued that this ambiguity calls for a shift in perspective rather than relying solely on judicial decisions to define the political structure.

“I’m, thus, not sure that there is a simple judicial solution to what is primarily a political fracas. Because the issue of which side deserves the majority aisle remains contentious,” he wrote.

To navigate the impasse, Simons advocated for a rethinking of parliamentary titles, suggesting that Parliament adopt the roles of “Leader of Government Business” and “Leader of Opposition,” a change that he believes could accommodate Ghana’s current political reality.

According to Simons, this approach aligns with the “co-leader” provision in the recently revised standing orders and would prevent future conflicts over the majority label until the end of this Parliament.

“The truly simple solution is to abandon the ‘majority’ and ‘minority’ labels, and adopt the ‘Leader of government business’ and ‘Leader of opposition’ titles in line with the ‘co-leader’ provision in the new standing orders,” Simons proposed.