US midterm elections must serve as a lesson to NDC – Osahen Afenyo-Markin

Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin

Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin has cautioned the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) against exploiting its numerical advantage in Parliament to intimidate opposition lawmakers, urging the Majority to take lessons from the outcome of the United States midterm elections.

He argued that the results of the November 3 polls demonstrated that political power could quickly shift, regardless of how commanding a party’s majority might appear.

Addressing Parliament on Wednesday, November 4, Afenyo-Markin said the Minority’s smaller numbers should not be used as justification to undermine its rights or prevent its members from fully participating in parliamentary business.

He drew comparisons between Ghana’s Parliament and the political developments in the US, where the Democratic Party secured control of both chambers of Congress in a major setback for President Donald Trump’s Republican Party.

According to him, the Republicans had previously enjoyed a significant majority and allegedly used their numbers to intimidate their opponents, only to suffer an electoral defeat in the latest polls.

“We [The Minority] may be few but democracy does not allow the Majority an unfettered platform to intimidate. If there is any signal to pay attention to, watch what happened in the US. Just two years ago, the Republicans had an overwhelming majority and they thought they should use that to intimidate everybody.

“Just yesterday [November 3], they have been humbled by the people. We want to signal this to the Majority, you may see our numbers to be few but we can face you any day.”

The US midterm elections, held on Tuesday, November 3, resulted in a victory for the Democrats, who wrested control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate from the Republicans.