Former Majority Leader of Parliament, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has commended the current New Patriotic Party (NPP) minority caucus in Parliament for their performance, describing their role as a challenging task in a House controlled by the opposition.
In an exclusive interview on Joy News’ AM Show, Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said the minority lawmakers are making every effort under tough conditions.
“But let me just say that they are doing their best under very difficult circumstances,” he stated.
He drew parallels between the present situation and the NPP’s position when the party first entered Parliament in 1997 following the return to multiparty democracy. At that time, the NPP secured only 61 seats out of the 200-member chamber, representing less than one-third of the total seats.
With additional support from other smaller parties such as the Convention People’s Party (CPP), the People’s National Convention (PNC), and one independent lawmaker, the combined opposition strength increased to 67 seats. This figure was just one seat above the threshold required to prevent the majority from reaching the two-thirds needed for certain decisions at the time.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu pointed out that the current configuration is similar in terms of the NPP’s standalone numbers. “Today, the majority has two-thirds, and the NPP alone is just as it was in the 1997 Parliament. It’s a difficult enterprise,” he remarked, underscoring the limitations faced by a minority operating against a commanding majority.
The former Majority Leader also reflected on the complexities of parliamentary leadership during those formative years. He recalled that the Speaker of Parliament at the time, Justice D.F. Annan, had previously served as vice chairman of the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC). According to him, the Speaker had to carefully balance his role while managing a Parliament where the opposition held a relatively small presence.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu’s comments come amid ongoing debates in the current Parliament, where the National Democratic Congress (NDC) holds a clear majority following the 2024 general elections, leaving the NPP in the minority for the first time since 2017.