By Nasratu Kargbo
Main opposition All People’s Congress (APC) Member of Parliament from Karene District Mohamed Bangura has called on the Speaker of Parliament Dr. Chernor Abass Bundu to facilitate reconciliation between the government and his party in a bid to promote peace to ensure that the fifty-three opposition MPs elect take their seats.
Bangura made this call on the 26th July 2023 during a debate on the approval of the first group of ministerial nominees.
Reacting to the Speaker’s comment on opposition MPs that have refused to take the oath of office, Bangura said “I want you to use your office as Speaker of Parliament to champion the peace march, wherein you can bring both the APC and the government to the table”.
He called on his colleague MPs from the All People’s Congress (APC) to take the oath of office and assume their duties as MPs, stating that they were elected to serve.
The MP recognized that they have challenges and questions regarding the election, but said politicians outside parliament should be the ones to address that issue.
Before Bangura made the call, the Speaker of Parliament Chernor Abass Bundu had condemned the opposition MPs’ actions for boycotting sittings of the sixth parliament due to their party’s alleged irregularities in the elections. “Walk-outs and boycotts are political tools of yesteryears; they no longer have value and relevance and they are no longer fit for purpose in this 21st Century of participatory democracy” the Speaker said.
Bundu added “I therefore want to appeal to all those eminent citizens to whom I have referred to step up to their sense of national duty and not allow their Party to be hijacked again by a small band of greedy, selfish and self-seeking politicians whose era is already well past and spent”.
He explained that the constitution had shunned the use of one-party system of government and reintroduced a multiparty democratic system as the only legal and acceptable system in the country.
Out of fifty-four elected Members of Parliament from the opposition, Mohamed Bangura remains the only MP that has taken the oath of office from the opposition bench.
APC in a press release dated 30th June 2023 had expressed their party’s position of not participating in legislative and local council governance if fresh elections are not conducted within six months.
According to them the 24th June 2023 elections were marred with irregularities.
Copyright © 2023 Politico (28/07/23)
