The Minority and Majority groups in Parliament have held separate crunch meetings over the controversial Electronic Transaction Levy (e-levy).

As Parliament resumes on Tuesday, January 25, both sides have been discussing their next moves in separate meetings.

The e-levy, which government is seeking to implement for the 2022 fiscal year, is high on the agenda in the second session of the 8^th Parliament.

Last year, the House was forced to adjourn proceedings abruptly after a free-for-all fight broke out in the chamber during the consideration of the levy.

Debate on the E-levy Bill was halted on December 20 after proceedings in the House turned chaotic with the MPs engaging in a fight during a headcount on whether or not to accept the Bill under a certificate of urgency.

The House hoped that suspending the discussions after the brawl would allow for further consultations on the E-levy Bill.

At a workshop in the Eastern region over the weekend, Majority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu observed that the NDC MPs who are kicking against the policy are aware that Parliament has passed the e-levy.

“The economic policy and budget statement of government which contains the e-levy as a policy; we approved of that. It means that the first step has already been surmounted. The receivals from the e-levy have been factored into the various estimates that we have approved for all the sectors.”

“That’s second stage that we did and then thirdly, when we encapsulated everything into the Appropriations Bill and passed the Appropriation Bill, unanimously,” he indicated.

Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta is however confident of the approval of the levy as he insists the Minority has been engaged extensively on the matter.

But the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), has described those claims as false, saying they remain opposed to the levy.

Minority Chief Whip, Muntaka Mubarak, says the Minority’s leadership and members have not been consulted on the issue.

“How would you say this? Since we left the House, nobody has engaged the leadership of the Minority side; not individually, not as a group. Unless maybe you’ve engaged our back benchers [but] I don’t know.”

“When you say things like this, you further exacerbate the trust issues,” he noted.