The absence of the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, and his two deputies forced the House to postpone its proceedings on Friday, June 3 to Tuesday, June 7.

Before the close of business on Thursday, the Speaker announced his decision to travel outside the country.

Again, due to the absence of the two deputies, Joseph Osei-Owusu and Andrew Asiamah, it was practically impossible for the House to sit.

He was, however, hopeful the Second Deputy Speaker would be in the country by Tuesday to chair proceedings.

“I am tempted to adjourn the House to Tuesday. By then the Second Deputy Speaker would be in the country and he would be in the chair, so we should adjourn the House to Tuesday to enable committees hold their meetings tomorrow [Friday, June 3].

“So, I would proceed to adjourn the House to Tuesday at 10 in the forenoon where members will reconvene for the business of the House,” he said.

Following the pronouncement, the Majority Chief Whip, Frank Annoh-Dompreh, had wanted the House to sit but his colleague on the Minority, Muntaka Mubarak disagreed.

Mr Mubarak observed that any attempt to come for proceedings on Friday would be a breach of discussions at the conclave.

“At the leadership pre-sitting meeting, we agreed that because of the several referrals at committees, we were not going to sit tomorrow. So, when I came in, I communicated that to most of my members [on the Minority Caucus] that we are not sitting tomorrow.

“We agreed that we’d sit on Tuesday. So, now that I am hearing this, I am taken aback because if we are not careful, tomorrow one side may not be here,” the Minority Chief Whip argued.

The Majority Chief Whip, Frank Annoh-Dompreh, said his side had no problem accepting the adjournment.