The Deputy Minority Chief Whip and Tolon MP, Habib Iddrisu, says he was “very, very surprised” by Speaker Alban Bagbin’s decision not to admit the Minority’s motion seeking the recall of Parliament.

According to him, he was convinced the motion would be admitted because its contents were the same as those contained in the memorandum that led to the recall of Parliament.

“Yes, I was very, very surprised that the motion was rejected or was not admitted by the Speaker. Because I was very convinced that the Speaker was going to admit the motion, but he didn’t,” he said.

The Minority had sought the recall of Parliament over concerns that Ghana was becoming a transit hub for illegal drugs.

The move was intended to allow lawmakers to urgently deliberate on the growing concerns and demand answers from the government.

Mr Iddrisu said the motion should not have come as a surprise to the Speaker, as he had prior knowledge of the reasons for the recall.

“In the first place, the motion was not different from the reference in the memorandum that actually seeks for parliament to be recalled,” he said.

“Exactly the text that I put in the memo for the parliament to be recalled, so the Speaker have prior knowledge or information for the reason for a recall.”

He said the Speaker had already acted on the memorandum by recalling Parliament, making it difficult for him to anticipate that the subsequent motion would not be admitted.

“So he recalled Parliament anyway. So there was no way I could think that the Speaker would not admit the motion because the motion was exactly what I put on the memorandum for the recall,” Mr Iddrisu said.

“That’s why I was very, very surprised that he couldn’t.”

Despite his disappointment, Mr Iddrisu acknowledged the Speaker’s authority to determine which motions are admitted.

“But he is the Speaker of the House. The right to admit motions or otherwise lies on his bosom,” he said.

He added that the Standing Orders also give the Speaker the authority to decide whether to admit such a motion.

“And what our standing order says is that he’s the right person to be able to have admitted the motion, and he decided not to admit the motion,” he said.

Mr Iddrisu noted that the Speaker had provided reasons for his decision, although he remained surprised by the outcome.