‘As and when necessary, I’ll leave the chair to vote when I’m presiding’ – JoeWise insists

The First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Joseph Osei-Owusu, has insisted he will always leave the Chair to vote when presiding.

According to him, being a Deputy Speaker doesn’t take away his right to cast a vote and thus has the right to vacate that seat to join the rest of his colleague Members of Parliament to cast his own vote.

This comes on the heels of chaotic events that greeted the vote on the controversial Electronic Transfer Levy (E-Levy) bill.

The ugly scenes which escalated to fisticuffs arose when the First Deputy Speaker decided to hand over the Chair to the Second Deputy Speaker to enable him to cast his vote.

But the Minority in Parliament attempted to block the exit of the Bekwai MP amid arguments it was illegal for a Deputy Speaker to vacate his chair and participate in the voting process in the Chamber.

Breaking his silence on the incident, Mr Osei-Owusu said the position he took in the Chamber was misconstrued and misrepresented by the NDC MPs.

“It is clear that you do not retain your original vote whilst on the seat. What I did on that day was that after the 2^nd Deputy Speaker had voted, I invited him to take the chair, so I can leave the chair, de-robe and vote.”

“In actual fact, all that happened I did not see it because I had left the chamber. I saw a video of it. I had gone to de-robe, I was coming out when I saw the Second Deputy Speaker and that’s when he said there was violence around the chair.”

“The issue is that when I left the chair, then the, Minority members tried to prevent the Second Deputy Speaker from taking the chair for proceedings to continue,” he stated in an interview on Accra-based Joy News.

Explaining further he said, “my insistence is not to vote from the chair, but as and when necessary I will leave the chair if I’m the one presiding or when the 2^nd Deputy Speaker is presiding, he can leave the chair and change over so he can also exercise his vote. That, I insist on it.”

“If you read the whole Standing Order, the part dealing with headcount or division, it says that if even a member who was not in the chamber, and who did not hear the question put is entitled to vote. What about me? I’m a member, heard the question, because I was presiding I didn’t vote. But when it comes to the headcount my rights are not taken away,” he said.

Source: Thenewsroomonline