The President of the Institute for Security, Disaster and Emergency Studies, Dr Ishmael Norman, has lauded the deployment of the military to Parliament after several hours of standoff between the Majority and Minority sides.
The standoff between the National Democratic Congress (NDC) members and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) members held proceedings to ransom with the Clerk of Parliament unable to steer affairs.
This was immediately after the dissolution of the Seventh Parliament of the Fourth Republic.
In the throes of the standoff, a dozen of military officers were seen trooping into the main chamber much to the chagrin of the Members (MPs).
This got the NDC side incensed as they erupted into chants of the chorus of the National Anthem – And Help Us To Resist Oppressors Rule – apparently considering the situation as intimidation by the state.
The presence of the military on the floor of the House seems not to have gone down well with panelists on TV3.
Private legal practitioner Justice Abdulai called it the “most embarrassing moment” in Ghana’s democratic history.
Dr Rasheed Draman of the African Center for Parliamentary Affairs called it a “coup”.
But speaking on TV3 on Thursday, January 7, a few hours later, Dr Norman, who is also a security analyst, said the decision was the best at that time as it calmed down tempers in the House.
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Dr Ishmael Norman[/caption]
According to him, the situation could have been worse if the military had not been visible on the floor.
“I am happy the military came in to calm things down in Parliament. So, whoever deployed the military should be recommended,” he insisted.
The House later calmed down to elect the Speaker of the Eighth Parliament in former Second Deputy Speaker Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin.
He has been a member of each of Ghana’s Parliament in the Fourth Republic representing the people of Nadowli Kaleo Constituency until January 6, 2021 following his voluntary withdrawal from NDC’s primaries in 2019.
