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Events that unfolded prior to and during the election of a Speaker for the 8th Parliament of the 4th Republic will go down in history as one of the most dramatic in the annals of the country’s political history.

What was anticipated to be a smooth process turned out to be a marathon of chaotic scenes, gesticulations, and shocking acts inconsistent with the character of Members of Parliament.

Even though heckling and other parliamentary jargons were expected, no one ever envisaged the kicking of ballot boxes, snatching of ballot papers and other 'unparliamentary' behaviour.

Currently, the 8th Parliament has no majority or minority since both NDC and NPP have 137 seats each.

An all-white NDC side

It all started when an all-white dressed NDC side came to the chambers earlier than usual and occupied the majority side in Parliament forcing the NPP MPs to sit at the minority side prior to the dissolution of the 7th Parliament.

This generated into a verbal altercation as some NPP members did not agree to the 'change'; one of them, Ursula Owusu decided to sit on Kwabena Mintah Akandoh for occupying her seat. Others tried to convince the NDC side to go back to their original side but to no avail. Eventually, calm was restored but it was short-lived.




Assin North MP's 'illegal' presence

Another standoff reared its ugly head over the presence of Assin North MP, James Quayson in Parliament.

Hon Quayson was in the House despite a court injunction.

Both sides had a go at each other over the legalities of his presence and whether the court rightly served Parliament.

In the end, the Clerk of Parliament who was the chairman until a new speaker was sworn in and who had a tough time controlling the MPs, ruled that the Assin North MP can take part in the election and bear the consequences later.