The Minority Leader in Parliament, Haruna Iddrisu, has said that parliament has duly rejected the 2022 Budget presented by Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta.

Until and unless the government removes the draconian taxes in the rejected budget, he said, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Members of Parliament remain unable to support the document.

In a statement, he said, the Minority was shocked and disappointed at the verbal attack on the Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin by the Majority Leader Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu “in his attempt to explain away their inability to show leadership in the House during the consideration of the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy. The Minority wishes to strongly advise the Majority Leader and Government to accept defeat, acknowledge the rejection of the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy by Parliament and focus on discussions on how to save the country from an imminent economic crisis.

“Parliament is governed by the 1992 Constitution and the Standing Orders of Parliament and not the imagination and thinking of any Member. The Minority Caucus wishes to state that the Speaker applied strictly the rules, procedures and practices of the House and urged the public to ignore the allegations peddled by the Majority Caucus that sought to bring the image and reputation of the Speaker into disrepute. The Minority dismisses, with the contempt, the comments of the Majority Leader.