A crunch meeting on the 2022 Budget Statement between the Minority and Majority in Parliament and a group of government officials has ended in a stalemate.
Sources say the Minority is likely to boycott the sitting of Parliament today (30 November) following the impasse.
However, Parliament is expected to start proceedings at 3.30pm.
The leadership of the Minority group in Parliament held a crunch meeting with government officials and the Majority leadership in Parliament in the hope of coming to some understanding on the way forward for the government’s 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy.
Haruna Iddrisu, the Minority Leader; Mubarak Mohammed Muntaka, the Minority chief whip; Cassiel Ato Forson, the ranking member of the finance committee; and John Jinapor, the ranking member of the mines and energy committee, are among those from the Minority side who were in the said meeting.
Also in the meeting was Kofi Antoh from the Speaker’s office.
Willingness to meet halfway
Those at the meeting on the side of the Majority and the government include the Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu; Godfred Yeboah Dame, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice; John Boadu, the NPP secretary general; Charles Adu-Boahen, the Minister of State at the Finance Ministry; Kwaku Kwarteng, chairman of the finance committee; and a deputy chief of staff in the Office of the President, Adumuah Bossman.
The meeting started after 8am on Tuesday and was suspended at 11am for further consultation on each side, resuming after an hour.
Although details of what was discussed are sketchy, the meeting appeared to connote a willingness by both sides to resolve the impasse over the Budget.
Meanwhile, a source close to the discussions insists that news making the rounds that the E-Levy rate will be reduced is false, as is the possibility of raising the GHC100 exempt threshold.
“These are matters which can be appropriately thrashed out and possibly agreed on at the appropriation stages,” the source added.
Nullified rejection
The Finance Minister had wanted to discuss the Minority’s concerns before Friday’s purported vote, but that request was rejected by the Minority after the Majority walked out not long after the question on whether to accept the Budget was put to the House.
The critical issue today, on which observers suspected it might be difficult to reach a consensus, was the Majority’s decision to nullify the purported rejection of the 2022 Budget last Friday.
“Any other issue about tinkering with numbers may only be on the table after we cross this bridge,” a source close to the meeting said before it failed.
Wilberforce Asare
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