The Minority in Parliament is optimistic First Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei-Owusu, will abide by the Standing Orders and put their recent motion seeking to reverse the approval of the 2022 budget on the floor for debate and a vote.

On December 1, the First Deputy Speaker overruled a motion filed by Minority leader, Haruna Iddrisu, to set aside the approval of the 2022 Budget, which occurred in their absence on November 30.

The Minority side, on Tuesday, December 7, filed a new motion seeking to overturn the one-sided approval of the fiscal policy statement for next year.

Following this action, Minority Chief Whip, Muntaka Mubarak, interacting with JoyNews, noted that his side will exhaust all avenues possible to uphold the decision of Speaker Alban Bagbin.

He also urged the First Deputy Speaker to set aside his political bias exhibited in his previous ruling and work in accordance with Article 296 of the 1992 Constitution.

“We hope that he will be mindful of Article 296 that where you are vested with privileges and position such as the one that he is occupying, he will not be capricious-minded to be fair and not biased even in admitting the motion.

I want to believe he is a gentleman, and he will try to adhere to the rules and not show the kind of bias he showed on Wednesday. So we are optimistic that we will exhaust all the avenues open to us,” he said.

Speaker Alban Bagbin, on November 26, rejected the budget presented by Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, in the absence of the Majority.

Meanwhile, Joseph Osei-Owusu, who is sitting as Speaker, has directed that modifications made to the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of Government by Mr Ofori-Atta be made an attachment to the original budget.

This comes after the Finance Minister, during a press briefing on December 6, disclosed that some modifications have been made to the budget. He later submitted the modifications to the House.

Among other things, government reviewed the Aker Energy transaction, Agyapa deal and an allocation of ¢10 million for Feasibility and Engineering studies for the coastal communities, including Keta and its environs that were recently affected by tidal waves.

Regardless of these amendments, the Minority have indicated they will reject the budget should government not rescind its decision on the electronic tax levy.