E-levy: Minority’s walkout is part of democracy, they used it express their disapproval – Afenyo-Markin

Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin has said there is nothing wrong with the decision by the Minority to stage a walkout during the approval of the e-levy.

He said they used it as a tool to express their disapproval of the policy. That is part of democracy, he stressed.

Asked whether he was surprised by the action of the Minority while speaking in an interview with TV3’s Komla Kluste in Parliament on Wednesday March 30, the Effutu lawmaker said “I have no such act to find their mind’s construction in their faces therefore, I can only say that they used that as a tool to send a loud signal that they disagree, that is democracy, I have no problem with that but the joy is that today, they are back into the chamber for us to move on as a nation.

“To me, the fact the we are not splitting hairs on this and we agree that as a democracy this is our view, that is their view, we should move on as a nation, the beauty it is.”

The Minority in Parliament on Tuesday March 29 staged a walkout during the second reading on the e-levy. They walked out after the Minority Leader leader Haruna Iddrisu said the NDC MPs remain united in opposing the policy.

Contributing to the E-levy debate on the floor of the House on Tuesday, he described the policy proposal as punitive which if approved will further increase the “the high cost of doing business in the country.”

“E-levy is the nuisance of nuisance tax,” he said, adding that “businesses are suffering under your watch. We are united that we will not support E-levy, we will not vote for E-levy.”

Some have raised issues against their decision to boycott the proceedings.

But Bawku Central lawmaker Mahama Ayariga explained the reason for walkout saying, “Technically speaking, the minority would have been 136 as of the time we were to vote. If we had proceeded with the voting process the majority would have been 137 as against 136 with the minority.”