Speaker of Parliament, Alban Kingsford Bagbin, has dismissed comparisons between his record as Minority Leader and the current approach by Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, on the floor of Parliament.
Speaking to reporters in Parliament on Monday, the Speaker said the Minority Leader’s recent behaviour cannot be linked to his own leadership style, stressing that his two-term stewardship in opposition was guided by restraint, strategy, and an awareness of the national mood.
“What the Minority Leader is doing now is not what I did,” he told lawmakers. “He has copiously referred to you [the press] that he took inspiration from my record. Please go and read my record.”
Mr. Bagbin, who led the Minority from 2001 to 2009 during the presidency of John Agyekum Kufuor, said the context of his tenure makes any comparison inaccurate.
He noted that the National Democratic Congress had entered opposition for the first time after losing the 2000 elections, creating a highly sensitive political environment that required measured leadership.
“I never on the floor raised my voice. I never on the floor tried to show grandeur,” he said, adding that his approach was shaped by the political temperature of the time.
He explained that his leadership style involved understanding the prevailing “ecology” of the House and responding in ways that kept parliamentary business constructive.
“I studied the ecology, the political environment, and tested the pulse of the people, and you play along that,” he said. “I didn’t do what you [Afenyo-Markin] are doing.”
Mr. Bagbin urged journalists and the public to scrutinise his parliamentary record rather than rely on claims by the Majority Leader.
He maintained that effective leadership in a hung or divided Parliament demands discipline and emotional intelligence, qualities he believes he demonstrated during his eight years at the helm of the Minority.
His remarks follow increased tension in the chamber in recent weeks, with heated exchanges between the Majority and Minority leadership.
Speaker Bagbin sought to reinforce a contrast between his era’s consensus-driven politics and what he described as today’s confrontational style by distancing himself from Afenyo-Markin’s methods.
He insisted that the historical record is clear and that any attempt to draw parallels between his leadership and the current Minority in Parliament does not reflect reality.
