The 4th Republican Parliament has enacted over one thousand bills since its inception in 1993.
This is contained in an official statement published on the official Facebook page of the Legislative House to mark the 30th anniversary of the 4th Republic.
These bills, according to the Parliament of Ghana Facebook post, include the Right to Information, and the National Identification Authority Acts.
“Since the fourth Republic, Parliament has enacted over 1000 Bills including the Right to Information Act, National Identification Authority Act, Interpretation Act, Food and Drugs Act, the Private Members Bill of 2020 just to mention a few and the repealing of others such as the Criminal Libel law,” it said adding that there are still many more Bills to be passed.
The post said following years of military rule, Ghana returned to constitutional rule on 7th January 1993, and the first Parliament of the fourth Republic was dominated by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) who won 189 out of 200 seats in Parliament. It included 16 women.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP), which had lost the 1992 elections, boycotted that of the parliamentary, and hence did not win any seat in the new parliament.The 200 seats increased to 230 in 2006 and 275 in 2013 till date.
The post observed that the current Parliament, which is the 8th of the fourth Republic introduced some interesting dynamics in democratic governance.
It referred to the two major political parties for the first time holding the same number of seats and the resulting elements of a hung Parliament.
Giving a little background, the write up said at the inauguration of the 8th Parliament, the NPP had 137 seats, the NDC had 137 seats with one independent member.
It added that of the 275 members, 40 are women which is the highest number of female representation yet.
“It is also the first time the Speaker of Parliament has no political ties with the party of the executive government,” the post added.
It added that citizens have become more informed and discerning, and are taking active part in governance and constitutional matters. Meanwhile, Parliament has said this 30 year mile stone will be celebrated throughout 2023 with various activities and events.
