Social activist Stanley Abopam says the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) is not favour of the passage of the anti-LGBTQ bill into law.
According to Stanley Abopam, the party and its parliamentary caucus’ posture towards the bill since its introduction is an indication of their opposition against it.
The social activist and broadcaster was speaking on president Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s decision to defer signing the bill into law and the presidency’s letter asking the Clerk of Parliament to abort plans to transmit the bill to it over lawsuits filed seeking to stop such actions.
Abopam believes the president’s resolve to put on hold assenting to the bill is in furtherance of the party’s position.
“If you look at from the introduction of the bill, the conduct and the attitude of the majority till today, it gives you a certain sense that the majority and by extension the NPP as a political party is not in favor of this bill and so I’m not surprised the president is acting the way he is acting because it has demonstrated amply that the NPP as a party has it as their philosophy not to have this bill passed. So the actions of the president can simply be interpreted as a principal position of the party either than his personal or otherwise.
“If you look at from the introduction of the bill, the conduct and the attitude of the majority till today, it gives you a certain sense that the majority and by extension the NPP as a political party is not in favor of this bill and so I’m not surprised the president is acting the way he is acting because it has demonstrated amply that the NPP as a party has it as their philosophy not to have this bill passed,” he stated in an interview on Breakfast Today.
“So the actions of the president can simply be interpreted as a principal position of the party either than his personal or otherwise”.
He, however, faulted the presidency for asking Parliament not to submit the bill for a presidential assent.
He argued that the House, upon approval of the bill, is obligated to submit it for consideration by the president hence, it’s erroneous for the presidency to seek to stop the legislature from executing its mandate under the guise of respecting the authority of the court.
