ACEPA’s Rasheed Draman Highlights Challenges of Holding Supermajority Government Accountable

Rasheed Draman, Executive Director of the African Centre for Parliamentary Affairs (ACEPA), has raised significant concerns over the difficulty of holding a supermajority government accountable, especially in the current dynamics of Ghana’s Parliament.

Speaking during an interview on the Asaase Breakfast Show on Tuesday, January 21, 2025, monitored by MyNewsGH, Draman emphasized the crucial role that public support plays in empowering the opposition to fulfill its mandate.

Referring to the dominance of the ruling government in Parliament, Draman acknowledged the challenge of holding such a supermajority to account but stated that it was not an impossible task. “This supermajority… holding it to account is going to be very difficult, but not an impossible task,” Draman said, underlining the importance of collective public action in overcoming the dominance of the majority.

He explained that the opposition’s ability to effectively challenge the government depends on the level of citizen engagement. “In situations like this, the only way you can hold the government to account is if you have the support of citizens, because our support, the massive support that the opposition can get, will be what would help them hold the government to account,” Draman said.

Despite acknowledging the role of the public, Draman warned that the opposition risks alienating the people’s support if it fails to show strong leadership. “If already what we are hearing from the street is that this is all going wrong, the NPP risks losing massive support that they could have gained from the citizenry,” he cautioned, pointing to public sentiments about the opposition’s recent performance.

The imbalance of power in Parliament, where the majority can push its agenda without significant resistance, is another factor that complicates the opposition’s task. “In the process, we’ll just have an opposition that can always just say what it wants to say, a majority that would have its way at all times,” Draman observed, noting the ongoing challenges in the political landscape.

Draman’s comments reflect broader concerns over the ability of the opposition to effectively hold the government accountable while maintaining the trust and support of the public in a highly polarized political environment.