By Augustus Acquaye
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has unanimously been elected as the new President of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association International (CPA).
His election took place at the just ended 65th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference hosted by Canada in Halifax.
Until his election as President, Mr. Bagbin was the Vice-President of the CPA. As President of the CPA, Ghana has been given the opportunity to host the 66th Conference of the CPA in Accra from the 30th of September to the 7th of October next year.
The election of the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, as President of the CPA makes him the head of the CPA and he will preside over the next CPC in Ghana while also serving as the Chairman of the Elections Committee of the Association. He is also a member of the Executive Committee of the Association, amongst other roles and duties constitutionally bestowed.
The Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, was also elected the Vice Chairman of the Association at the Halifax Conference. Through this election, he holds the second most important position in the Executive Committee and the Coordinating Committee of the Association.
Major issues that were discussed at the annual conference included amendments to the Constitution of the Association to make Parliaments in the Commonwealth more relevant, accessible, technologically savvy, gender sensitive, balanced, and inclusive of the youth, and the marginalized, especially persons with disabilities.
Rt. Hon. Bagbin, undoubtedly, the most experienced MP of the Parliament of Ghana with the support of one of the second most experienced legislators of the Parliament, Hon. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, comes in handy at a time the Association has been making no too significant progress at transforming itself from a Charity Organization under UK Law into an international, inter-parliamentary organization.
The Parliament of Ghana’s delegation to the 65th CPC in Halifax, Canada included Speaker Alban Bagbin, Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu; Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu; Ahmed Ibrahim, Deputy Minority Whip; Thomas Mbomba, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration; Lydia Seyram Alhassan, Deputy Majority Whip; and the Clerk to Parliament, Cyril Kwabena Nsiah.
The CPA consists of more than 180 member parliaments of the Commonwealth of Nations.