Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has emphatically stated that Parliament opposed the proposed military intervention by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to restore democracy in Niger.
According to him, democracy must be at the forefront in Niger’s coup because West African States have committed to deepening their democratic credentials.
Mr Ablakwa disclosed that Parliament does not support coups and military takeovers because West African countries do not want ECOWAS to return to the period of coups where military juntas control political power.
He explained that, citizens should rather have the power to elect their leaders and unseat them when the time comes for them to decide.
“I must say we are all opposed to military takeovers, nobody supports coups. When these coups occur, we in Parliament are the first casualties. All coup announcements, you will hear the physiology – parliament is hereby dissolved” he said.
He also believes Ghanaians will instantly become unemployed and jobless if they support coups, that’s why he is not speaking in favour of military coups.
The Ranking Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Parliament asserted that in as much as West African countries do not support coups and military takeovers, ECOWAS has not lived up to expectations.
“They (ECOWAS) are not empathetic to the people, they don’t use good governance tools, they don’t listen to the masses, they even use their democratically elected office to undermine institutions, compromise the judiciary, entrenched themselves, engage in what you may want to call constitutional coups and that has been the bin in the sub-region.”
He highlighted ECOWAS’ lack of credibility crises and expressed disbelieve in their attempt to be hardline and use force in Niger to serve as a deterrent to other countries.
“I do not think that military intervention is what will stem the tide, rather they should look at the causative factors. All of this bad leadership, people using democracy to entrench themselves, to kill their people. Look at how many opposition leaders have been imprisoned in Senegal, have many protestors have been shot by the democratically elected leader” he said.