The Minority in parliament has defended their actions for calling the newly elected Member of Parliament for Ayawaso West Wuogon, Lydia Alhassan Seyram as a "bloody widow".
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Minority defends calling Ayawaso MP Lydia Alhassan "bloody widow"
Lydia Alhassan bloody widdow
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The NDC MPs waved placards with the inscription "bloody widow" before they boycotted Lydia Alhassan's swearing-in as the MP for Ayawaso West Wuogon.
The Minority staged a walk-out on Tuesday, February 5 when the Speaker introduced the Lydia Alhassan Seyram to be sworn-in.
The Minority MPs said they boycotted Alhassan's investiture because they did not want to give credence to her victory in the by-election which was characterised by violence.
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After Madam Alhassan's introduction for the administration of oath of office by First Deputy Speaker Joseph Osei-Owusu, Minority Chief Whip Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak caught the attention of the Speaker to announce the Minority's boycott of the exercise.
Muntaka who doubles as the Asawase MP stated that because of the security challenges that were encountered during the by-elections, the NDC will not be part of the exercise on the floor of the House.
"Our side of the House cannot be here to witness this wearing-in," he said.
According to the Kumbungu MP, Ras Mubarak, the Minority walking out and calling the NPP MP a "bloody widow" was not offensive.
In an interview on Accra-based Citi FM, he said "When somebody says something is bloody, it means that we are unhappy about. We are upset about it… I am sure you have heard expressions like a bloody liar, bloody idiot and the rest of it,” the National Democratic Congress MP argued.
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"I am not sure the sensibility of the person is in any way offended simply because we expressed in English using many adjectives."
He also justified the Minority's protest adding that Lydia Alhassan was "a beneficiary of a system that was flawed."
"Our compatriots who were in the candidates home were terrorized by these gun wielding and gun toting hoodlums. Ordinary voters were intimidated. There was harassment."
He stressed that the Minority will continue to protest "anytime she [Lydia Alhassan] has an opportunity to speak on the floor of Parliament, we will turn a blind eye or simply walk out."
Meanwhile, a group calling itself Professionals for Change (P4C) has called on the Minority to apologise to Lydia Alhassan, for describing her as a "bloody widow".
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The group in a statement said the behaviour of the Minority Caucus is "cold-hearted" and "heartless", considering the fact that the new lawmaker is a widow.
Madam Lydia Seyram Alhassan
Pulse Ghana
Background
Madam Lydia Seyram Alhassan replaced her husband as the Member of Parliament for the Ayawaso West Wuogon Constituency after winning the by-election held on Thursday, January 31, in Accra.
Madam Alhassan, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) candidate, was the second wife of the late MP Mr Emmanuel Kyeremateng Agyarko.
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She polled 68.80 per cent of the valid votes cast.
Her closest challenger, Kwasi Delali Brempong of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) polled 30.52 per cent while William Kofi Dowokpor of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP) and Clement Boadi of the Liberal Party of Ghana (LPG) polled 0.58 and 0.10 per cent respectively.
The conduct of the polls was marred by a shooting incident at the residence of one of the aspirants, Brempong; which resulted in injuries to 7 persons and an assault on an observer at one of the polling stations.
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