Dr Theophilus Richardson, a political scientist and economist, has proposed a future Speaker of Parliament should be elected to the high office instead of being appointed.
He explained that it was not right for the Speaker not to be voted for to superintend over a House occupied by Members of Parliament (MPs) who had stood elections and had won.
Dr Richardson maintained that “the Speaker must stand election just as is done in the US and Britain, I don’t see why we should elect Members of Parliament and then appoint someone from outside to be Speaker to exercise oversight responsibility over those who are elected.
“The constitution must be amended in this regard, the Speaker of Parliament is the head of parliament, he exercises oversight over people elected when he or she is not elected which undermines the elective principle, the Speaker must be elected as well.
“The Speaker should be one of the elected MPs, and that should be done on consensus. The people must know that he plays that role as a fair, free and transparent referee, I think the late Ala Adjetey tried to do that to the best of his ability, a future Speaker must first be elected as an MP, and then later voted for to become the Speaker,” Dr Richardson stressed. -kasapafmonline.com
