By Victoria Ojeme
It was a bizarre scene at the online second ordinary session of the ECOWAS parliament as some lawmakers were seen dressed in underwears and the other smoked with flagrant impunity.
It seemed fellow lawmakers tacitly gave their nods to these social anomalies but journalists invited to the parliamentary session voiced against the indecent behaviour of the lawmakers.
They also called on the Speaker of the Parliament, Sidie Tunis to address the lawmakers on virtual meeting etiquette before the commencement of any other meeting.
One of the journalists who spoke on anonymity said, “The most annoying one I saw was when Hon Wahab Suhiyini Wumbei was in his panties dressing up on camera as if he was acting a movie.
Armenian parliament speaker accused of being ‘Turkish agent’, NSS refutes
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The son-in-law of ex-President Serzh Sargsyan, former Armenian Ambassador to the Vatican Mikael Minasyan, during a live broadcast on Facebook, claimed the Speaker of the Parliament Ararat Mirzoyan is a double agent for the National Security Service of Armenia.
He stated that the head of the National Assembly of Armenia was first recruited by the Turkish special services. Then the National Security Service of Armenia, having clarified this fact, allegedly offered Ararat Mirzoyan either to work as a double agent, or to go on trial for treason.
The Speaker of the Parliament called Minasyan’s accusation “another delirium”, the National Security Service also denied the veracity of the information.
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Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has expressed regret at the chaotic scenes in Parliament that preceded his election as Speaker.
He, however, did not make mention of a possible probe into the fracas, which included scuffles between Members of Parliament and the invasion of the chamber by armed security personnel.
Mr. Bagbin remarked that there was the “total absence of justification” for the security presence, among other occurrences.
He has already been urged and petitioned to cause an investigation into the incidents that marred the inauguration of the 8th Parliament.
It remains unclear who ordered the armed police and military personnel into the chamber when the National Democratic Congress (NDC) MPs were agitating over the election process.
The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ali Khamenei, is 81 years old and reportedly in declining health. The question of the succession will be decided by the regime’s Assembly of Experts, who will choose the new Supreme Leader following Khamenei’s death. Six individuals have emerged as possible successors.
the SL, the GC, the DC, and the Assembly
While the Assembly is the most important organ with regard to the appointment of a new SL, the power and influence of the GC and the DC are also considerable.
The bodies surrounding Khamenei will also influence the selection. Those bodies include the Office of the Supreme Leader, which employs thousands and has its own intelligence, counterintelligence, and protection organizations. The power of the Office cannot be ignored.
The Office has a complex bureaucracy, with hundreds of commissions, organizations, and advisors. Many of its key figures have been
sanctioned by the US Department of the Treasury. In 2019, the Treasury sanctioned Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba, who plays an essential role at the Office. Others sanctioned included Gholamhossein Mohammadi Golpayegani, the head of the Office; Vahid Haghanian, executive deputy of the Office; Ali Akbar Velayati, Khamenei’s advisor on foreign policy; and Gholam-Ali Haddad Adel, also an adviso