A leading New Patriotic Party (NPP) member, Gabby Otchere-Darko, has responded to Speaker of Parliament Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin’s decision to declare four parliamentary seats vacant.
Otchere-Darko, expressing his dissatisfaction with the Speaker’s ruling, described the decision as a distortion of the intent behind the Constitution’s provisions on cross-carpeting and party loyalty.
On October 17, 2024, Speaker Bagbin declared the seats of four MPs vacant following a motion submitted by former Minority Leader, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson.
The affected MPs include Peter Yaw Kwakye Ackah (NDC MP for Amenfi Central), Andrew Amoako Asiamah (Independent MP for Fomena), Kojo Asante (NPP MP for Suhum), and Cynthia Mamle Morrison (NPP MP for Agona West).
The Speaker’s ruling centered on the MPs’ decisions to contest in the December 7, 2024, general elections either as independent candidates or on the ticket of a party different from the one on which they were originally elected.
Bagbin emphasized that this move violated Article 97(g) and (h) of the 1992 Constitution, which seeks to prevent defections and maintain party loyalty in Parliament.
Otchere-Darko, in his post, took issue with this interpretation, accusing the Speaker of manipulating the Constitution for political purposes.
He stated, “According to Ghana’s Speaker of Parliament, an MP has no constitutional right to take steps with the intention to change party affiliation, even if only for a future contest, without losing her seat.”
He further lambasted Bagbin’s reasoning as a “serpentine bypass of cerebral discord.”
He argued that the Speaker’s decision undermines the intentions of the framers of the Constitution.
“If it is too late for a by-election, then she can no longer continue to represent the party by which she came to Parliament even if, per her own actions in the House.
“She has shown no intention to cross the carpet for the duration of the Parliament for which she has been duly elected to serve her constituents and in a Chamber that, per its Standing Orders, one is either with the Majority or Minority.
“The curious reasoning of Alban Bagbin, Esq. He has managed with this serpentine bypass of cerebral discord managed to turn upside down the intentions of the framers of the Constitution and, by so doing, to rather resurrect the very mischief that Article 97 (1)(g) & (h) sought to cure.
“Call it the comedy of the Bagbinian doctrine of what should be made reasonable. All hail Emperor Alban Humpty-Dumpty Bagbin!” he added.
TWI NEWS
According to Ghana’s Speaker of Parliament, an MP has no constitutional right to take steps with the intention to change party affiliation even if only for a future contest, without losing her seat and, if it is too late for a by-election, then she can no longer continue to…
— Gabby Otchere-Darko (@GabbyDarko) October 17, 2024
AM/OGB
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