Speaker Bagbin suspends Parliament sine die again after NPP MPs no-show

Speaker Alban Bagbin

Thu, 7 Nov 2024 Source: www.ghanaweb.com

The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has once again suspended the sitting of the House sine die (indefinitely).

The suspension was due to the NPP MPs boycotting the House's sitting on Thursday, November 7, 2024.

The Speaker explained that he had to suspend the meeting indefinitely because the House did not have the numbers to make decisions.

He also said that there was no business before the House for consideration because the Business Committee of Parliament did not meet to present one to the plenary.

Bagbin expressed his frustration about the absence of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Members of Parliament because he summoned the House upon the request of the leadership of the MPs.

"Unfortunately, the signatories who made the request have not shown up and therefore matters that they wanted us to handle, which are admitted for the consideration of the Business Committee, are not on the order paper.

"And in fact, there's no order paper for today because the Business Committee could not meet due to the absence of the people who requested the recall. And as you can see, one side of the House is completely empty," he said.

He added, "In view of this, we have as usual got a quorum to sit, but we have no business before us to transact because the Business Committee, as you know, prepares a report and this report is adopted by the House as business agreed by the House to transact during the course of the week. In the absence of that, there is no other authority that can put business before you, which you have not adopted to transact. In view of the failure of the Business Committee to sit, as a result of the refusal of those who requested the recall to show up, we are compelled to once again adjourn the sitting of the House."

He further stated, "Knowing the challenges we are facing, it is not advisable to be adjourning from day to day. And so I will proceed once more to adjourn the meeting indefinitely. And the meeting, this extraordinary meeting, is accordingly adjourned."

On Tuesday, October 22, 2024, the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, adjourned the sitting of the House sine die (indefinitely), just a week after Members of Parliament reconvened following a long recess.

The Speaker explained that he had to suspend the meeting of the House because it did not have the members to decide due to the NPP MPs boycotting proceedings.

Ahead of his announcement, many across the country had anticipated that the Speaker would address the Supreme Court's directive to stay his declaration of four parliamentary seats vacant — a move that altered the composition of the House, making the National Democratic Congress (NDC) the Majority Caucus.

However, Speaker Bagbin did not focus extensively on the Supreme Court's challenge. Instead, he explained that his decision to adjourn Parliament followed a meeting with the House’s leadership and was due to the absence of the necessary quorum to make decisions.

The Speaker declared the four seats in the House vacant after he was petitioned by NDC MPs following the decision of the affected MPs to contest the upcoming December 2024 elections as independents or on different party tickets.

However, the Supreme Court stayed the Speaker’s ruling on October 18, 2024, pending further review.

The affected seats include those held by Cynthia Morrison (Agona West), Kwadjo Asante (Suhum), Andrew Amoako Asiamah (Fomena), and Peter Kwakye Ackah (Amenfi Central).