Speaker defers ruling on Minority's call to declare four seats in parliament vacant

The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has deferred his ruling on an application by the Minority Leader to declare four seats vacant.

According to the Speaker, he will use the next few days to write a thorough ruling on the matter, which was moved by Minority Leader Cassiel Ato Forson on Tuesday, October 15, 2024.

Addressing the floor on Tuesday, October 15, 2024, the Minority Leader, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, outlined that three members of the House from the NPP side, as well as an MP from the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) caucus, have rendered their seats vacant by deciding to file as independent candidates for the upcoming general election.

Citing Article 97(g) of the 1992 Constitution and a precedent set by a ruling issued by the then-Speaker of Parliament in October 2020, the Minority Leader underscored that the NPP caucus, by the numerical arrangement of membership, can no longer be ascribed the Majority Caucus.

The request by the Minority Leader generated a heated debate between members of the two caucuses.

As part of his argument on the subject, the Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, said he had filed a case at the Supreme Court invoking the jurisdiction of the apex court to give a proper interpretation to Article 97.

He disclosed that he has, as part of the suit, applied for an interlocutory injunction to stop the Speaker from issuing a ruling on the matter.

Addressing the House after the tense debate, the Speaker announced that his ruling will be issued at a later date to give him time to ground his decision in appropriate and sound reasoning.

Amidst the ongoing controversy over the attempts to declare the seats vacant, some critics have cited a 2020 ruling by the then-Speaker of Parliament, Prof. Aaron Mike Oquaye, who declared the Fomena seat vacant.

His ruling was based on a letter written to Parliament by the NPP on October 13, 2020, to trigger Article 97.

The letter and subsequent announcement came after Andrew Amoako Asiamah decided to file and contest the 2020 parliamentary election as an independent candidate, citing machinations against him in the party’s primaries.

Amoako Asiamah, who had lost the party’s primary held in June 2020, subsequently contested and won the 2020 elections as an independent candidate.

The move by Haruna Iddrisu comes after the MPs for Agona West and Suhum, who are members of the NPP, filed their nominations to contest the 2024 parliamentary election as independent candidates.

The independent MP for Fomena has also filed his nomination to contest the election on the ticket of the NPP, and the Amenfi Central MP, a member of the NDC, has also filed his nomination to contest as an independent candidate.

Article 97 [1(g) & (h)] of the 1992 Constitution states that “a member of Parliament shall vacate his seat in Parliament if he leaves the party of which he was a member at the time of his election to Parliament to join another party or seeks to remain in Parliament as an independent member; or if he was elected a member of Parliament as an independent candidate and joins a political party.”

GA/KA

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