Assin North MP remains a stranger in Parliament per Standing Orders - Former MP

The immediate past Member of Parliament (MP) for Offinso South in the Ashanti region Ben Abdallah Banda has stated that James Gyakye Quayeson Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin North is a stranger to Parliament regardless of his swearing on Thursday 7 January.

The erstwhile chairman for Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs is of the view that the Assin North cannot be regarded as an MP per the Cape Coast High Court ruling and the standing orders of Parliament.

Ben Abdallah speaking in an interview on Onua FM Yen Sempa morning show on Thursday 14 January disclosed this and asserted that the Cape Coast High Court can serve and direct Clark of Parliament and speaker Rt. Hon. Alban Bagbin to prohibit Assin North MP from entering the chamber.

He explained that the order of the court was in two components which sought the Clark of Parliament to desist from swearing-in James Gyakye Quayeson as MP and the fact that he should not regard himself as an MP.

He told the host Nana Okyere Awurukuo that even though the Clark of Parliament defiled the court order and sworn in James Gyakye Quayeson as an MP on January 7 but the part that bars him from becoming an MP is still pending until the court’s final judgment on the case over his dual citizenship.

“If the court redirects the Clark of parliament to its order and demands that the order should be treated as such, the Clark of parliament and the speaker off course can prevent James Gyakye Quayeson from going to the chamber when the house sits for business”.

Within the interpretation of Parliament standing orders, the Assin North MP is a stranger because the court has barred him from holding himself up as a Member of Parliament for Assin North he reiterated.

Touching briefly on which side becomes Majority in Parliament, the former MP indicated that the Standing orders of parliament explicitly demands the house to have majority and minority side.

However, the standing orders also define which side of the house becomes the majority with respect to which side has the highest number of parliamentary seats he said.

Ben Abdallah was quick to add that the ruling New Patriotic Party automatically becomes the majority side since the independent MP has decided to align with the NPP on the floor of Parliament.

He emphatically clarified that the decision by Fomena MP, Andrews Asiamah Amoako does not guarantee that he has crossed carpet.

He asserted that no matter what happens NPP will carry the day of becoming the majority side and he hoped that the matter would be resolved within the context of the Standing Orders of the House.