Members of Parliament (MPs) on the ticket of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) have declared boldly that they have boycotted Parliament until the case they filed at the Supreme Court is determined.
The decision of the NPP MPs, announced on Thursday, October 17, 2024 by their leader, Alexander Afenyo Markin, came minutes after the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin declared four seats vacant.
By the communication from the Speaker to the House, the NPP has lost three members and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has lost one member.
Addressing the media shortly after boycotting the proceedings, Afenyo Markin claimed that the Speaker had jettisoned the writ of summons to “do the bidding of the NDC. It is so clear. But we, as the majority caucus, immediately are boycotting Parliament until this matter is determined by the Supreme Court.
“The Speaker has no right to interpret the constitution, and it is so clear that what he did was to give advantage to the NDC and do the bidding of the NDC.
“We are not going to go further to litigate. We have a process at the court. We will follow it up. If the court makes a pronouncement, we will respect the orders of the court. Because we believe that the issues we have raised are issues for interpretation,” he added.
CHANGES
The announcement by the Speaker means that the membership of the NPP MPs has reduced from 137 plus the independent candidate who had been doing business with them, from 138 to 135. On the side of the MPs of the opposition NDC, their numerical strength has been reduced by one, bringing it to 136, translating into them having the highest number of members in the House.
COMMUNICATION
The Speaker had asked for two days, from last Tuesday, to give his ruling on the statement made by the Minority Leader, Cassiel Ato Forson, for the MPs to be sacked.
However, speaking yesterday, he mentioned that he was giving a communication to the House.
In the communication, Speaker Bagbin laid the foundation that the matter of whether an MP had changed his or her ticket is based on fact.
He said that it was glaring from the notices of poll he had sighted that the affected MPs had changed their political tickets, upon which they entered the 8th Parliament.
Though he referred to the ruling by former Speaker Prof. Aaron Michael Oquaye, which was based on a petition from the NPP, he said that that ruling does not bind other Speakers, including him.
According to him, Article 97(1) permits him as Speaker to inform the House when a member vacates his or her seat.
“Accordingly, I proceed to inform the House that by the notification of polls, the following members (he mentioned their names), by their actions, have vacated their seats in Parliament. These MPs cannot be allowed by law and my good self to continue to pretend to be representing the people that they don’t believe in and they don’t have any loyalty for in this House,” he declared.
AFFECTED MPS
The MPs who have been sacked are the Second Deputy Speaker, Andrew Amoako Asiamah, the current independent MP for Fomena, who has filed to contest the seat again but this time on the NPP ticket; Peter Kwakye Ackah, the NDC MP for Amenfi Central; Cynthia Mamle-Morrison, the current MP for Agona West and Kwadwo Asante, the current NPP MP for Suhum, who have all filed to contest as independent candidates.
TAKING OVER
The Minority Leader, Cassiel Ato Forson, addressed the media and stated that his side had “now moved to become the majority.”
According to him, they will begin the process to elect a Second Deputy Speaker and take over the majority of the committees.
“We will begin the process to move to the majority side and elect a new Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament on Tuesday,” he said.
According to the dictates of Article 112(6), there should be no by-election if the period to a general election is less than three months.
EXPERT VIEWS
Renowned legal practitioner, Kweku Paintsil, speaking to JoyNews, faulted the ruling of the Speaker, saying the fact that an MP declared an intention to return to Parliament on a different ticket does not automatically equate to leaving the previous ticket.
It was his hope that the Supreme Court, within the earliest possible time, would make a determination on the matter.
However, former director of the Ghana School of Law, Kwaku Ansa-Asare, on the same network, did not see how the majority would be victorious in court.
“I can’t see how all of a sudden the Supreme Court will begin to lay down processes for Parliament,” he said in the context of separation of powers.
He explained that Speaker Bagbin had stated that the position he took had been the practice in Parliament, as such that fortified his stance.
He, however, cautioned the House “to be mindful of what they are doing today,” stating that it may playback in the future.
