By Elsie Appiah-Osei, GNA
Accra, Oct 20, GNA- Dr. Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, the National Democratic Congress Minority Leader in Parliament, has reaffirmed his Caucus’ determination to defend their parliamentary majority despite a Supreme Court ruling that temporarily halts a decision by the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin.
On Thursday, October 17, 2024, the Speaker of Parliament, Mr Bagbin, officially declared four Parliamentary seats vacant.
The affected constituencies were Amenfi Central, Fomena, Agona West, and Suhum.
The decision followed a formal petition submitted to the Speaker by Mr. Haruna Iddrisu, a National Democratic Congress MP for Tamale South.
Mr. Iddrisu questioned the basis of the Members’ continual stay in the House after they had filed to contest in the next parliamentary elections on other tickets rather than the tickets on which they entered the House.
The petition triggered extensive debates and arguments within Parliament, with both the Majority and Minority sides presenting their cases.
In the end, the Speaker declared the four seats vacant, citing provisions in the 1992 Consitution of Ghana and a ruling in a similar matter by his predecessor, Professor Micheal Oquaye.
Article 97(1)(g) of Ghana’s Constitution states that a Member of Parliament shall vacate his/her seat if the person leaves the party that elected him/her to join another party or seek to remain in Parliament as an independent member.
While the New Patriotic Party Caucus in Parliament had condemned and described the Speaker’s ruling as “evil”, the Supreme Court had set aside the ruling of the Speaker of Parliament that declared that four seats vacant.
The Court noted that declaring the four seats vacant would affect the democratic rights of the constituents who voted for them.
“…The execution of the Speaker of Parliament ruling declaring four seats vacant is hereby stayed pending the final determination of the suit.
“Parliament is hereby directed to allow the Members of Parliament to perform their full duties,” the Court ruled.
The Speaker of Parliament and the Attorney General had, however, been directed to file their statements of the case within seven days.
The five-member panel presided over by the Chief Justice Gertude Torkornoo also ordered parties to file joint memoranda of issues within seven days.
Despite the ruling, Dr. Forson, speaking at a press conference in Parliament House on Sunday, announced that the Minority Caucus was resolute in defending what they see as their rightful majority.
He stated that his team would “jealously guard” their position and expressed their unwillingness to back down or relent in their pursuit of what they believe is a fair representation in Parliament.
“…The effect of the Speaker’s declaration is that currently, we no longer have an independent member of parliament. The NPP has 135 members… This effectively utters the configurations of parliament significantly.
“The NPP group is now the minority caucus as defined in Order 6 of the Standing Orders of Parliament. The minority caucus means members of the party or parties that have the second largest number of seats in parliament.
The NDC MPs in parliament now constitute the majority caucus in this 8th Parliament. We will jealously protect our new majority status, and we will not bow, retreat nor surrender our lawfully earned status,” he said.
Dr. Forson also took the opportunity to criticise the Supreme Court’s intervention in what he described as a matter concerning the independence of Parliament.
He argued that the judiciary’s involvement in parliamentary affairs raised questions about the balance of power between the branches of government.
GNA