By Elsie Appiah-Osei
Accra, Oct 18, GNA- The Majority in Parliament has described as “evil” the decision by Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin to declare the seats of four Members of Parliament (MPs) vacant.
On Thursday, October 17, Speaker 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 Constitution of Ghana and a ruling in a similar matter by his predecessor Prof Aaron Michael Oquaye.
Addressing the media in parliament on Friday, Mr. Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin, the Leader of the Majority Caucus argued the speaker “only did the bidding of the NDC with his ruling questioning its basis in parliamentary practice.”
He reiterated his side would boycott Parliament until the Supreme Court makes a final determination on the matter.
Article 97(1)(g) 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.
GNA