The Speaker of Parliament has responded to the question of which of the caucuses constitutes majority in Parliament at the moment.
According to Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, who occupies Majority or Minority in the House is not determined by the Speaker or anybody but by numbers.
Addressing the press Wednesday, November 06, 2024, Mr. Bagbin stated that “the determination therefore, in our situation, as to who constitutes majority or minority is a question of numbers,” he said in response to a question posed to him as to who constitutes majority in the House at the moment.
Regarding where they sit, he said “it is the determination, first, of the political parties, who inference who should lead the caucus in Parliament.”
He explained that the parties arrive at that through consultation after which the leaders decide who sits behind them in Parliament.
He added that the Chief Whips, based on the experience in the House, professional backgrounds and gender amongst others, determine where people would sit, before they officially submit to the House.
His comments come on the back of the recent brouhaha in Parliament which has created a confusion over where members are supposed to sit in the House.
Ghana’s Parliament is currently on an indefinite adjournment following the recent brouhaha that has characterised the House.
The Speaker adjourned the House indefinitely after failing to attain quorum in its last sitting due to a boycott by the Members from the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP).
The NPP members have said their position as Majority caucus of the House had been taken by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) who constitute the Minority.
Meanwhile, the NDC members say they are the Majority following an October 17, 2024 ruling by the Speaker of Parliament which reduced the membership of the NPP members to become the Minority, with the NDC assuming the Majority caucus.
Four Members of Parliament had switched their allegiance to either contesting as independent or joining a different political party in the December 2024 election, a situation Article 97 of the 1992 Constitution says renders one’s seat vacant the moment such a decision is taken.
However, the leader of the NPP caucus, Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin, after the Speaker’s ruling went to the Supreme Court with an ex parte motion where the apex court stayed the ruling of the Speaker.
This was awaiting an original application which is seeking an interpretation of the Article 97. Meanwhile, the Speaker’s move to get the Supreme Court overturn its earlier verdict of staying his ruling was dismissed by the Supreme Court on Thursday, October 31, 2024.
Meanwhile, the Speaker will be reconvening the House tomorrow, Thursday, November 07, 2024.
‘Executive, judiciary colluding to weaken Parliament’ – Bagbin on vacant seats brouhaha
