The Executive Director of the Africa Center for Parliamentary Affairs (ACEPA) Dr. Rasheed Draman fears Ghana may suffer constitutional crisis if care is not taken.
His comments come on the back of the majority and minority conundrum in Parliament where both the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and National Democratic Congress (NDC) are claiming majority status.
The confusion follows a ruling by the Speaker of Parliament Thursday, October 17, 2024, where some four seats were declared vacant. The declaration, subsequently reduced the membership of the governing NPP, who were then Majority to 135, with the opposition NDC, who were the Minority, remaining with 136 members to assume the Majority position.
Leader of the NPP caucus, Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin, filed an ex parte motion in the Supreme Court, where it ruled to stay with the ruling of the Speaker.
This, has created a confusion since, with both caucuses claiming to be the majority side of the House.
With the House resuming sitting today, Tuesday, October 22, 2024, tensions have been high, especially with the same 8th Parliament already engaging in two fisticuffs already.
Speaking with Captain Smart on Onua TV’s morning show, Maakye, Tuesday, October 22, Dr. Draman indicated that the recent development is “a very difficult situation we’ve never been before, and has the tendency to create constitutional crisis.”
According to him, the ruling of the Speaker as enshrined in the Standing Orders of Parliament and the Constitution are clear and leaves no ambiguity.
According to Dr. Draman, what was interpreted to affect Andrew Amoako Asiamah, the Member of Parliament for Fomena, during Speaker Oquaye’s era, should equally apply to the MPs who have switched allegiance today.
“What’s good for the goose, is good for the gander. Whatever was good yesterday is good today,” he stated.
He advised against a showdown in the House, saying that such a development will not auger well for the country, the continent and democracy as a whole.
Parliament resumes today, Tuesday, October 22, 2024, after the Speaker, the Rt. Hon. Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, on Thursday, October 17, 2024, declared four seats in the House vacant.
This was after they have switched allegiance to either contest as independent candidates or join a different political party in the upcoming December elections. But, the ruling, was quashed by the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court on Friday, October 18, 2024, issued a stay of execution on the ruling by Speaker Alban Bagbin declaring the four parliamentary seats vacant.
The Court also directed Parliament to recognise and allow the four MPs to fully represent their constituencies and carry out their official duties.
The applicants had initially requested for a 10-day but the Supreme Court says they should carry on with their roles as MPs until the final ruling on the matter has been delivered.
The application to stay the Speaker’s decision was filed by New Patriotic Party (NPP) Members of Parliament, who sought the Court’s intervention to halt the enforcement of the ruling that would have affected three of their colleagues and one from the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
The application was filed ex parte, meaning that neither Speaker Bagbin nor Parliament was joined to the case.
The ex parte application made the Court consider the plaintiffs’ request without seeking any response from the Speaker or other parliamentary authorities at this stage.
The case was heard by a panel of Supreme Court justices presided over by Chief Justice Gertrude Torkonoo.
Other members of the panel included Justice Mariama Owusu, Justice Kwame Adibu Asiedu, Justice Ernest Yao Gaewu, and Justice Yaw Darko Asare, who together delivered the ruling to stay the Speaker’s decision.
Representing the NPP MPs were lawyers Paa Kwesi Abaidoo and former Attorney General Joe Ghartey.
They successfully argued for the stay, which temporarily halts the Speaker’s ruling pending further legal proceedings. The Court’s decision effectively keeps the four MPs’ seats intact in the meantime.
The ruling affected three NPP MPs made up of Cynthia Morrison (Agona West), Kwadjo Asante (Suhum), and independent candidate who was doing business with the Majority, Andrew Asiamah (Fomena), and one NDC MP, Peter Yaw Kwakye Ackah (Amenfi Central), who either chose to run as independent candidates or switched party affiliations for the 2024 elections.
As a result, the NDC, previously in the Minority, now becomes a majority with 136 seats with the NPP remaining with 135 seats now assuming minority.
However, the Supreme Court’s decision on the ex parte motion reverses the ruling of the Speaker until the final ruling on the matter is delivered.
