The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has said the Executive and the Judiciary are interfering in the work of Parliament.
He says recent developments poses a direct challenge to the authority of Parliament which he says is the repository of the sovereignty of Ghanaians.
Addressing the press Wednesday, November 07, 2024, the Speaker noted that the Executive and the Judiciary appear to have teamed up to weaken the House.
“Recent acts of the Judiciary and the executive, and I see them as interference in the workings of Parliament pose a direct challenge to the essence, jurisdiction, authority, powers, functioning of the esteemed constitutions of Parliament which is the repository of the sovereign will of the people of Ghana. It is increasingly becoming clear, the judiciary and the executive are seemingly colluding to weaken parliament.
He described the recent happenings as a power play which undermines both the authority of the Legislature and Ghana’s democracy as a whole.
“The current brouhaha may be likened to a power play between the arms of government and has the potential to undermine our democracy and the authority of Parliament. Its outcomes could subvert Ghana’s constitutional order and the democratic system Ghanaians have toiled, sacrificed their lives and fought for decades.”
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.
Vacant seats brouhaha can ‘undermine our democracy and authority of Parliament’ – Bagbin
