The Member of Parliament (MP) for Mpraeso, Davis Ansah Opoku, has petitioned the Speaker of Parliament to carefully examine the constitutional provisions regarding the vacation of parliamentary seats before ruling on the case of the four MPs concerned.
Citing a 2019 ruling by then-speaker, Prof Aaron Mike Oquaye, as a point of precedence, Mr Opoku said the interpretation was “incorrect and contradicted the Constitution’s clear language”.
Prof Mike Oquaye, during his tenure as Speaker of Parliament four years ago, removed Andrews Asiamah, a New Patriotic Party (NPP) MP for Fomena, from the house after he decided to run as an independent parliamentary candidate.
According to Mr Opoku, the former speaker’s interpretation of Article 97 (1)(g) of the Constitution was flawed.
Therefore, he is appealing to Mr Alban Bagbin to to re-examine the provisions concerning the vacation of an MP’s seat, to prevent the removal of current MPs.
“The interpretation applied therein was misaligned with the true intent of the Constitution. The Ocquaye decision mistakenly extended the constitutional requirement beyond the scope of the term in question, effectively implying that MPs could be locked into lifelong party allegiance. This interpretation was incorrect and contradicted the Constitution’s clear language.
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“The clause refers specifically to actions during the current parliamentary term and does not restrict MPs’ future political choices. Therefore, the Ocquaye decision should not be a binding precedent, particularly under the new Standing Orders that emphasise constitutional supremacy over internal parliamentary rules,” he said.
This comes after Tamale South MP, Haruna Iddrisu, petitioned the Speaker of Parliament to declare vacant, the seats of three Majority MPs and one Minority MP due to their decision to run as independent candidates in the December 7 polls.
The MPs are Peter Kwakyi Ackah of Amenfi Central, Cynthia Morrison of Agona West, Kwadjo Asante of Suhum, and Andrew Asiamah of Fomena.
Meanwhile, the former Speaker has criticised the Minority in Parliament over their petition requesting the seats of four MPs to be declared vacant.
He said the Minority has no grounds to request since the legislators crossing carpets are not members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
He said it is the ruling NPP that has the right to trigger the process to declare the seats vacant.
Below is the petition