Vacant Seats Declaration: Parliament Served Supreme Court Order

The Parliament of Ghana has been served the Supreme Court’s stay of execution order to reinstate the four seats that were declared vacant by the Speaker of Parliament, Rt Hon Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin.

This was confirmed by Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin, the Majority Leader in Parliament in an interview with the media on October 21.

According to him, the order was submitted by the Court bailiff on Monday to the Director of Legal Affairs, Mr Nana Tawiah Okyere.

“The bailiff of the Supreme Court has just informed me that the process of the court, that is the ruling if the court, has been successfully served on Parliament through the Director of Legal Affairs, Mr Nana Tawiah Okyere. We thank God that Parliament at long last has subjected itself to court processes,” he told GhOne TV.

Afenyo Markin now looks forward to Parliament respecting the order when it convenes on October 22.

The Speaker on Thursday declared four seats vacant last Thursday- giving the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) the majority status.

Afenyo Martin filed an ex parte application and secured a stay of execution the next day.

Meanwhile, the NDC caucus of the House on Sunday, October 20 at a press conference said it has no recognition for the court order, calling it an interference in parliamentary affairs.

“We will jealously protect our new Majority status and will not bow, retreat nor surrender our lawfully earned status. We will also not abdicate our responsibility to the people no matter what! Nothing, absolutely nothing, will change this position! We are fortified that the ‘proceedings’ of Parliament ‘shall not’ be ‘impeached or questioned in any court or place out of Parliament.’”

“Any interference with the business of Parliament is unlawful, unacceptable and shall be resisted. We have never hidden our position that we are in this Parliament for the ordinary Ghanaian.”

Source: opemsuo.com/Hajara Fuseini