The Member of Parliament for Bawku Central, Mahama Ayariga, has hinted that the Minority caucus will challenge the ruling of the Supreme Court regarding the suspension of Speaker Alban Bagbin’s decision to vacate four seats in the house.
According to him, when Parliament reconvenes on Tuesday, October 22, 2024, the Minority will draw the attention of the Speaker to how the Supreme Court ruling contradicts their standing orders.
Speaking on Key Points aired on TV3 on October 19, 2024, Ayariga hinted that it would be an interesting day as the Minority is unlikely to accept the Supreme Court ruling to occupy the Minority seats in the House as they will exercise their rights under the constitution.
“We shall see on Tuesday, regarding the directive from the Supreme Court. Parliamentarians, including myself, will also be drawing the attention of Parliament to articles 115 and 122 and their consequences.
“It is not only the Supreme Court that is under the constitution, but parliamentarians as well as the presidency. We all have our powers and rights under the constitution and we are going to exercise those powers and rights,” he said.
His comment comes after, the Supreme Court on Friday, October 18, 2024, issued a stay of execution on Speaker Alban Bagbin’s ruling, which declared four parliamentary seats vacant.
Parliament has thus been directed to recognize and allow the affected MPs Cynthia Morrison (Agona West), Kwadjo Asante (Suhum), Peter Kwakye Ackah (Amenfi Central), and Andrew Asiamah (Fomena) to fully represent their constituencies and carry out their official duties.
The directive remains in effect, not for the 10 days initially requested by the applicants, but until the Supreme Court delivers its final ruling on the case.
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.
Source: ghanaweb.com
