Bagbin only followed a precedent set by NPP – Ablakwa on Majority, Minority confusion
by Stephen Zoure · MyNewsGh.comMember of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu & Ranking Member, Committee on Foreign Affairs at Parliament of Ghana, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa argues that the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin’s ruling was based on the precedent set by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government.
While reacting to Thursday’s decision made by the Speaker of Parliament after declaring four seats vacant in parliament, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa referred the 2020 case when the former speaker, Professor Aaron Mike Ocquaye declared Member of Parliament (MP) for Fomena, Andrew Amoako Asiamah’s seat vacant after he chose to stand as an Independent Parliamentary Candidate for the previous elections in his constituency.
The National Democratic Congress(NDC) lawmaker questioned the unhappy members of the NPP why they did not go to court when the former Speaker of Parliament, Professor Aaron Mike Ocquaye declared the seat of Hon Asiamah in parliament vacant.
Ablakwa stated that the current Speaker has only followed a precedent set by this government, adding that Parliament is run by 3 pillars namely the Constitution, the standing orders and the conventions. According to him, these three pillars drive government and aid the work of parliament.
According to him, Ghanaians are going to experience a consequential experience in a few days. He added that these changes which are about to happen will bring hope to Ghanaians who have been suffering due to this stiff government who have refused to listen.
“Before the end of the 8th parliament, there are so many issues we have been raising that we have our say, we’ve won debates, we carried the day but we didn’t have the numbers”.
“But we are determined now to make sure our numbers count so that all those obnoxious, draconian policies like the galamsey fight, exorbitant taxes that have imposed hardship on our people, we are going work to make sure our numbers count”.
In the late hours of Thursday, October 17, 2024, the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Bagbin officially declared four parliamentary seats vacant with barely two months to the election in December.
This new rule has caused the NDC to now have 136 MPs in the house, while the NPP will have 135. Before this, the NPP had 138 whereas the NDC had 137.
The legislators affected by the ruling are the NDC’s Peter Yaw Kwakye Ackah of Amenfi Central constituency in the Western Region, Andrew Amoakoh Asiamah of Fomena in the Ashanti Region, Kojo Asante, NPP MP for Suhum in the Eastern Region, and NPP’s Cynthia Morrison of Agona West constituency.
Source: MyNewsGh.com
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