The Minister of Trade and Industry, K.T. Hammond, has confidently stated that Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin will abide by the Supreme Court ruling.
His comments follow the Supreme Court’s stay of execution on Speaker Bagbin’s ruling, which declared four seats vacant after he approved a motion filed by former Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu. The ruling invoked constitutional provisions that mandate MPs who seek to run as independent candidates to vacate their seats.
The affected MPs—Cynthia Morrison (Agona West), Kwadjo Asante (Suhum), Andrew Amoako Asiamah (Fomena), and Peter Kwakye Ackah (Amenfi Central)—were declared to have breached these provisions by either switching political affiliations or indicating their intention to run as independents in the upcoming election.
Ahead of the Speaker’s ruling on Thursday, Majority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin took urgent legal action, filing with the Supreme Court on Tuesday, October 15, to seek clarification on the status of the four MPs, who had decided to contest the upcoming December 2024 elections either as members of the NPP or as independent candidates.
On Friday, Afenyo-Markin also filed for a stay of execution of the Speaker’s ruling. In response, the Supreme Court’s stay order temporarily suspends any actions related to the ruling, including the declaration of the seats as vacant. Effutu Member of Parliament and Majority Leader expressed satisfaction with the Supreme Court’s decision to stay the execution of Speaker Alban Bagbin’s controversial ruling, which had declared the seats of four MPs vacant.
In an interview with Nana Tuffour Boateng on Channel One TV, K.T. Hammond cast doubts on the possibility of the Speaker, who is a legal practitioner, overturning the Supreme Court ruling.
“I feel excited, I knew yesterday that it was a bogus ruling by the Speaker… It’s clear what the court has said, I don’t anticipate any difficulties. The court is the ultimate arbiter of constitutional matters and it has said A, B, C, D, and that is it, so I expect everyone to abide by it.
“I can’t imagine the Speaker, who is the number 3, 4 of the land, deciding to do anything otherwise. The constitution is in contempt of court and he’s a lawyer who understands these things. So I expect that on Tuesday when we go back to Parliament, on October 22, we the Majority will be comfortably seated on our part of the aisle and the Minority who are perpetual opposition will be seated at their rightful place.”
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