Speaker adjourns sitting indefinitely amid vacant seats controversy

Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin has adjourned sitting in the House amid vacant seats controversy.

This decision was made in a House filled with National Democratic Congress (NDC) legislators who had occupied the Majority side of the aisle.

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Members of Parliament had walked out earlier due to a controversy with the opposition, who had taken over their seats after claiming to constitute the majority.

During the brief proceedings, the Speaker agreed with Francis-Xavier Sosu that the record should be corrected to reflect that, on Thursday, when the NPP group walked out, they were the Minority.

Leading the NPP MPs out of the chamber earlier, MP for Effutu, Alexander Afenyo-Markin said they were retreating to their offices to await directives from the Speaker, Alban Sumana Bagbin, on the way forward.

According to Afenyo-Markin, they chose the path of peace rather than confronting their opponents to avoid chaos, insisting that Ghana is a peaceful country that should be maintained as such.

“We didn’t cause commotion here. We left quietly and told Mr. Speaker that the right place to express those grievances would be in court. So, we expect our brothers and sisters on the NDC minority side to do the needful. But it will all be for Mr. Speaker to make a final determination. The nation is looking up to Mr. Speaker; with all his years in politics, this is a crucial moment for him to add weight to what we have done to preserve the peace.”

Hours after this, the Speaker entered the House and began proceedings.

Alban Bagbin told the House that they had enough numbers to conduct business but acknowledged that it was not enough to make decisions.

After considering the Madina MP’s request for correction of the record from Thursday, the Speaker formally communicated his position going forward.

He also indicated that he has received a court process served on him as Speaker in the matter of the pronouncement on 4 MPs.

“We don’t have at least half of all members of parliament present. Consequently, in view of the current circumstances, the fact that there’s a question on the composition and constitution of Parliament, and having regard to public interest and the exigencies of the state of affairs in Parliament, I will proceed to, in accordance with Standing Orders 59, adjourn the House indefinitely.”

Background

On October 18, the Supreme Court issued a stay of execution on Speaker Alban Bagbin’s ruling, which declared four parliamentary seats vacant.

Parliament was, in essence, instructed to recognise and allow the four MPs to fully represent their constituencies and carry out their official duties.

This directive will remain 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 NPP MPs 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 NDC.

The application was filed ex parte, meaning that neither Speaker Bagbin nor Parliament was joined to the case.

This allowed the Court to consider the NPP MPs’ request without requiring the participation or response of the Speaker or other parliamentary authorities at this stage.

The case was heard by a panel of Supreme Court justices presided over by Chief Justice Gertrude Torkonoo.

Other members of the panel included Justice Mariama Owusu, Justice Kwame Adibu Asiedu, Justice Ernest Yao Gaewu, and Justice Yaw Darko Asare, who together delivered the ruling to stay the Speaker’s decision.