The Member of Parliament for Mpraeso, Davis Ansah Opoku (OPK), has penned a prolonged letter to the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, over the brouhaha surrounding the declaration of 4 seats vacant after the Members of Parliament (MPs) occupying these seats modified their political affiliations.
Davis Opoku, in his letter, admonished the Speaker of Parliament to not declare the parliamentary seats in query vacant.
He made his case to the Speaker based mostly on 4 thematic factors, particularly: Constitutional Supremacy, Illustration, and Priority; The Prof. Michael Ocquaye Choice: Misinterpretation and Standing Orders Regime; Case Legislation: Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings and Tuffour vs. Legal professional-Basic; and Illustration and Democratic Integrity.
On Constitutional Supremacy, the MP identified that Article 97(1)(g) and (h) of the 1992 Structure, which states that MPs should vacate their positions after cross carpeting, was by no means supposed to forestall MPs from altering their political affiliations.
“Article 97(1)(g) and (h) keep stability and consistency in parliamentary illustration inside a single parliamentary time period. These provisions be certain that MPs stay loyal to the platform beneath which they had been elected, thereby preserving the integrity of the electoral mandate and making certain accountability to voters throughout that time period. Respectfully, I consider the article was by no means supposed to forestall MPs from altering their political affiliations throughout completely different phrases however reasonably to discourage shifting allegiances throughout a parliamentary time period,” he wrote.
Davis Opoku additionally indicated that the previous Speaker of Parliament, Prof Aaron Mike Oquaye, who declared the Fomena seat vacant in 2020, beneath the identical circumstances, erred in his resolution.
“It’s essential to deal with Prof. Michael Ocquaye’s resolution as some extent of priority. In that case, the ruling was based mostly on an interpretation of Article 97(1)(g) beneath a unique regime of Standing Orders. Nonetheless, the interpretation utilized therein was misaligned with the true intent of the Structure. The Ocquaye resolution mistakenly prolonged the constitutional requirement past the scope of the time period in query, successfully implying that MPs could possibly be locked into lifelong celebration allegiance.
“This interpretation was incorrect and contradicted the Structure’s clear language. The clause refers particularly to actions in the course of the present parliamentary time period and doesn’t limit MPs’ future political selections. Due to this fact, the Ocquaye resolution shouldn’t be a binding precedent, significantly beneath the brand new Standing Orders that emphasise constitutional supremacy over inner parliamentary guidelines,” he added.
MPs for Agona West and Suhum, who’re members of the New Patriotic Occasion (NPP), filed their nominations to contest within the 2024 parliamentary election as impartial candidates.
The impartial MP for Fomena has additionally filed his nomination to contest within the election on the ticket of the NPP, and the Amenfi Central MP, a member of the Nationwide Democratic Congress (NDC), additionally filed his nomination to contest as an impartial candidate.
Article 97 [1(g) & (h)] of the 1992 Structure states that “a member of Parliament shall vacate his seat in Parliament if he leaves the celebration of which he was a member on the time of his election to Parliament to affix one other celebration or seeks to stay in Parliament as an impartial member; or if he was elected a member of Parliament as an impartial candidate and joins a political celebration.”
Learn the NPP MP’s full letter beneath:
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