The Speaker of Parliament has declared four parliamentary seats vacant.
The seats are Amenfi Central, Suhum, Agona West, and Fomena.
Speaker Alban Bagbin declared the seats vacant in response to an official petition from Haruna Iddrisu, a National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament.
Haruna Iddrisu’s petition targeted three New Patriotic Party (NPP) MPs and one NDC MP, invoking Article 97 (1)(g) of the Constitution.
The Speaker asserted that if Article 97(1)(g) of the 1992 Constitution was only to apply to a future parliament, then there would have been no need for it to exist since the MPs in question would have completed the term of the current parliament.
He indicated that the previous incident, where the former Speaker, Prof. Mike Oquaye, expelled the Fomena MP from the House after the NPP had informed him about his decision to go independent, was not binding on him or any other Speaker.
He said once the notice of polls had duly confirmed that the four MPs were going independent, they had no business remaining as MPs in the current parliament.
The Speaker in his ruling said, “Honourable members, it is important to point out that the speaker is called upon by the standing orders of parliament, particularly order 18, to inform the house of the occurrence of a vacancy in the seat of a member under clauses (1) b to e, g, and h of Article 97 of the onstitution. Accordingly, I will proceed to inform the house that by the notification of the polls, the following MPs have, by their actions, vacated their seats in parliament.”
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
