The celebrated Ghanaian legal giant, Tsatsu Tsikata, has denounced the recent judgment by the Supreme Court overturning the Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin's declaration of four parliamentary seats vacant, GHONE TV reports. According to him, there is no legal basis for the Court's order that has suspended the operation of the Speaker's decision.
The decision of the Supreme Court was precipitated by an application that the MPs belonging to the New Patriotic Party filed, seeking to question the declaration by Bagbin. The Court granted a stay of execution ordering Parliament to recognize and allow the four MPs including the three from the NPP and one from the NDC to continue representing their respective constituencies.
In a tweet shared by Accra-based GHone TV, Tsikata expressed his misgiving over the involvement of the Supreme Court. He said the application that came before the Court, filed by NPP's Alexander Afenyo-Markin, was limited to an interpretation of Article 97(g) of the Constitution. Tsikata emphasized that the application did not provide any premise for the Court to proceed on Article 97(h).
The legal expert further accused the Court of having made several errors that, in his thinking, were in need of correction for future clarity in legal proceedings.
This is even as the current impasse in Parliament has seen the indefinite suspension of the sitting of the House. Last Thursday, November 7, the Speaker, Bagbin, adjourned the house due to the absence of New Patriotic Party MPs, which he claimed would make the session ineffective. "Unfortunately, I can only count 137 Members of Parliament present in the Chamber. The fact that the New Patriotic Party Members of Parliament are absent has affected our numerical strength to effectively transact business and it is on that basis that I adjourned the House," Bagbin said in an interview.
The political dispute remains, as shown by the continuous impact it is having on the legislative agenda, with no resolution in near sight.
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