Speaker Postpones Ruling On Haruna Iddrisu's Petition For Further Deliberation

• Alban Bagbin, the Speaker of Parliament, has decided to postpone his ruling on the Minority's petition to vacate certain seats in parliament
• The petition follows the decision of some Members of Parliament to contest their parliamentary seats as independent candidates
• According to the Minority, the continuous stay of those MPs in parliament is an affront to Article 97(1)(g)

Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin has decided to defer his ruling on the Minority’s petition seeking to declare about four seats in parliament vacant.

Haruna Iddrisu, on behalf of the Minority caucus, filed a petition urging Alban Bagbin to declare three seats belonging to the Majority side of the house and one seat on the Minority side of the house vacant after the incumbent MPs crossed carpet.

The MPs include the Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament and MP for Fomena, Andrew Asiamah Amoako, who has decided to contest the Fomena seat on the NPP ticket once again.

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Cynthia Mamle Morison of Agona West and Kwadwo Asante of Suhum have both decided to run as independent candidates in the 2024 parliamentary elections.

The fourth MP is an NDC member who has decided to go independent in the 2024 parliamentary elections.

Haruna argued that their continuous stay in parliament was an affront to Article 97(1)(g).

His petition sparked heated debate on the floor of parliament, with the Majority side opposing the invocation of the Article.

Following the debate, Alban Bagbin decided to defer his ruling to a later date.

He said the situation demanded more careful consideration and deliberation considering the constitutional implications that could occur from an order to vacate their seat.

Should Alban Bagbin order the vacation of those four seats, the NPP side of the house would become the minority while the NDC would become the majority.

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NPP MP dismisses Iddrisu’s petition

Davis Opoku Ansah, the Member of Parliament for Mpraeso, has dismissed calls to vacate parliamentary seats for New Patriotic Party (NPP) MPs who are running as independent candidates.

Reacting to Haruna Iddrisu’s assertion, Davis Opoku Ansah stated that compelling the Speaker to declare those seats vacant would be unconstitutional.

He argued that the NPP MPs who decided to run as independent candidates were duly elected as MPs by their various constituencies, and thus, this action cannot deny those constituencies representation in parliament.

He urged Haruna Iddrisu and the NDC not to trigger the clause as it could cause significant problems for the already hung parliament.

Haruna calls for abolishment of winner-takes-all

YEN.com.gh reported that Haruna Iddrisu, the Tamale South MP, has called for the abolishment of the winner-takes-all political system.

According to the Member of Parliament, the system undermines participatory and inclusive governance in Ghana.

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Haruna Iddrisu says NPP MPs seeking re-election as independents should vacate seats

Iddrisu noted that countries like South Africa practice a system of proportional representative democracy.

Source: YEN.com.gh