The Leader of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) caucus in Parliament, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has given the indication that his side of the House would initiate a recall of the House immediately.
According to him, the decision by the Speaker, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, to adjourn the House sine die was wrong.
The Speaker yesterday adjourned the House indefinitely over the stalemate over who constituted the majority after his declaration of four seats vacant on Thursday October 17, 2024.
“In view of the current circumstances, the fact that there is question on the composition and constitution of Parliament and having regard to the public interest, and the exigencies of the state of affairs in Parliament, I’ll proceed to…adjourn the House indefinitely,” the Speaker said.
But speaking exclusively in a joint interview with The Ghanaian Times and Daily Graphic yesterday, Mr Afenyo-Markin, MP, Effutu said his side would initiate provisions of Article 112(3) of the 1992 Constitution to recall the House.
“Mr Speaker is not Parliament. I think things are getting out of hand. Mr Speaker was wrong in adjourning the House sine die and we are going to trigger a recall,” he stated.
In Mr Afenyo-Markin’s view, how things played out in relation to the declaration of the seats sends the signal that the Speaker was using his position to frustrate government business and advance the course of the opposition National Democratic Congress.
“What he is doing is clearly to frustrate government business and doing the biding of the NDC,” he stated.
The Effutu MP said his fears were confirmed when leaks he allegedly got from the various NDC platforms suggested that they had engaged the Speaker and he had allegedly agreed to adjourn the House sine die materialised at the sitting.
“It is obvious to us that the Speaker, together with the NDC wants to frustrate Ghanaians but we are not going to allow that. We’ll use the law to call him to do the right thing,” he stated.
Article 112(3) provides that “notwithstanding any other provision of this Article, 15 per cent of Members of Parliament May request a meeting of Parliament and the Speaker shall, within seven days after the receipt of the request, summon Parliament.”
Per the current number of 271 MPs following the declaration of the four seats vacant by the Speaker, the NPP caucus would need 41 signatures of their 135 members to recall the House.
The stalemate follows a suspension of the Speaker’s declaration by the Supreme Court on Friday, October 18, 2024.
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI