Per information released to media houses, it is gathered that the Speaker of Ghana’s Parliament Rt. Hon. Sumana Kingsford Bagbin is slated to address the media tomorrow Wednesday 6th November 2024 on recent developments within the Parliament among other pressing issues.
One would recall that in recent times, The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin declared four parliamentary seats vacant on the premise that the current occupants had defected by filing to contest the next elections on tickets different from what they represent in the current Parliament.
The ruling effectively ended the tenure of Agona West Member of Parliament (MP), Cynthia Morrison of the New Patriotic Party (NPP); Amenfi Central MP, Peter Yaw Kwakye-Ackah of the National Democratic Congress (NDC); Suhum MP, Kwadwo Asante of the NPP, and Fomena MP, Andrew Asiamah Amoako, an independent MP. The about 12-minute ruling, read to one of the quietest halls in Ghana’s legislature, was followed by near chaos as members of the ruling party NPP stood up and converged on the back of their side before the Speaker urged the marshals to walk them out.
The issue had been triggered by former Minority Leader and MP for Tamale South, Hon. Haruna Iddrisu, who petitioned the Speaker to remove the four from the legislature for holding allegiance to entities different from what they represented in the current Parliament.
Hon. Iddrisu had tabled the petition on the strength of portions of Article 97 of the Constitution, arguing that those provisions of the Constitution abhorred the switch in allegiance midway through a parliamentarian’s tenure.
Indeed, Article 97(g) states that a Member of Parliament shall vacate his seat in Parliament “if he leaves the party of which he was a member at the time of his election to Parliament to join another party or seeks to remain in Parliament as an independent member”, while Article 97(h) states that the member would forfeit his seat “if he was elected a Member of Parliament as an independent candidate and joins a political party”.
The Speaker agreed, stating in his ruling that the relevant MPs had, by their actions, vacated their seats in Parliament.
Rt. Hon. Bagbin said the Speaker was called upon by the Standing Orders of Parliament, particularly Order 18, to inform the House of the occurrence of a vacancy of the seat of a member under Clause (1) (b) to (e), (g) and (h) of Article 97 of the Constitution.
“Accordingly, I proceed to inform the House that by the notification of the polls the following Members of Parliament have by their actions vacated their seats in Parliament,” he stated. Providing his understanding of Article 97 of the Constitution, Speaker Bagbin said at the core of the Minority side’s statement were the provisions of Article 97(1) of the Constitution of Ghana, 1992, which governed the circumstances under which a Member of Parliament shall vacate his/her seat in Parliament.
The Speaker stated that Article 97(1)(g) and (h) operated to prevent what the old school referred to as “cross carpeting” or “carpet crossing” as witnessed in the early Legislative Councils and Parliaments of the Gold Coast and the Republic of Ghana respectively.
He stated that Cross-carpeting was now part of “defection” or “party switching”, when an MP who was elected on the ticket of one political party leaves that party to join another, or when an independent MP joins a political party after being elected as an independent member or a party member acts similarly.
To his mind, the concept of defection raised significant concerns about the integrity of political representation. “When voters elect a candidate, they do so based not only on the individual’s personal qualities but also on the political party platform they represent.
Party-switching or defection, therefore, can be seen as a breach of the mandate and social contract between the MP and the electorate, as it changes the political dynamics that the voters originally endorsed,” Mr Bagbin said.
He added that the prohibition of defection, as reflected in Article 97(1)(g) and (h), served several critical purposes in maintaining the integrity of Parliament, parliamentarians, and protecting the trust and will of the people.
Mr Bagbin also indicated that those provisions were designed to safeguard the principles of party loyalty, voter representation, and political stability.
“Defection is prohibited because it undermines the trust placed in MPs by their constituents and can lead to instability in Parliament.
These constitutional safeguards ensure that Members of Parliament remain accountable to both their parties and the electorate, and they prevent MPs from engaging in behaviour that could amount to fraud or disruptive of the functioning of Parliament,” Speaker Bagbin ruled.
We shall keep you updated on the outcome of the Honourable Speakers’ address as it unfolds tomorrow.
