A photo of the floor of the House of Parliament
Heated moments in Parliament on Thursday, October 17, as Members of Parliament representing the New Patriotic Party (NPP) have staged a walkout from the House.
This was minutes after the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, ruled for three of their seats to be declared vacant.
The ruling also declared one seat belonging to a National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP vacant.
The now Minority leader, the Member of Parliament for Efutu, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has stated that the New Patriotic Party will boycott Parliament until the Speaker’s declaration of 4 seats vacant in the House is settled at the Supreme Court.
Addressing journalists in Parliament shortly after the Speaker had officially declared the four parliamentary seats vacant, he stated, “We are boycotting Parliament until this matter is settled at the Supreme Court.
“The Speaker has no right to interpret the Constitution. We are clear that what he did was to interpret the Constitution and to the bidding of the NDC. We are going to go further to litigate. We have a process at the court. We will follow it up if the court makes the pronouncement; we will respect the orders of the court,” he explained.
He further accused Alban Bagbin of conniving with the Minority to create confusion in the House.
“The Speaker allowed serving of the writs to do the bidding of the National Democratic Congress. It is so clear; we believe in the law. We, as the majority MPs in Parliament, are immediately boycotting Parliament,” he stated.
The affected MPs are Peter Yaw Kwakye Ackah, NDC MP for Amenfi Central; Andrew Amoakoh Asiamah, Independent MP for Fomena; Kojo Asante, NPP MP for Suhum, and Cynthia Morrison, NPP MP for Agona West.