The National Chairman of the opposition National Democratic Congress, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, has asked Members of Parliament on his party’s ticket to boycott any emergency recall of the House, which is currently on an indefinite break.
According to Asiedu Nketiah, with just three weeks to Ghana’s general election, the only reason for a recall of Parliament would be for the ruling New Patriotic Party government to engage in corrupt activities, not for dealing with emergency government business.
“…Let no NDC MP set foot in Parliament. If they like, they can go and burn the sea. There’s no work in Parliament that can be said to be an emergency. There’s no emergency. Parliament will only be recalled so they can continue with the insatiable corruption they have perpetrated for the past eight years. They still want to advance the corruption with just three weeks left. We won’t go close to them today or tomorrow,” he stated while addressing a crowd of party enthusiasts as part of his ongoing national campaign.
The statement by Asiedu Nketiah comes on the back of a ruling by the Supreme Court describing as unconstitutional the declaration of four parliamentary seats, including three belonging to the NPP, as vacant by the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin.
According to the Speaker, the affected MPs had vacated their seats by deciding to contest the upcoming election either as independent candidates or on the ticket of a party different from the one they currently represent. He cited Article 97 (g) and (h) as well as precedent to support his decision.
However, by a 5-2 majority decision, the Supreme Court said the only way an MP can vacate his seat according to the reasoning of Article 97 (g) and (h) is when an MP decides to remain in an existing Parliament under a new political identity.
However, according to Asiedu Nketiah, the Supreme Court has overreached its powers and is threatening the nation’s democracy, which must, therefore, be resisted.
“The judges can say what they want. We will also use the rules of Parliament to work in Parliament. When we speak of democracy standing firm, democracy does not exist if you take out Parliament. That is why every nation interested in their democracy must collectively protect their Parliament because your democracy falters if Parliament is weakened, and that would not be allowed to happen. Our Parliament and democracy were built off our blood. We won’t sit and watch one person come and destroy our democracy. That will not happen today or tomorrow,” he stated.
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