Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo Markin has stated that he is well aware of what to do if Speaker of the House of Representatives Alban Bagbin objects to the Supreme Court’s order that halts the implementation of the decision to declare four seats vacant.
As an experienced attorney who has been a member of Ghana’s democracy since 1992, he mentioned the Speaker’s qualifications.
“We are law-abiding, we have heard that our colleagues say they disagreed with the Supreme Court,” he remarked during a press conference held in Parliament on Tuesday, October 22, using unprinted comments about the court. The Minority Caucus, led by Ato Forson, declared to Ghanaians that they would come and take our seats today. NPP, we have a law-abiding tradition, and our ancestors always used the legal system to right wrongs.
“Our leaders had always used civil advocacy and the courts to ensure that we get the peace that we have today . The country is hereby informed that we will not give that lawless platform that NDC is seeking, we will not give them that theatre they so aggressively seek to destroy our democracy
“We know there are innocent Ghanaians going about their business, academia, and those struggling, we care about them we understand that there is politics but we must do it in a civil manner. we believe that we should quietly yield to them and wait for Mr Speaker.
“Mr Speaker has been part of democracy since 1992, he is a senior lawyer, and even if he disagrees with the Supreme Court he knows what to do. The nation is looking up to Mr Speaker…this is a crucial moment for him to add weight to what we have done to preserve the peace, NPP is for Peace. We will not allow anybody to disturb the peace of this country, it is a notorious fact that we remain the Majority caucus of this house. We are leaving this chamber to our office awaiting Mr Speaker. That lawless theater we will not share with them.”
On Friday, October 18, the Supreme Court ordered Parliament to acknowledge the four Members of Parliament and permit them to remain in office until the case was decided. This came after the Speaker had announced the vacancy of four parliamentary seats on Thursday, October 17.
Source: Mybrytfmonline.com/Joseph Asare
