Vacant seats controversy: NPP Caucus lunch attacks on Speaker

By Prince Ahenkorah

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) caucus in Parliament, has launched scathing attacks on the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin, indicating that the Speaker is supervising chaos in the House.

The leader of the NPP caucus, Afenyo Markin, made this pronouncement after the Speaker of Parliament adjourned sitting indefinitely, following the NPP caucus’s failure to show up in the chamber, amid the controversy over vacant seats and which party remains the majority in Parliament.

Addressing the media on Thursday, November 7, 2024, Afenyo Markin, indicated that the Speaker is on a path to bring the democracy of the country into disrepute.

He affirmed the reason why the NPP caucus refused to enter the chamber, highlighting that the NPP caucus, had their name tags on the majority side of the House, but the Speaker refused to direct the NDC caucus to sit on the minority side.

He further stated that, the NDC came to the chamber unlawfully, as they came to remove the tags.

The NPP caucus leader, clarified the assertion by the NDC caucus that the NPP caucus failed to attend the business committee meeting to deliberate on the agenda of the House.

Afenyo Markin stated that there was no need to have a committee meeting, since the agenda of the recall was clearly stated in the memo to the Speaker to recall Parliament.

Afenyo Markin, reiterated that the NDC caucus is on a warpath and that the Speaker is thereby supervising their evil agenda.

“The Speaker is setting the country on fire,” the leader of the NPP caucus indicated again, further stating that the Speaker should be a statesman and not do the bidding of any political party.

Afenyo Markin again said that the Speaker is hurting democracy, indicating that the Speaker is doing what the NDC would do should they lose power in the coming elections.

He further stated that the Speaker subjected himself to the Supreme Court, but after his argument fell flat at the Supreme Court, the Speaker has turned to fight the decision of the court.

“A true democrat will respect the rule of law,” Afenyo Markin said, asserting that the NPP respects the rule of law, which is why they failed to enter the chamber.

He again stated that the NDC wants to prevent the NPP government from successfully passing the bills before Parliament.

“The NDC does not want Ghanaians to receive their salaries; the NDC wants to create the impression that Ghana is lawless. The NDC fears, their propaganda of unemployment will fall flat due to the One District, One Factory bill pending,” and further said that the main target of the NDC is to prevent the Free SHS bill from being passed.

“We look forward to engaging the Speaker in the coming days,” Afenyo Markin said, reiterating that the partisan politics festering on the floor of Parliament must end.

He said that the Speaker has come to adjourn Parliament illegally, without any engagement with the leadership of the NPP caucus. “We will recall Parliament again,” Afenyo Markin said.

Furthermore, Member of Parliament for Adansi-Asokwa constituency, Kobina Tahir Hammond, has said that the New Patriotic Party caucus in Parliament, will charge the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin, for contempt, substantiating that the Speaker must enforce the Supreme Court’s ruling to stay the four vacant seats that were declared by him.

This comes after Speaker Alban Bagbin, indefinitely adjourned Parliament, citing a lack of business due to the absence of NPP members in the House.

Speaking to the media shortly after the adjournment, the Trade and Industry Minister, was of the view that the Speaker, did not respect the decision of the court, which had stayed his decision to declare four seats vacant.

“The Speaker is behaving unconstitutionally; he has to respect the Supreme Court”.
“We will cite him for contempt. Watch the space. We want the decision of the Supreme Court to be respected. It is not a question of acknowledgment; it is a question of implementation”. K T Hammond said.
“It will be in the interest of Ghanaians for the Speaker to respect the ruling of the Supreme Court. It is for the Speaker to tell the House that his decision has been reverted,” K.T Hammond said.

Meanwhile, Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has once again adjourned the House indefinitely after Members of Parliament (MPs) from the New Patriotic Party (NPP) failed to attend the session.

The Speaker announced that without the presence of the NPP MPs, the House could not meet the quorum needed to make decisions; besides, there was no business before the House, thus preventing any legislative action from taking place.

The absence of the NPP MPs from Parliament came as a setback for the anticipated emergency sitting, which had been convened to address pressing national issues.

Speaker Bagbin, expressed disappointment over the situation, highlighting that the absence of the NPP members rendered the session ineffective and forced the indefinite adjournment of Parliament.

“Matters that they wanted us to handle, which I admitted for consideration from the business committee, are not on the Order Paper and, in fact, there is no Order Paper for today because the business committee could not meet due to the absence of the people who requested a recall.

“As you can see, one side of the House is completely empty. In view of this, we have a quorum to sit, but we have no business before us to transact. In the absence of that, there is no other authority that can put business before you that you have not adopted to transact.

“In view of the failure of the business committee to sit, as a result of the refusal of those who requested a recall to show up, we are compelled to once again adjourn the sitting of the House. Knowing the challenges, we are facing, it is not advisable to be adjourning from day to day. So, I will proceed once more to adjourn the meeting indefinitely,” the Speaker said.

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