For Immediate Release
23rd October, 2024
NPP COMMENDS THE MAJORITY CAUCUS OF PARLIAMENT URGES THE SPEAKER TO ESCHEW PARTISANSHIP AND UPHOLD THE RULE OF LAW AND CONSTITUTIONAL ORDER
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) commends the Majority Caucus of Parliament, comprising Members of Parliament on the party’s ticket, led by the Majority Leader, Hon. Alexander Afenyo-Markin, and the entire Majority leadership, for standing on the side of the law and displaying maturity particularly during the sitting of Parliament on Tuesday, 22nd October 2024, amid the extreme provocation from the NDC Minority.
The Members of Parliament on our side (i.e. the Majority) have yet again, demonstrated that the NPP’s fidelity to the rule of law and protecting the peace and stability of our dear country remains unmatched.
The Party deeply appreciates the unwavering resolve of our MPs, led by the distinguished Majority Leader, to use lawful processes to resist the attempt by the NDC sponsored Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, to unconstitutionally reconfigure the composition of Parliament and shift the balance of power in the august house in pursuance of his partisan political agenda. Fortunately, the nation’s Supreme Court have vindicated the position taken by the Majority Caucus and ordered the Speaker to rescind his unlawful and undemocratic decision.
It is worth emphasizing that there is currently no debate about the composition of the 8th Parliament. The NPP Parliamentary Group, together with the Independent Member of Parliament, comprising 138 MPs, constitute the Majority Caucus of Ghana’s Parliament, whereas the NDC Parliamentary Group constitutes the
Minority Caucus with 137 MPs. It was so on the 7th of January, 2021 when the 8th Parliament was inaugurated, and it is still so. Nothing has changed, at least, until the final determination by the Supreme Court, of the suit filed by the Majority Leader.
The NPP wishes to use this opportunity to urge the Speaker of Parliament to eschew his extreme partisan posture when handling the affairs of the august house since he is not an MP. It is an extremely dangerous posture and threatens to undermine the very essence of our democracy. His mandate under the Constitution as well as his oath of office enjoins him to act as a referee and not a player. The Speaker must appreciate the supremacy of the Constitution and realize that neither Parliament nor himself is above the very Constitution which created his office and from which he draws his authority in Parliament. He must also realize that it is only the Supreme Court that has the mandate under the Constitution to interpret and enforce all the provisions of the Constitution.
In case the Speaker needs a reminder on the position of the law in Ghana regarding the relationship between the Constitution and Parliament, we humbly wish to refresh his memory by citing two authorities from the highest court of the land.
In Ex Parte CHRAJ (Interested Party – Dr, Richard Anane), the Supreme Court had this to say:
“we need to remind ourselves that there is no Parliamentary supremacy under our Constitution. Rather, it is the Constitution that is supreme. As the interpreter of that Constitution, this Court’s view of the meaning of a constitutional provision cannot be preempted by that of any other agency of the State. In short, a provision in the Constitution means what the Supreme Court says it means and not what even Parliament has declared it means”.
Also, in the recent case of Justice Abdulai v Attorney General, the Supreme Court held that:
“It must be noted that the 1992 Constitution established Constitutional Supremacy as against Parliamentary Supremacy, where Parliament is sovereign. .. Under our constitutional dispensation, the sovereign people of Ghana have adopted for ourselves a constitution where it is expressly declared in Article 1 (2) that the constitution, NOT parliament, shall be the supreme law of Ghana to which all other laws must conform.”
There is therefore no gainsaying that everybody or institution in Ghana including the Executive, the Judiciary, the Speaker of Parliament, the institution of Parliament, and indeed, the Standing Orders of Parliament are all SUBJECT TO THE CONSTITUTION of the Republic of Ghana, as construed, interpreted and enforced by the Supreme Court. For us in the NPP, the preservation of Ghana’s democratic principles and the integrity of our constitutional order remain paramount.
We wish to remind the NDC and their desperate Minority Caucus in Parliament that in Ghana, the determination of which political party constitutes Minority or Majority in Parliament is done by the Ghanaian electorates at the polls. It is not manufactured in Parliament with the aid of a partisan Speaker. They should, indeed, be guided by the free advice given to them by the next President of Ghana, H.E Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, to focus on winning majority seats at the polling stations and not in Parliament.
The NDC is a lawless entity who just want chaos at all times and cannot find civil ways of resolving challenges. If the NPP Majority caucus hadn’t taken the high ground, and remained on the side of the law, we would have had fights in the august chamber and this would have dented the image of Ghana globally and heat up the atmosphere ahead of December elections. This lawless group is not one to be trusted with the reins of power.
It is evident that the Opposition NDC and its apparatchiks, led by the Speaker of Parliament and the NDC Minority Caucus, want to undermine the democracy Ghanaians have fought so hard to build. We are currently enjoying peace, stability, economic growth but, in their quest for political power, the NDC want to destabilise the entire country and risk the lives of every Ghanaian. Their behaviour is irresponsible, undemocratic and unpatriotic. Are these the people the Ghanaian voter wishes to hand over governance of the country to on December 7th?
A Bawumia-led government and NPP Majority Caucus will uphold the rule of law, strengthen Ghana’s democracy and continue to keep this country on the path of peace and prosperity.
God bless our homeland Ghana and make her Greater and Stronger. IT IS
POSSIBLE by His grace.
JUSTIN KODUA FRIMPONG
GENERAL SECRETARY
