Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, says he expected the Speaker of Parliament to respect the Supreme Court’s decision to stay the execution of the ruling delivered yesterday.
This comes after the apex court, today, directed Alban Bagbin to suspend his ruling which declared four parliamentary seats vacant.
Parliament has thus been instructed to recognise and allow the four Members of Parliament to fully represent their constituencies and carry out their official duties.
Speaking to the media outside the court, he expressed his elation by the decision.
Read also: Supreme Court stays Speaker’s ruling ousting 4 MPs from Parliament
“The court has determined the matter and has ordered the parties to file the necessary processes for the final determination of the matter. That is it. So we expect our colleagues and all those involved in this matter to respect the law, including the right honorable speaker. We don’t have any personal qualms with anybody. Ours is the law,” he said.
The application to stay the Speaker’s decision was filed by New Patriotic Party (NPP) Members of Parliament, who sought the Court’s intervention to halt the enforcement of the ruling that would have affected three of their colleagues and one from the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
The application was filed ex parte, meaning that neither Speaker Bagbin nor Parliament was joined to the case.
This allowed the Court to consider the NPP MPs’ request without requiring the participation or response of the Speaker or other parliamentary authorities at this stage.
Meanwhile, the Effutu MP cautioned the NPP MPs not to let their eyes off the ball as the opposition party is doing everything in its power to frustrate its election 2024 bid.
“Let’s go all out to work hard. President Akufo-Addo has done a Yeoman’s job. Of course, we don’t have a perfect government, but we have elections to win. If we go all out and win and win massively, this NDC behavior will be a thing of the past,” he added.
The case was heard by a panel of Supreme Court justices presided over by Chief Justice Gertrude Torkonoo.
Other members of the panel included Justice Mariama Owusu, Justice Kwame Adibu Asiedu, Justice Ernest Yao Gaewu, and Justice Yaw Darko Asare, who together delivered the ruling to stay the Speaker’s decision.
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