The Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has hinted that Ghana’s Electoral Commission (EC) will be conducting four by-elections instead of one.
He said the three other constituencies, beside Assin North, that will host by-election soon are Dome-Kwabenya, Ayawaso Central and Assin Central.
Mr Ablakwa’s assertion follows the ruling by the Supreme Court on Wednesday that the Assin North MP, James Gyakye Quayson, should stop performing Parliamentary duties as it determines the substantive case filed against him.
After proceedings, Attorney-General, Godfred Dame, told the press the Electoral Commission can declare the Assin North seat vacant, therefore, the need for a by-election.
In response to the apex court’s ruling on Wednesday, Mr Ablakwa has urged the government to prepare to conduct three by-elections in addition to the one aty Assin North it has been working so hard for.
“If there is one thing you have to credit President Akufo-Addo and his coterie— it’s their killer instinct. They are determined to have a by-election in Assin North and absolutely nothing must get in their way.”
“When a very unpopular government cannot be bothered about the people of SALL, but is doing everything under the sun to confirm it’s unpopularity in one by-election, you help give them 4 by-elections instead of conceding to 1.”
“Let the by-elections begin,” he wrote in a post on Facebook.
To secure the three other by-elections, the North Tongu MP requested his colleagues on the Minority side in Parliament, to be relentless in ensuring that the three NPP MPs dragged to the Privileges Committees by Speaker Alban Bagbin for breaking the 15-sitting rule, are penalised for their actions, thus, making it necessary for by-elections in those constituencies.
Mr Ablakwa noted that this is imperative as the Minority has an “irrefutable constitutional basis” to see Sarah Adwoa Safo, Henry Quartey and Kennedy Agyapong removed from Parliament.
“I hope this informs my own party’s conduct from hence, particularly in how we deal with the 3 NPP absentee MPs. Especially when comparatively, we have a much stronger and irrefutable constitutional basis to succeed,” he stated.
Below is the post on Facebook page: