The Member of Parliament for Yapei-Kusawgu, John Jinapor, says the Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin’s hasty decision to seek an injunction from the Supreme Court to prevent Speaker Alban Bagbin from deciding on the fate of four MPs, is due to his fear of becoming the Minority Leader.
According to him, Mr Afenyo-Markin is worried about the shift in Parliamentary power dynamics should Speaker Bagbin grant the petition.
On Tuesday, October 15, Parliament debated the petition filed by the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tamale South, Haruna Iddrisu, which called for the seats of three New Patriotic Party (NPP) MPs and one National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP to be declared vacant.
During the debate, several MPs cited Prof Oquaye’s previous ruling regarding the Fomena MP, Andrews Asiamah, and urged the current Speaker, Alban Bagbin, to apply the same principle.
However, the Majority Leader has filed an injunction application at the Supreme Court to challenge a petition by Tamale South MP regarding the status of four Members of Parliament.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show, Mr Jinapor emphasised that if Speaker Bagbin rules in line with Mr Oquaye’s 2020 decision, the NPP could lose its majority status in Parliament, making Afenyo-Markin the Minority Leader.
This, the lawmaker said, is Mr Afenyo-Markin’s primary concern.
“This whole thing boils down to politics. When former Speaker Mike Oquaye in 2020 ruled that based on the fact that the Fomena MP had filed to contest as an independent candidate and hence couldn’t hold himself as a Member of Parliament the NPP MPs and members were very happy. At the time there was no issue that it must come from the political party.
“For them, Mike Oquaye espoused the tenets of Article 97, and as far as I am concerned it has not changed. And don’t forget that there is an NDC MP on the list, the only challenge is that if Speaker Bagbin rules in consonance with what Mike Oquaye ruled, it means that the Majority will turn into a Minority and that is the worry,” he said on Thursday.
Mr Jinapor also criticised the Majority Leader for taking the matter to the Supreme Court while the Speaker was still deliberating on the issue.
Mr Jinapor expressed doubt that the Supreme Court would grant the injunction but warned that if it did, it would fuel perceptions that the court was biased.
“Afenyo-Markin is rushing to the Supreme Court to put an injunction on the Speaker because he knows he could become the Minority Leader. What he is doing is very funny and unfortunate.
“And if they do so, it will further strengthen this strong suspicion that the Supreme Court is not being fair, and we would have every justification to hold that view,” he added.
Source: Ama Cromwell
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