Tamale South MP Haruna Iddrisu has expressed confidence that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) will soon transition from being the Minority to the Majority in Parliament.
He pointed out that the current 4th Republican Parliament is approaching a constitutional test, which will lead to a shift in the NDC’s status to the Majority during the next parliamentary session.
Iddrisu revealed that NDC lawmakers plan to invoke Article 97 of the Constitution in Tuesday’s parliamentary sitting to officially assert their Majority standing explaining that this move is grounded in constitutional provisions regarding the disqualification of MPs.
The former Minority Leader, along with his colleagues argue that four legislators who have filed nominations to contest as independent candidates in the 2024 elections are no longer constitutionally recognized as MPs.
Making the same assertion, Constitutional lawyer Justice Abdulai has noted that there is limited legal flexibility for the four Members of Parliament (MPs) who face the risk of losing their seats after announcing their intention to run as independent candidates in the upcoming elections.
Speaking on JOYFM, the lecturer at the UPSA Law School stated that the constitutional provision for declaring their seats vacant is clear and leaves little room for ambiguity.
Additionally, he said any constitutional provision is open to interpretation by the court.
“From our angle, yes, it is easy to say that from the clear readings of the provisions in reference, it appears to be clear until the circumstances yield to an ambiguous and multiple interpretations.”
“But from the precedents that we’ve had in the past, and the circumstances of this particular case, it would be difficult for anybody to argue an ambiguity into these interpretations of the provisions in reference as against the extortion of the members of parliament in reference,” stated lawyer Justice Abdulai.
He said he does not believe it will yield to any difficulties the speaker declaring them persona non grata in his parliament.
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Source: Eric Sekyi/ATLFMNEWS
