The leader of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) side of Parliament, Alexander Afenyo-Markin (MP), has asked the National Democratic Congress (NDC) side to seek legal remedy if they do not agree with a recent Supreme Court order affecting what the latter considers their new-found majority.

Afenyo-Markin in a Tuesday, October 22, 2024, statement stressed the Cassiel Ato Forson-led NDC side of parliament was still the minority.

“If the NDC Minority believes they have compelling arguments to present to the Supreme Court to alter its decision, they are free to find competent lawyers to make their case for them. However, they cannot cherry-pick which court rulings to respect. That’s not how democracy functions,” he said.

Until the legal remedy was successfully sought, the Effutu MP admonished the NDC side to be cautious they do not take any action in contempt of the Supreme Court and its recent order.

“I am the first to admit that as political leaders we can and must constructively criticise court decisions – it’s our democratic right. However, we must never signal to Ghanaian that they can disrespect or disregard court decisions, especially through the conduct of those of us in leadership. That will be a recipe for chaos,” he asserted.

The MP who maintains he is still the majority leader challenged Dr Ato Forson’s assertion that parliamentary proceedings “shall not be impeached or questioned in any court,” calling it an act that “grossly misconstrues the legal parameters of parliamentary immunity”.

“The law, as I understand it as a practitioner, is that while Parliament enjoys certain privileges, including freedom of speech during its proceedings, it does not operate above the law. Judicial oversight exists precisely to prevent any misuse or overreach of parliamentary powers, particularly when constitutional violations are at stake,” Afenyo-Markin noted.

On October 17, reacting to a motion by Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, Speaker of Parliament Alban S. K. Bagbin declared four seats in parliament vacant since four MPs had crossed the floor. This automatically made the NDC side the majority with 136 seats and the governing NPP the minority with 135 seats.

The next day, the Supreme Court ordered the implementation of the Speaker’s declaration to be frozen.

According to Afenyo-Markin’s statement to the media, “The [Supreme] Court explicitly directed that the execution of the Speaker’s ruling be held in abeyance ending the final determination of the legal suit I had filed as the Majority Leader day before last Thursday’s ruling.

“In the wisdom of our Lordships, they stated: ‘The Parliament of Ghana is hereby directed to recognise and allow the 4 affected Members of Parliament herein named to duly represent their constituents and conduct the full scope of the duties of their offices as Member of Parliament pending the determination of this suit.

“In view of the gravity of the issues raised in this instant suit and the urgency of this matter, this Court hereby directs that, pursuant to article 129(4) of the 1992 Constitution and Rule 5 of CI 16, the Defendants – Speaker of Parliament and the Attorney General – are to file their statement of case within 7 days of service of this ruling.

“The parties are further ordered to file their joint Memorandum of Issues within seven days of filing their statement for the due hearing of this suit”.