Former Speaker of Parliament, Professor Mike Ocquaye has disagreed with Haruna Iddrisu’s petition seeking the current Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin to declare some four seats vacant.
The Tamale South MP contends that the occupants of these four seats have opted to run as independent candidates in the upcoming general elections after being elected on the ticket of their parties, hence he wants their seats to be declared vacant.
According to Prof. Ocquaye, Haruna Iddrisu is “wrong” to take such an action because “he has no locus” in the matter with respect to the NPP MPs.
In an interview with Joy News, Prof. Mike Ocquaye argued that only the New Patriotic Party can demand removal of its members from Parliament.
“He’s wrong because the benefit is not his. The law does not stand to his inurement. He has no locus because he doesn’t belong to the party involved. So, it is the NPP that can trigger the removal of the MPs,” he explained.
He elaborated that the law has made such legal provision possible to avoid any propaganda against political parties.
“And that’s why I’ve given you the background of that legal provision. It is to correct a certain mischief that can be operated against political parties,” he added.
According to him, Haruna Iddrisu can only focus on just one of the MPs from his party whose seat is amongst the four seats he wants to be declared vacant.
Prof Oquaye expressed confidence in Speaker Bagbin’s ability to make an apt ruling on the matter.
“The current speaker is a very experienced man. He’s one of the fundamentals of Parliament. I believe that he will go by the way that I’m talking about,” he added.
Source:
3news.com
Source link
