US-based Ghanaian lawyer and scholar, Professor Stephen Kwaku Asare, has suggested that the next sitting of the Parliament of Ghana would be in December 2024.

According to Professor Kwaku Asare, who is widely known as Kwaku Azar, Parliament might only sit again after the pending December 7, 2024, general elections.

"Parliament is unlikely to sit again until after the general elections," he wrote in a Facebook post on Friday, November 15, 2024.

Replying to a comment on his post, the academic explained that the House might not meet again until after the election because "There is just no time left."

Background

The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, for the second time in less than a month, suspended the sitting of the House sine die (indefinitely) due to the NPP MPs not showing up for the House's sitting on Thursday, November 7, 2024.

The Speaker explained that he had to suspend the meeting indefinitely because the House lacked the numbers required to make decisions.

He also stated that there was no business before the House for consideration as the Business Committee of Parliament did not meet to present one to the plenary.

Bagbin expressed his frustration at the absence of the NPP Members of Parliament, as he had summoned the House upon the request of the leadership of the NPP MPs.

On Tuesday, October 22, 2024, Alban Bagbin adjourned the sitting of the House sine die (indefinitely) for the first time just a week after Members of Parliament reconvened following a long recess, citing a lack of quorum for decision-making after the NPP MPs boycotted proceedings.

The NPP MPs walked out of Parliament after the National Democratic Congress (NDC) MPs occupied the Majority side of the House.

The Speaker declared four seats in the House vacant after being petitioned by NDC MPs following the decision of the affected MPs to contest the upcoming December 2024 elections as independents or on different party tickets.

This declaration shifted the balance of power in Parliament, making the NDC the majority party.

However, the Supreme Court stayed the Speaker's ruling on October 18, 2024, pending further review after the leader of the NPP MPs, Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin, challenged Bagbin's declaration in court.

The affected seats include those held by Cynthia Morrison (Agona West), Kwadjo Asante (Suhum), Andrew Amoako Asiamah (Fomena), and Peter Kwakye Ackah (Amenfi Central).

On Tuesday, November 12, 2024, the Supreme Court overturned Speaker Alban Bagbin's declaration of four seats as vacant.

The Chief Justice, delivering the court's ruling, stated that the application by the Majority Leader challenging the Speaker's declaration was upheld by a 5-2 majority.

BAI/

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