Michael Donyinah Mensah, Executive Director of the Centre for Public Opinion and Awareness (CenPOA), a nonpartisan, non-governmental civil organisation founded to promote civil engagement and participation in public administration, has criticised Speaker Alban Bagbin’s decision to declare four seats in parliament vacant.

He noted that the current speaker’s decision can be traced back to the seventh parliament when Speaker Mike Ocquaye established a bad precedent by declaring the seat of Fomena MP vacant.

The Speaker of Parliament on Thursday, October 17, 2024, declared four parliamentary seats vacant.

The seats are Amenfi Central, Suhum, Agona West, and Fomena.

Speaker Alban Bagbin declared the seats vacant in response to an official petition from Haruna Iddrisu, a National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament.

Haruna Iddrisu’s petition targeted three New Patriotic Party (NPP) MPs and one NDC MP, invoking Article 97 (1)(g) of the Constitution.

Michael Donyinah Mensah commented on this, saying that it was an unfortunate parliamentary action, but we also have to blame the former Speaker for setting a bad precedent that may have influenced Speaker Bagbin’s decision.

He asserted that the former speaker and the current speaker both erred in their decision.

He said "when you examine the law through the speaker’s ruling, you will realise he erred in his ruling."

He explained that Article 97, which stipulates how an MP should vacate his or her seat with particular reference to crossing a carpet of declaring to contest as an independent candidate, was not properly applied in the current and previous scenarios.

Article 97(g) and (h) stipulate that "if he leaves the party of which he was a member at the time of his election to Parliament to join another party or seeks to remain in Parliament as an independent member; or (h) if he was elected a member of Parliament as an independent candidate and joins a political party’’.

Mr. Donyinah Mensah, in explaining his point of view, stated that "Alban Bagbin erred in declaring the seats vacant, and that we can only blame Prof. Aaron Mike Oquaye for failing or erring in declaring the Fomena seat vacant.

"During his time as MP, he set a bad precedent. His action was unconstitutional, which may have influenced Alban Bagbin. He relied on that precedent in reaching his decision, which was problematic.

"The spirit and letter of the law make it clear that one cannot switch or join a new party from the one with which he contested and won while in parliament, nor can he declare himself independent.

"The goal of this law was to prevent a party’s MPs from easily switching to the opposing side, which could destabilise the house or prevent it from performing its functions effectively. That is why you are required by law to stay with the party that brought you to the house until you have completed your term of office.

"If you decide to switch, you must vacate your seat. The application of the law in this situation was incorrect or in error. This happened because the former speaker set a bad precedent."

“The situation is unfortunate because we are a few months away from the elections,” he added.