Vacant seats: Accept Supreme Court ruling – Alan advises Bagbin
The Presidential Candidate of the Movement for Change, Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen, has urged Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin to respect the Supreme Court’s ruling while promptly seeking to overturn the Majority Leader Afenyo-Markin’s application, which led to an injunction on his decision to declare four parliamentary seats vacant.
Kyerematen commended the Speaker’s stance in vacating the seats but suggested that his move to challenge the Supreme Court’s original jurisdiction in legal interpretation was misguided.
He emphasized that the Supreme Court should maintain the principle of separation of powers, respecting Parliament’s autonomy in decisions made by the Speaker.
Highlighting the significance of cooperation between the branches of government, Kyerematen cautioned that prolonged disputes could have negative repercussions, especially with elections approaching, and called for a swift resolution to the matter.
“Bagbin must accept first the decision of the Supreme Court to grant an injunction that operates as a stay of execution of his initial order. He must accept the second decision of the Supreme Court to throw away their application.
“He must bring another application to the Supreme Court, requesting the Supreme Court to vary its earlier decision to grant an injunction in respect of the matter.
“And the basis for the application must be that on the face of the provisions of the Constitution, there is no issue arising in respect of interpretation. So it means that Afenyo-Markin’s application to the Supreme Court to injunct Parliament and to stay the execution of the ruling of the Speaker in itself is not proper.
“It is not proper because it does not need interpretation of a particular provision, then you cannot call upon the Supreme Court by force to make an interpretation.”
