The Minority in Parliament is considering legal action following the suspension of sitting by Speaker Aaron Mike Oquaye on Saturday.
Tamale South MP, Haruna Iddrisu who is the Minority Leader, told journalists that they “will consider measuring his [Prof. Oquaye’s] conduct and questioning his conduct by the standing orders [of parliament] and in the superior courts of Ghana.”
The House was due to rise on Saturday and be adjourned for some two months.
But the Speaker rather suspended sitting indefinitely; telling MPs, “we cannot go on holidays because we are not in normal times,” in reference to the Covid-19 outbreak.
The decision means the Speaker can recall legislators on any day he chooses to, without the required 14-day notice.
The National Democratic Congress MPs described the Speaker as a dictator following his announcement.
They bemoaned lack of consultation in Prof. Oquaye’s decision.
“What he has done remains the gravest ever threat to parliamentary democracy in Ghana and an assault on the minority in parliament.
“He simply doesn’t respect due process. He simply doesn’t respect rule of law,” Mr. Iddrisu stressed.
The NDC MPs say they are not against a recall of parliament to deal with matters of Covid-19 but the Speaker must respect the rules.
Majority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, however, defended the Speaker, arguing that the standing orders of parliament say; “in all cases not provided for in these orders, the Speaker shall make decisions as he deems fit.”
He further stated that the Minority Leader has refused to attend pre-sitting meetings with the Speaker and therefore there was no way to consult him.
The pandemic, has meanwhile, infected more than a million people globally, with more than 57,000 dead.
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