The Trade and Industry Minister, KT Hammond, has called on Speaker Alban Bagbin to respect the authority of the Supreme court and adhere to its ruling.

This comes after, the apex court in a 5-2 majority decision, declared the Speaker of Parliament’s decision to declare four parliamentary seats vacant as unconstitutional.

Speaking to the media after the proceedings, Mr Hammond strongly criticised Mr Bagbin’s actions to resist prior rulings of the court.

"The Speaker of Parliament has acted with dictatorial tendencies. The Speaker is supposed to be the custodian of the Constitution, but he has decided that he’ll not respect the Constitution and he would not respect the apex court of the land," he said on Tuesday, November 12.

Mr Hammond further emphasised that while Speaker Bagbin claims to respect the supremacy of the Constitution, he has ignored the supremacy of the Supreme Court.

“He respects the supremacy of the Constitution but does not respect the supremacy of the Supreme Court. He doesn’t agree that the person of his caliber will not respect the ruling of the Supreme Court,” he said.

Mr Hammond insisted that Bagbin now has no choice but to comply with the court’s ruling.

“Bagbin has absolutely no choice than to comply with the ruling of the Supreme Court,” he said.

Background

On Thursday, October 17, Speaker Bagbin declared four vacant parliamentary seats —three held by the NPP and one by the NDC—were vacant, shifting the balance of power in Parliament.

With the NDC claiming 136 seats and the NPP reduced to 135, the NDC quickly asserted itself as the new majority.

However, on Friday, October 18, the Supreme Court issued a stay of execution on Speaker Bagbin’s decision, ruling that the four MPs must be allowed to continue representing their constituencies until the court reaches a final decision.

Despite the court's ruling, the NDC caucus has refused to relinquish its newly claimed majority status.

After sitting to hear all parties, the Supreme Court earlier today, ruled that Speaker Bagbin's declaration was unconstitutional.