Former Attorney General and Foreign Affairs Minister, Dr Obed Yao Asamoah says the Supreme Court erred in affirming the voting right of a Deputy Speaker whiles presiding in the Parliament.

Speaking in an interview on JoyNews’ AM SHOW on Monday, he explained that the ruling was wrong.

He also questioned why the Parliamentary standing orders were declared ultra vires.

“The individual can take that position and it is intra vires but in the collective, in their power to regulate the proceedings of Parliament, they have that absolute power. They say look we are deciding collectively that if you are a Deputy Speaker, you don’t have the what? How can that be ultra vires? I don’t understand,” he added.

On Wednesday, March 9, the Supreme Court ruled that a Deputy Speaker of Parliament can be counted during the formation of a quorum for parliamentary decision-making and participation in voting while presiding.

The landmark judgement was given after private legal practitioner, Justice Abdulai, filed a case against the Attorney-General to contest the First Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei-Owusu’s decision to count himself during a vote to approve the 2022 budget.

The verdict by the Supreme Court has left the two leading political parties – NPP, NDC, deeply divided with the Minority Leader in Parliament, saying that the ruling is likely to exacerbate the existing tension in Parliament.

Other members of the public have also expressed their dissatisfaction with the outcome of the verdict.

Justice Abdulai, a Law Lecturer at the University of Professional Studies Accra (UPSA), who sent the case to court, also stated that the Supreme Court's ruling had caused further polarization.

According to Mr Abdulai, the polarisation has left him dissatisfied with the idea of taking the case to court.

Meanwhile, government has been charged to collaborate with civil society groups to provide sustainable funding to support constitutional litigations.

This is coming after the private Legal Practitioner Justice Abdulai, who contended that Deputy Speaker Joe Osei Owusu should not have counted himself as part of the formation of a quorum in Parliament said pursuing the case has become a major burden to him.

Reacting to the situation, a lecturer at the Ghana School of Law, Bobby Banson, said there’s the need to set up a fund to provide support to plaintiffs in constitutional public litigations.