The First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Joseph Osei-Owusu, has said the reactions of the Minority in Parliament following last Wednesday’s Supreme Court ruling are purely based on emotions.
Speaking on Asaase Radio’s news analysis and current affairs programme, The Forum, on Saturday (12 March), Osei-Owusu indicated that the reactions should rather be legally informed instead of sentimental.
“I would have loved to hear legal arguments to counter the decision of the Supreme Court. I’ve read what is alleged to be former president’s [John Mahama] comments, I’ve read minority leader’s comments; indeed, I’ve seen a video of him making those comments. If you ask me, they are just emotional responses to the judgement. I would want to hear legal arguments; I want to see someone show that what the Supreme Court said is not the focus of the constitution,” Joe Wise, as he is affectionately called, said.
“…This is not about political theory, it is not about parliamentary practice; it is about what the constitution says and what the constitution does not say. I would want to hear legal arguments, not emotional outbursts. So, I will never respond to emotional arguments because fortunately, my mind tends to respond to legal arguments,” the Bekwai MP told his host Dr Kwaku Agyeman-Budu.
Listen to Osei-Owusu in the attached audio below:
You’re interfering in parliamentary affairs
The Minority Leader in Parliament, Haruna Iddrisu, has described the Supreme Court’s declaration that the two Deputy Speakers of Parliament can vote while presiding as a travesty of justice relating to parliamentary practice.
“Our attention has been drawn to a very disappointing ruling of the Supreme Court of Ghana which more or less amounts to a judicial interference in time-tested parliamentary practice and established conventions,” Iddrisu told journalists in Parliament on Wednesday (9 March).
“Everywhere in the world in civilised democracies, including the United Kingdom, the presiding officer’s vote is discounted, so it is not for nothing that Article 102 provides that a person presiding shall have no original nor casting vote.
“The Supreme Court to put it aptly, this ruling is judicial support for E-Levy, for a struggling economy in distress, and judicial support for the restoration of a matter they have said is constitutional, it is repugnant but what can we do. This is a travesty of parliamentary justice,” he declared.
I’m shocked but not surprised
Former President John Mahama also described Wednesday’s ruling of the Supreme Court giving Deputy Speakers the right to vote and be counted when presiding in Parliament as “shocking.”
However, he said the decision does not come as a surprise to him.
“A unanimous 7-0? Shocking but not surprising,” Mahama posted on Facebook on Thursday (10 March).
He added: “An unfortunate interpretation for convenience that sets a dangerous precedent of judicial interference in Parliamentary procedure for the future.”
Nicholas Brown
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