The Member of Parliament for Mpraeso, Davis Ansah Opoku, has dismissed calls by Tamale South MP, Haruna Iddrisu, for New Patriotic Party (NPP) MPs contesting the upcoming elections as independent candidates to vacate their parliamentary seats.
The former Minority leader made the comment during a campaign trail in the Tamale North constituency, suggesting that the Minority caucus could invoke Article 97 (1)(g) of the 1992 Constitution to compel the Speaker of Parliament to declare those seats vacant.
According to Mr Iddrisu, the Constitution stipulates that MPs who resign from their party or run as independent candidates may lose their positions.
This assertion has raised significant discussions within political circles, particularly concerning the implications for NPP MPs who have chosen to run independently in the upcoming elections.
In a swift rebuttal, Davis Opoku Ansah strongly contended that Iddrisu’s proposed action would be unconstitutional.
He pointed out that the MPs in question have not formally resigned from the NPP, a crucial requirement for invoking Article 97 (1)(g).
Mr Ansah emphasised that these MPs continue to be affiliated with their party, which invalidates the rationale behind Iddrisu’s claims.
“Haruna Iddrisu and the NDC side should not trigger any such clause. They should not trigger any such clause in Parliament because already, the 137-137 Parliament that we have is causing a lot of problems.”
“I mean, we have less than three months to an election and we are praying that we see this Parliament through for Ghanaians to decide and I strongly urge that it is not proper, it is unconstitutional to want to say that an MP who was duly been elected by the people, not by the party, he was elected by the people and decides in a future election to contest on a different ticket will seize to be a Member of Parliament.”