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Deputy for the central Wa constituency, Abdul-Rashid Hassan Pelpuo defended a minority decision to occupy the majority part of the House.
Minority MPs on Wednesday entered the hemicycle earlier, dressed in white, and took over the majority seats of the 7th Parliament ahead of the 8th Parliament’s official inauguration ceremony.
Defending the decision, Rashid Pelpuo said it was their legitimate position, as the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) each won 137 parliamentary seats in the Dec. 7 polls.
“When you first enter the room you decide where to sit and that’s exactly what we did, we chose to sit to the right of the Speaker.
“Remember this is a constitutional challenge or a crisis that we are facing, there is nothing in the constitution that says when you are tied you have to elect the majority .
The action generated heat on the parliamentary floor as the majority arrived in the 7th Parliament, which was forced to take the House’s minority party.
Meanwhile, the fate of the Assin North MP on the NDC ticket remains to be determined following the placement of an injunction by the Cape Coast court.
The Cape Coast High Court has granted an injunction against Assin North Constituency MP-elect James Gyakye Quayson.
According to the ruling, the promising MP cannot stand as the elected MP for the constituency.
This follows a petition filed by a certain Michael Ankomah which stated that the elected MP retained his Canadian citizenship when he ran for the polls in December.
But, the member for Wa Central argued that there was an equal position in Parliament and that would not change.
“When you bind, the constitution is silent on it, and there is nothing in the constitution or in our bylaws either that says a space is for that party or that party.
“Even when you are in the majority, it is only conversational that you sit to the right of the Speaker, there is nothing law about it, and no legal instrument specifies it.
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