He said despite a landmark ruling by the Supreme Court which enables them to vote, the NDC will not allow them.
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We won't deputy speakers of Parliament to vote despite Supreme Court ruling - NDC MP
Dr. Clement Apaak, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament for Builsa South has disclosed that the minority will not allow deputy speakers of parliament to vote while presiding.
Dr. Clement Apaak
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“Folks we wait to see who will enter the Chamber of Parliament to restrain us from preventing an attempt by a presiding Deputy Speaker to vote. The Supreme Court doesn’t decide what happens in Parliament, the constitution and our standing orders do.
“We resisted attempts to use all kinds of schemes and plots, including a military invasion of the Chamber of Parliament, to get Rt. Hon. Mike Oquaye, thier preferred, elected in the early hours of January 7th 2020,” he stated in a Facebook post.
The Builsa South MP also noted that the Minority will employ the resistance used in getting the Speaker, Alban Sumana Bagbin , elected as Speaker of the 8th Parliament going forward.
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The ruling by the Supreme Court has generated different opinions from politicians in the country.
Former President John Mahama said the ruling is a dangerous precedent.
"If Deputy Speakers, because they are Members of Parliament, can vote while presiding as Speaker, they could as well be able to participate in any debate on the floor over which they are presiding. This is the absurdity into which the Supreme Court ruling leads us”, he said.
Joe Osei Owusu
Pulse Ghana
The Supreme Court ruled that Deputy Speakers can also count themselves as part of the quorum in determining attendance.
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The panel chaired by Justice Jone Dotse said the approval of the budget was valid when deputy Speaker Joe Osei-Owusu voted while he was presiding over affairs in the chamber.
The Supreme Court struck out the standing order 109 (3) which says a Deputy Speaker or any other member presiding shall not retain his original vote while presiding.
It furthered that the Deputy Speaker can be counted during the quorum for decision making according to article 104 (1).
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