On Friday, May 17, 2024, Parliament will meet again to discuss certain pressing matters pertaining to government business.
The 275 legislators were called back to session by Speaker of the House Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, who made the announcement on Friday, May 10.
The summons follows the Majority Caucus' plea to the Speaker to reassemble the House within seven days to discuss the government's agenda, which Parliament was unable to debate in the previous meeting, that ended on March 20, 2024.
Majority to force the speaker of parliament
In a petition, Majority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin cited Article 112(3) of the 1992 Constitution and Standing Order 53 of Parliament, which authorizes 15% of House members to request an early recall of Parliament.
"We are fortified by law to proceed to compel the Speaker to reconvene the House," he stated.
The order requires the Speaker to summon Parliament to reconvene within seven days of receiving the memo.
Currently, more than 100 Majority MPs have signed on to the request to compel the Speaker, Alban Bagbin, to assemble the House.
Power play
The speaker unexpectedly adjourned the house on March 20, 2024 and refused to consider the president’s ministerial nominees. He cited an interlocutory injunction filed by the National Democratic Congress MP for South Dayi at the Supreme Court to restrain him.
The decision of the speaker Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin to adjourn the house without approval of the ministerial nominees of the president was widely viewed a show of power play between the legislature and the executive, when the president first refused to accept and sign into law the controversial Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill.
The president made reference to legal action against the bill at the Supreme Court for his decision.
Mr Afenyo-Markin, who is also the MP for Effutu, stated that the recall was necessary to allow the House to discuss three vital government businesses advertised on the Order Paper on March 20, 2024, before the Speaker unilaterally dissolved the House sine die.
