The Minority in Parliament has described as “baffling” the ruling of the Supreme Court (SC) which declared the election of James Gyakye Quayson as Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin North Constituency in the Central Region as null, void and of no effect.
The seven-member panel of the apex court presided over by Justice Jones Dotse, in a unanimous decision ruled that Mr Quayson was not qualified to contest the 2020 parliamentary seat in the Assin North Constituency.
This is because at the time of filing his documents with the Electoral Commission (EC), Mr Quayson, who has since April 2022 been ordered to stop holding himself as an MP, did not renounce his Canadian citizenship.
The court, has subsequently, directed Parliament to strike out his name from its records but the Minority described the ruling as “a slap in the face of our democracy and the rule of law”.
In a statement in response to the ruling signed and issued by Dr Ato Forson, the Minority Leader, it noted that the court got it wrong however, it was studying the reasoning of the court in making its decision, which appeared to be a slap in the face of democracy and the rule of law.
“It is important to place on record that as at the time of his election, Mr Quayson was not a dual citizen, neither was he a dual citizen as at the time he took the oath of office as MP and intention of the framers of the 1992 Constitution is not to allow dual citizens to perform functions of MP so it is baffling the Supreme Court can direct the removal of such a person who has been duly elected as MP.
“We urge the rank and file of the NDC to remain calm as it explores all legal avenues to ensure justice is served,” the statement said.
Mr Quayson’s election has been contentious even before his swearing in when the Majority Caucus in Parliament secured a Cape Coast High Court interlocutory injunction which sought to stop the swearing in of the embattled MP on January 7, 2021.
The then Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, however, dismissed the writ saying courts do not determine an elected person in the country as he argued for Mr Quayson to be sworn in.
Mr Quayson went ahead to be sworn in and voted in the election of Alban Bagbin, an election the former MP for Nadowli Kaleo Constituency in the Upper West Region won by one vote.
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI
