The Minority in Parliament has described a Supreme Court ruling relating to a Deputy Speaker being able to vote while presiding as judicial support for the controversial Electronic Transaction Levy (E-levy).
The ruling, according to the Minority, is a tacit interference of the work of Parliament by the apex court.
The Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday, March 9, 2022, that a Deputy Speaker presiding can cast a vote for the House to make a decision and also be counted for plenary for form quorum.
The ruling is, however, contrary to Standing Order 109(3) of Parliament which states, “A Deputy Speaker or any other member presiding shall not retain his original vote while presiding.”
Minority leader, Haruna Iddrisu, who addressed the media in Parliament on the issue argued the ruling amounts to judicial interference on time tested Parliamentary practice and established conventions.
The ruling, he said, means Deputy Speakers should be stripped of their courtesies since the ruling makes them ordinary MPs contrary to what pertains in other jurisdictions including the United Kingdom.
He said, “The presiding officer’s vote is discounted. So it’s not for nothing that Article 102 of the Constitution provides that a person presiding shall have no original nor casting votes.”
“The Supreme Court ruling, to put it aptly, is judicial support for a levy nothing more.”
“This is a judicial support for President Nana Akufo-Addo’s E-levy that he is labouring to pass.”
According to him, the Judiciary of Ghana is also failing Ghana’s Parliamentary democracy in their inability to appreciate the true meaning of Article 110 of the Constitution that Parliament shall, by Standing Orders, regulate its own procedures.
“When we regulate our own procedures and today reference is only made to the 1992 Constitution and not to the Standing Orders of Parliament of Ghana and in particular Standing Order 13,” he added.
The Minority, he said, remains opposed to the E-levy and will fight it stitch by stitch, clause by clause and article by article whenever it is presented to the House.
Source: Mypublisher24.com