Minority boycott: Parliament can be sued over its Standing Orders – Draman

The Executive Director of the African Centre for Parliamentary Affairs (ACEPA) Dr Rasheed Draman has said that Parliament risked being sued over the seeming confusion around its Standing Orders particularly regarding the permission of members to be absent from the House.

He stated that if the House is sued, the Supreme Court would be forced to make orders to Parliament, a situation he believes will amount to interfering with the work of the legislature.

“If you look at Standing Orders, 16 (1) talks about the fact that if you are going to be absent continually during the meeting of parliament a number of times you need to get permission. If you don’t have permission then you are in breach. I think Article 97 (1) (c) of the Constitution is also very clear about this.

“So all I hear is just arguments but the orders are clear, if they are not careful we might get into the realm of somebody running to the Supreme Court and once again the courts interfering with the hearing and business of Parliament, giving them directives.

“We don’t want to go there. The orders are clear, the earlier everybody got to agree that the orders are clear the better,” he said on the Ghana Tonight show on TV3 Wednesday, July 12.

Dr Rasheed Draman further said that dialogue is important to resolve the issues that resulted in the Minority boycott of parliament.

He wants the Speaker to get the leadership of the two sides in the House to dialogue on this matter.

“Dialogue is the only option,” he said on the Ghana Tonight show on TV3 Wednesday, July 12.

‘They need to sit down and talk, that is what is done in a democracy.”

The Speaker Alban Bagbin has asked the Minority Caucus to present a written, not oral, permission before being recognized as absent with permission on days they go to court to solidarize with their colleagues standing trial.

“So the burden will now shift onto you as a group to show evidence that my good self has granted you permission to absent yourselves in writing.”

The Minority, immediately after the swearing-in of Assin North Member (MP) James Gyakye Quayson, announced its decision to boycott proceedings each time he appeared before court on his criminal charge.

This decision was later escalated to include trials of the Minority Leader, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, and Asutifi South MP Collins Dauda.

So far, two boycotts have been staged and both have been marked as absent for the Minority members and this is what is not going down well with them.