A deputy Communications Director of the New Patriotic Party has called on the Speaker of Parliament to reconvene Parliament, as a matter of urgency, before the impending ruling on the 2012 Presidential Election petition currently before the Supreme Court.
Parliament has been on recess for over one month now, and it is expected to reconvene on October 25, 2013.
Mr Buaben Asamoah believes that it would be prudent for the MPs to be recalled ahead of the verdict of the Supreme Court in the election petition in view of the fact that some of the expected outcomes of the petition could call for an immediate action from the house.
In an exclusive interview with the New Statesman, Mr Buaben Asamoah explained that two out of the three possible decisions on the Presidential Election Petition that the nine Justices of the Supreme Court could arrive at require that Parliament be active and working.
The three decisions that could be arrived at by the Supreme Court, according to the NPP man, include: maintaining John Dramani Mahama as president; deciding that Nana Akufo-Addo, the 2012 Presidential candidate of the NPP, was the validly elected president; and finally a re-run of the entire election/or run-off between Nana Akufo-Addo and John Dramani Mahama.
�Should the judges decide that Nana Akufo-Addo, and not John Mahama, was the validly elected President, automatically, Ghana has no President as John Dramani Mahama, would step down immediately. To avoid such a vacuum, as at all times there must be a commander-in-chief of the Ghana armed forces, Nana Akufo-Addo would have to be sworn in immediately,� Mr Buaben Asamoah stated.
He continued, �Thus, should such a verdict be reached, Parliament has to be in operation, as Nana Akufo-Addo would have to be sworn in as President before the Members of Parliament.�
On the other hand, according to Mr Asamoah, should the Supreme Court judges decide that per the evidence adduced in court, none of the candidates achieved more than 50% of the valid votes cast, or the entire election has to be re-run, John Dramani Mahama ceases to be the President of Ghana.
�In such a scenario, the Speaker of Parliament, Edward Doe Adjaho, would have to be immediately sworn in as President of Ghana, also before the Members of Parliament. Since there would be no President and Vice President, automatically, Edward Doe Adjaho would be the President until elections are conducted to determine who should be the President of Ghana,� the NPP man noted.
He further explained that it is only prudent to recall Parliament before the ruling is delivered by the Supreme Court as part of the peace measures currently ongoing in the country. He also recalled how Parliament was reconvened to facilitate the swearing-in of John Mahama as President, after the death of the late President John Mills.
This move, Mr Buaben Asamoah, stressed is very important as it would ensure that there is no vacuum in the running of the country, adding �As a matter of peace and prudence, parliament must reconvene immediately.�
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