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Former Member of Parliament and Minister of Justice Joseph Nii Ayikoi Otoo has insisted that the Supreme Court order to Parliament concerning the judgement on James Gyakye Quayson should not be too difficult to carry out.
The former Attorney General said the order is not ambiguous as some are trying to make it seem.
Speaking on The Keypoints on TV3/3FM on Saturday, June 10, he said some persons are only playing politics with the judgement.
Upon resumption of Parliament on Tuesday, June 6, Speaker Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin told the House that leadership must confer to find out how the order will be carried out.
He later hinted that the legislative arm of government may have to go back to the Supreme Court for clarity in carrying out the order.
“The order did not say the Speaker should expunge [his name]. It did not say any Member of Parliament or Clerk should expunge [the name], it says the institution called Parliament. So that institution must carry out the order.
“The only way the institution can carry out the order is for the institution to reason together. And that is only done in a sitting where the opportunity is given to members to think through it.
“I don’t want to assume powers that are not clearly spelt out in any law. So I did indicate and mentioned to some members of the Supreme Court that there is a need for clarification.”
Mr Ayikoi Otoo said there is no ambiguity regarding the order.
“You know [the Speaker] beat a retreat himself when he first said the name should be there and later on when the clerk whispered into his ears said the seat had been declared vacant. . .he came back and said then don’t put his name there.
“I am saying [and] if they want my advice, they should pass a resolution that in view of the judgement of the Supreme Court, [Gyakye Quayson’s] swearing-in, election or whatever is deemed not to have taken place and therefore for all purposes he never became part of the Eighth Parliament
“And anybody who reads that will understand.”
He warned that not carrying out a Supreme Court order could constitute treason under the laws of the country.
But former MP Alhaji Inusah Fuseini, who was also on the programme, disagreed and said the Supreme Court ought to have been careful in ordering another arm of government.
“It flouts settled principles of separation of powers. Can one arm of government direct another arm of government? So there are a lot of jurisprudential questions.”
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