Right of Deputy Speaker to vote in Parliament: SC to rule on lawyer’s application March 9
The applicant is seeking the interpretation of Articles 102 and 104 of the Constitution, 1992 by the Supreme Court to declare a November 30, 2021 decision of the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Joe Osei Owusu as unconstitutional.
The Supreme Court of Ghana has set March 9, 2022, to rule on an application filed by a private legal practitioner and a lecturer at the UPSA Law school, Justice Abdullai challenging the constitutionality of a decision by the Second Deputy Speaker to have a casting or original vote while presiding in Parliament.
In overturning the rejection of the 2022 Budget by the minority side of the House in November 2021, the First Deputy Speaker, Joe Osei-Owusu voted together with all the Majority side of the House making 138 out of the entire number which generated an uproar among the Minority side of the House.
The applicant is seeking the interpretation of Articles 102 and 104 of the Constitution, 1992 by the Supreme Court to declare a November 30, 2021 decision of the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Joe Osei Owusu as unconstitutional.
He further argues that the 1992 Constitution does not allow a person presiding over proceedings in Parliament to have an original or casting vote by way of forming a quorum.
Additionally, per the applicant, whenever the First and Second Deputy Speakers of Parliament are presiding, they have the same authority and mandate just as the speaker thus cannot vote or form part of a quorum.
