A request by the Registrar of the General Jurisdiction Division of the Law Court Complex in Accra to Parliament to declare the Assin North seat vacant has been turned down.
Clerk of Parliament, Cyril Nsiah, has explained in a letter sighted by Prime News that the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, cannot declare the parliamentary seat vacant.
A High Court in Cape Coast annulled the December 7 parliamentary polls on grounds that the MP, James Quayson, owed allegiance to Canada at the time of filing to contest the election.
However, Mr Nsiah explains in the letter that prior to receiving the letter from the Registrar of the Law Court Complex, the Speaker had received certified true copies of documents from the lawyers of James Quayson, indicating that they had filed an appeal against the judgment of the High Court.
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The Clerk of Parliament said the documents available to the Speaker gives is evidence that the matter was pending in court.
“That in the circumstances, Mr Speaker is not clothed with the legal basis to make a pronouncement on the matter and can thus not declare the occurrence of a vacancy in the House pursuant to the 1992 Constitution and the Standing Orders of the House.
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