Director of Legal Affairs of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Abraham Amaliba has said the people of Assin North will need a representation in Parliament.
To that end, he said, the restrictions placed on the Member of Parliament (MP) James Gyekye Quayson by the Supreme Court is disturbing.
“The people of Assin North need a representation and that is very important,” he said on the Key Points on TV3 with host Dzifa Bampoh.
He added “Yes, there are some restrains on him that will not make him function as a Member of Parliament but he still remains a Member of Parliament. That is why I have said that there cannot be a by-election until the final determination of the substantive case.”
But the MP for Asante-Akim North, Andy Kwame Appiah-Kubi, who was also speaking on the same show said he is prepared to file a contempt of court application against Mr Gyekye Quayson if the embattled opposition lawmaker attempts to carry out any parliamentary function.
“Advise your client to come to Parliament and I will file a contempt application against him.
“The order says you cannot carry yourself as a Member of Parliament. In that office, Job 600, it is only a Member of Parliament that goes into it. So, I am saying, we need to test the law, advise your client to come and I will file the application of contempt and let the court determine that I am wrong.”
The Supreme Court by a majority decision of 5-2 on Wednesday, April 13, 2022, ordered Mr Gyekye Quayson to stop holding himself as a lawmaker.
Justices Agnes Dordzie and Nene Amegatcher dissented while Prof. Henrietta Mensah Bonsu, Mariama Owusu, Gertrude Torkornoo, and Emmanuel Yonny Kulendi voted in favour.
A Cape Coast High Court, presided over by Justice Coram Kwasi Boakye, had earlier ruled that Mr Gyakye Quayson was not eligible to contest the December 7, 2020, Parliamentary Elections because he bore dual citizenship before picking nomination forms from the Electoral Commission, Ghana (EC).
Fresh elections were, as a result, ordered to be conducted while Mr Gyakye Quayson was asked to cease holding himself as MP.
But, until the apex court ruling, the man accused of having Canadian and Ghanaian citizenship was allegedly going to Parliament to join in proceedings.
By Laud Nartey|3news.com|Ghana