Posterity will judge – Justice Abdulai fumes after another shocking Supreme Court decision
After the dismissal of his application for a review of the apex court ruling on the right of the Deputy Speaker to vote while presiding over issues on the floor of Parliament, private legal practitioner Justice Abdulai has said posterity will be the best judge following the outcome.
Addressing the press after the dismissal of his application on Tuesday, April 26, he said “I think we have to move on as a nation. What I didn’t want was the situation where posterity will question us as to why we didn’t take this small window of opportunity that was available to us for a possible review of the decision of the Supreme Court on the 9th of March.
“I think posterity will judge our call in the positive light that we did everything we ought to have done to get the sort of judgement that we needed but this is what the Supreme Court says and we all have to live by that.”
His application for a review was dismissed on grounds that it is unmeritorious.
Mr Abdulai subsequently filed for a review of the Apex Court’s ruling on the right of Deputy Speakers to vote in Parliament while they are presiding over the business of the house.
It all started on Wednesday, March 9 when the Supreme Court dismissed an application to pronounce as unconstitutional, Joseph Osei Wusu’s action of counting himself for a quorum.
Presiding over the case that day was Justice Jones Dotse who ruled that the Deputy Speaker of Parliament’s participation in voting was constitutional.
Initially, Justice Abdulai due to the November 30, 2021 clash between Speaker Bagbin and his First Deputy after the latter overturned an earlier vote of the House rejecting the Government’s 2022 Budget called on the Apex Court to pronounce as unconstitutional, Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei Owusu’s action of counting himself for a quorum.
He backed his case with the context of articles 102 and 104 of the 1992 Constitution that the Deputy Speaker was not permitted to count himself for a quorum, since he had neither an original nor a casting vote as Speaker presiding.
But the 7-member panel of justices ruled that the Member of Parliament for Bekwai exercised his right constitutionally.
The Apex Court also struck out the standing order 109(3) which says a Deputy Speaker or any other member presiding shall not retain his original vote while presiding.
It furthered that the Deputy Speaker could be counted during the quorum for decision making according to article 104(1).
