Judiciary, Executive colluding to weaken Parliament — Speaker Bagbin

Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has voiced deep concerns over what he perceives as increasing interference by Ghana’s judiciary and executive branches in parliamentary matters.

According to Bagbin, this perceived encroachment threatens to undermine the authority and functionality of Parliament, which he insists is crucial to the nation’s democratic framework.

“Recent acts of the judiciary and executive…pose a direct challenge to the essence, jurisdiction, authority, powers, and functioning of the esteemed institution of Parliament, which is the repository of the sovereign will of the people of Ghana,” Bagbin stated.

Bagbin, who is the first Speaker in the Fourth Republic to work with a president from a different party and an evenly split Parliament, highlighted the unique position he holds in balancing competing interests.

He describes the 2020 election outcome as a loud call for collaboration between parties with even numbers.

This balance, he stressed, requires active cooperation across branches of government, a principle that, according to him, is currently being disregarded.

Bagbin’s remarks come amid heightened tensions between Parliament and the Supreme Court over the ongoing brouhaha surrounding the declaration of four seats vacant.

The Speaker pointed to a recent case initiated by a Member of Parliament for Effutu Alexander Afenyo-Markin in the Supreme Court, which suspended the Speaker from executing the ruling of October 17.

Such actions, he contends, could undermine the separation of powers.

“The powers of the judiciary end where those of Parliament start,” Bagbin asserted, adding that the current legal tensions “may be likened to a power play between the arms of government and has the potential to undermine our democracy.”