Alban Bagbin adjourns parliament indefinitely again

The Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Alban Bagbin, once again adjourned parliamentary proceedings indefinitely on Thursday, 7 November, due to the absence of Members of Parliament (MPs) from the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

The Speaker noted that without the presence of NPP MPs, the House would lack the quorum required for decision-making. Furthermore, no business had been tabled, which would have prevented any legislative action.

The planned emergency session, called to address urgent national issues, was hindered by the absence of NPP MPs from Parliament. Speaker Bagbin expressed disappointment, stating that their absence rendered the session ineffective and necessitated an indefinite adjournment.

“Matters they wanted us to handle, which I accepted for consideration from the business committee, are not on the Order Paper, and, in fact, there is no Order Paper for today because the business committee could not meet due to the absence of those who requested the recall, he explained.

As you can see, one side of the House is completely empty. In view of this, we have a quorum to sit, but no business before us to transact. Without that, no other authority can bring forward business that has not been adopted for consideration.

“Due to the business committee’s inability to convene, resulting from the refusal of those who requested the recall to appear, we are compelled once again to adjourn the House. Given the challenges we are facing, it is not advisable to adjourn from day to day. Therefore, I will proceed once more to adjourn the sitting indefinitely,” he added.

Parliamentary sittings were initially adjourned on 22 October 2024, following a turbulent day in the chamber marked by intense arguments between MPs from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) over which caucus held the majority.

During the adjournment announcement, Speaker Bagbin mentioned in passing that he had received a message from the Supreme Court instructing him to reverse his previous decision declaring four parliamentary seats vacant. However, he did not elaborate on the message, leaving MPs and observers uncertain about the implications of the Court's order.

Today’s indefinite adjournment marks the second since the dispute over which party holds the majority of seats in Parliament began.

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