Deputy speakers now allowed to vote secretly in Parliament – Bagbin

Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin has revealed that the House has reviewed its standing orders making it possible for deputy speakers to vote secretly in the House.

According to Mr Bagbin, the chaos and confusion that characterized voting in the House will end with the review of the standing orders.

Deputy Speakers were previously not allowed in the voting process in the House.

Speaking at a public forum in Tarkoradi, Alban Bagbin said Deputy Speakers can now exercise their franchise by telling the clerks their choices on the matter.

“Now we have come up with new standing orders. So a lot of work has been done within this period. Revising the standing orders which started in 2002 has not been successful until now, but within three years, we have succeeded in doing so.

“The first and second deputy speakers when you are presiding in my absence, you can vote by indicating your preference to the clerks in silence, and he will add to the number.

“It’s not in your place to say those who are supporting say ‘I’ and you are also shouting ‘I’, how then do you determine if you also shout,” the Speaker of Parliament said.

The Supreme Court in April 2022, unanimously dismissed an application for review of its earlier judgement on the voting rights of a deputy speaker or a member presiding in parliament.

Justice Abdulai, a private legal practitioner and plaintiff in the original case filed for a review of the judgement which he said: “constitutes exceptional circumstances that resulted in the miscarriage of Justice.”