The NDC Majority Caucus in Parliament has urged the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, to reject a recall request submitted by Members of Parliament (MPs) from the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

In a memo dated Monday, November 25, and signed by the Minority Leader, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, the Caucus argued that the request did not meet the constitutional and procedural requirements stipulated in Article 112(3) of the 1992 Constitution and Standing Order 53(1) of Parliament.

Dr. Forson contended that the NPP MPs’ petition failed to satisfy the threshold necessary for a recall. He stressed that such requests must adhere to specific legal criteria, which, in this instance, had not been met.

“The discretion to approve or reject the recall lies with the Speaker,” Dr. Forson noted, emphasizing that the required threshold had not been reached.

In the memo, Dr. Forson further urged Speaker Bagbin to exercise his discretion and decline the request, arguing that the petition was inconsistent with parliamentary standing orders and lacked any compelling reasons to warrant reconvening the House.

"Respectfully, Mr. Speaker, we wish to submit that based on the petitioner's own request, you are not obliged to recall Parliament,” the memo stated.

“Further, the petitioner has not demonstrated that there is any emergency nor urgent government business to warrant a recall of Parliament, with barely eleven (11) remaining days to the crucial 2024 General Election,” it added.

The NPP MPs, in their petition dated November 22, had called for Parliament to be recalled immediately to address critical government business.

However, Dr. Forson’s response reflects the opposition’s position, questioning both the necessity and the legal justification for the recall.

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