Declare seats of absentee MPs vacant – Group petitions Speaker

Pressure group, Economic Fighters Group, has submitted a petition to the Speaker of Parliament, Prof Mike Ocquaye, demanding that he declares the seats of 54 notorious absentee Legislators vacant.

Basing their demands on the dictates of the Constitution (Article 97(1)(c)) the group stated said the erring Parliamentarians should first be dragged to the Privileges Committee for an explanation before taking the firm action, myjoyonline.com reports.!

“You have had on several occasions to adjourn sittings for want of quorum. Recently, the First Deputy Speaker lamented this attitude of absenteeism and said those who absent themselves should probably not be in the House. They should leave. He was right as this is the position of the constitution. Absenteeism not only deprives us, the poor people of proper representation in Parliament, it can only lead to poor scrutiny of bills, agreements and other Executive actions. It also cost us money,” the pressure group said in the petition.

Published below are the petition and the list of absentee MPs which Economic Fighters Group is recommending sanctions against.

Published below are the petition and the list of absentee MPs which Economic Fighters Group is recommending sanctions against.