Zanetor, Ashietey to slug it out again
The decision by the Supreme Court to put on hold a suit challenging the candidature of Dr Zanetor Agyeman Rawlings as the National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary nominee for the Klottey Korley Constituency is set to undergo a review.
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This follows an application filed by the incumbent MP for the constituency, Nii Armah Ashietey, for a review of the apex court’s majority decision on May 19, 2016 to stay proceedings of the suit at the High Court until the Supreme Court determines a constitutional matter related to the case.
Judgement
The Supreme Court had, in a 4-1 majority decision, held that the trial judge at the High Court erred in law when he assumed jurisdiction over Article 94 Clause 1 (a) of the 1992 Constitution when it became a bone of contention in the case.
“When the issue of an interpretation of the Constitution had arisen, the court ought to have stayed proceedings and referred it to the Supreme Court. We have, therefore, stayed the proceedings of the High Court hearing and refer that aspect to ourselves (Supreme Court),’’ it held.
Application
In his application for review, however, Nii Ashietey claimed that Dr Zanetor misled the court in her application seeking to quash a ruling by the High Court to continue hearing the case.
According to him, Dr Zanetor’s application was for the court to quash a ruling made by the High Court on March 22, 2016, but she misled the court by making reference to another ruling by the court on February 22, 2016.
“The majority decision of the court, having discovered that the reference being made was not captured in the ruling dated March 22, 2016, ought to have refused the application for certiorari and not having done so is exceptional and same has occasioned a miscarriage of justice,’’ the application said.
It further claimed that the apex court failed to consider the constitution of the NDC and the party’s internal rules governing the conduct of parliamentary primaries.
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“The failure of the court to consider that the entire case before the High Court is not about interpretation of Article 94 of the 1992 Constitution but rather the enforcement of the NDC constitution and rules has resulted in a miscarriage of justice to the applicant (Ashietey),” it claimed.
The Supreme Court has, meanwhile, directed Dr Zanetor’s legal team to file a response to the review application by June 10, 2016.
The Chief Justice is expected to constitute a panel to hear the application for review.
Background
Nii Ashietey took the NDC and Dr Zanetor to the High Court, claiming that she was not a registered voter and, therefore, her election as a parliamentary candidate of the NDC violated the party’s constitution and, thus, it was null, void and of no effect.
His legal team is seeking the court to declare her election null and void and order a re-run between Nii Ashietey and another contender in the election, Nii John Coleman.