Even though the Fomena Member of Parliament, Andrews Asiamah has declared his intentions to join the New Patriotic Party side of the house, yet legal Practitioner, Lawyer Osei Kwadwo says the fate of who to be declared as majority lies in the hands of the speaker.

According to him, the letter to the speaker from the Fomena legislature did not state clearly as to whether he wants to be recognized as an NPP Member of Parliament or just to do business with the NPP side of the house as he remains an independent MP.

Andrews Asiamah, Fomena Member of Parliament wrote to the Speaker of Parliament to officially notify him of his decision to align with the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Caucus.

This settles the stalemate in Parliament as both the governing NPP and opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) and draws the line as “For the avoidance of doubt, I do hereby affirm that I shall cooperate and collaborate with the NPP Caucus in the 8th Parliament,” he concluded.

It is believed that the letter from Andrews Asiamah will help decide who sits where in Parliament.

It has therefore become necessary as both the NPP and the NDC side of the house struggles to be the majority of the house after the 2020 December 7 polls saw both winning 37 seats out of the 275 seats in parliament with the remaining one seat being occupied by the Independent Fomena MP.

The said MP was a member of parliament on the ticket of the NPP until the party’s parliamentary primaries in 2020 which he caused his decision to go independent with claims of him being cheated at the primaries.

His decision triggered lots of harsh treatment from NPP which led to his sack from the party and parliament after the New Patriotic Party executives wrote to the then speaker Prof Aaron Mike Oquaye to that effect.

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The then flagbearer of the NPP, Nana Addo Danquah Akufo Addo called on the people of Fomena when he visited the area prior to the election to vote against Mr Asiamah claiming he can’t work with an independent candidate.

This was standing until last evening when the Independent candidate wrote to the speaker on his intentions to do business with the NPP side of the house.

But according to Lawyer Osei, if the decision of the MP is to fully be an NPP MP, then there will be a by-election as per the constitution.

"The issue of the independent candidate must be resolved because the Speaker has the power to decide hence the NPP's determination to get Mike Oquaye to take that post. The former speaker is a complete party member of the NPP and this wouldn't have been a headache for the incumbent government.

"The seat of the independent candidate is a distinct position because he was denounced by the party and the speaker as a member once he decided to go independent. The issue would have been resolved easily had Mike Oquaye been elected as the Speaker of Parliament.

"We are waiting to see the action of the speaker regarding the matter."