NDC MP for Tamale Central, Inusah Fuseini, believes John Mahama may be entitled to two more terms in office despite already having served one four year term.
He argued on Citi TV’s Breakfast Daily that the relevant constitutional provision refers to a limit of two consecutive terms.
Mr. Fuseini said he will seek the interpretation of that provision if Mr. Mahama wins the 2020 election.
Mr. Mahama is viewed as the frontrunner of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential primary race after announcing his comeback to politics.
He already served as President from 2012 to 2017 after first taking over from the late John Atta Mills and then winning the 2012 elections.
Mr. Mahama was then defeated by Nana Akufo-Addo in 2016.
“Reading the constitution carefully, it appears to me that when they say two terms, they read into the two terms two consecutive terms… [the] former President, having served one term; if he is elected in 2020, might be entitled to two consecutive terms. There are precedents in many other places who have these provisions in their constitutions,” the MP stated.
“When the constitution says two terms, it [may mean] one term following another term and that the former president having served one term, if he is elected in 2020, we could go to court and I am prepared to go to court if he is elected in 2020.”
The MP’s plan follows a petition that was sent to Parliament, the Judiciary and other influential statesmen by the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party, Bernard Antwi Bosiako.
The said petition is aimed at challenging the eligibility of the former president to contest the presidential elections in 2020 as he has already served as president of the republic.
What the constitution says
Ghana’s constitution in Article 66 notes that:
A person elected as President shall, subject to clause (3) of this article, hold office for a term of four years beginning from the date on which he is sworn in as President.
(2) A person shall not be elected to hold office as President of Ghana for more than two terms.
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By: Anass Seidu | citinewsroom.com | Ghana