The Minority Leader, Alexan­der Afenyo-Mar­kin, has filed a motion to vacate the ruling of the First Deputy Speaker Bernard Ahiafor, which sustained a pre­liminary objection to a private member's motion.The motion numbered 16 was seeking parliamentary consid­eration of the Chief of Staff's directive concerning mass revo­cation of public sector appoint­ments.According to Mr Afen­yo-Markin, the ruling which "fundamentally misconceives the nature and application of the sub judice rule, erroneously subordi­nates Parliament's constitutional mandate to the mere existence of related litigation and estab­ lishes a dangerous precedent that threatens the very foundations of parliamentary democracy in Ghana."He made the application on the Floor of Parliament on Fri­day in Accra.Mr Afenyo-Markin cited the Supreme Court's recent decision in Vincent Ekow Assafuah versus Attorney General, which alleged­ly held that a constitutional body could not be restrained from performing its mandate by the mere filing of an action.He indicated that only an ex­press court injunction, supported by cogent evidence of irreparable harm, could halt the constitution­al functions of a state institution.He argued that the mere pendency of the action cannot, therefore, justify parliamentary inaction."Mr Speaker, Parliament's deliberative function cannot be suspended simply because a citizen has chosen to file a lawsuit touching upon a similar subject matter," he added.Mr Afenyo-Markin who expressed worry at the potential dangers of the ruling, stated that it "creates a perverse incentive structure whereby any individual could effectively silence Parlia­ment by filing a lawsuit touching upon matters of public debate."The Minority Leader, there­fore, urged the Speaker to exer­cise the revisionary jurisdiction conferred by Order 127 of the Standing Orders of the House to set aside the ruling and restore Motion No. 16 to the parliamen­tary agenda for debate.Such an action he explained would reaffirm Parliament's constitutional independence, protect the integrity of demo­cratic accountability, and ensure that urgent matters of national importance receive the attention they deserve.BY LAWRENCE VOMA­FA-AKPALU