The 2013 Constitution of the Republic of Fiji must be obliterated.
This was the submission of Suva lawyer Simione Valenitabua, representing The People’s Alliance party, during the high-profile constitutional reference brought by Cabinet seeking interpretation of sections 159 and 160 of the 2013 Constitution.
Mr Valenitabua argued that the 1997 Constitution was never lawfully abrogated.
“We invite this honourable court to perform its deepest duty to restore the rule of law by reviving the lawful supreme laws,” he said.
He told the Court it has the ultimate power and duty to withhold recognition from any purported constitutional provision that lacks fundamental legal authority.
He further submitted that the 2013 Constitution did not meet the standards established in the Prasad and Qarase cases because it failed to follow the lawful processes of the 1997 Constitution.
“The current government’s democratic mandate does not cure this original defect. It makes the need for a cure more urgent.”
Mr Valenitabua also described sections 2, 158, 173(4), 159 and 160 of the current Constitution as undemocratic.
“They are mechanisms designed to entrench an unlawful overthrow. The only logical conclusion compelled by Prasad and Qarase is that the 2013 constitution in its entirety is legally ineffective and must be obliterated.
“We urge this court to find as a preliminary issue concerning question 5 (e) that the 2013 constitution is void and of no legal force or effect, and that the 1997 constitution is valid and applicable.”