Prime Minister and Constitutional Offices Commission (COC) chair Sitiveni Rabuka has put to rest speculation that newly-appointed Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC) Commissioner Barbara Malimali had not resigned from her position as chair of the Electoral Commission of Fiji.
A statement from the PM yesterday stated he had finally received communication from the COC secretariat last Saturday, about 10 days after Ms Malimali was selected for the FICAC job.
Opposition Leader and COC member Inia Seruiratu had expressed earlier concerns that he had not seen Ms Malimali’s resignation letter.
Ms Malimali resigned as EC chairperson on September 3 before taking up the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC) Commissioner role two days later.
In a statement to The Fiji Times yesterday, Mr Rabuka said he was notified of Ms Malimali’s resignation by the secretary of the COC, Solicitor-General Ropate Green.
“I was informed by email from the Solicitor-General as the COC Secretariat at 8.17am on Saturday, 14 September,” Mr Rabuka said.
Last Friday the PM had told this newspaper he had yet to receive the official confirmation of Ms Malimali’s resignation.
The confirmation of Ms Malimali’s resignation from the EC should allay concerns raised by politicians, and the public, on the processes used to appoint Ms Malimali.
Concerns were also raised by Opposition Leader and COC member Inia Seruiratu earlier this month over the fact that they had not seen Ms Malimali’s resignation letter.
Yesterday, Mr Seruiratu maintained his concerns about the manner in which Ms Malimali’s resignation was handled.
“September 14th is a Saturday and not a working day,” he said.
“So it must be just a special delivery to the PM as chair of COC and not the members.
“Why did it take so long for Barbara Malimali’s resignation to reach PM, so the first question is when was the resignation received by the COC Secretariat.”
Mr Seruiratu has called for an investigation into the matter.
“For transparency sake, PM must direct that a special investigation or enquiry be conducted to clear the matter once and for all.”
