THE 1997 Constitution remains Fiji’s supreme law, says former Speaker of the House Pita Nacuva.
Mr Nacuva, who was removed from office in 2006, maintains that legal precedent upholds the validity of the 1997 Constitution.
“You know, unfortunately, I was removed in 2006, and I wrote a clear letter to the acting Prime Minister then,” he said.
“I feel sorry for the acting Prime Minister who came and acted on my position.”
Referring to legal proceedings dating back to 2006, Mr Nacuva pointed to the Court of Appeal’s 2009 ruling as critical in the constitutional debate.
“If you take back this Court of Appeal decision, start from 2006, when Qarase (late prime minister Laisenia Qarase) and their group took the matter up in court against Bainimarama,” he said.
“And of course, Bainimarama won the High Court decision. Then Qarase, and they appealed, which is a process – you go to the Court of Appeal.”
Mr Nacuva argued that the Court of Appeal ruling on April 9, 2009, remains unchallenged in law.
“That decision still holds because the process of law states that if one party is not happy with the Court of Appeal decision, they take it to the Supreme Court for final jurisdiction,” he said.
“But what happened? Unfortunately, that decision came on a Thursday, April 9. Then on Good Friday, April 10, 2009, the President purported to have abrogated the Constitution.
“If Bainimarama was not pleased with that decision, he should have taken it up to the Supreme Court, which is the final jurisdiction. But they resolved to do what they did.
“As far as I’m concerned, I am not interested in anything else because my focus is still on the Court of Appeal decision and on the 1997 Constitution, which I believe is still there.
“That’s why I said no beating around the bush. We must look at justice, and the Court of Appeal decision is still there. It’s never been challenged. It could only be challenged if the other party had taken it to the Supreme Court, which they didn’t. They decided to abrogate.”
