Former minister for education Premila Kumar says any move to place the Fiji National University (FNU) under the Prime Minister’s Office would be unlawful and in direct breach of the Fiji National University Act 2009.
Speaking yesterday, Mrs Kumar said the Act clearly defined who had authority over the university and left no room for political interpretation.
“The Fiji National University is governed by statute, and the governing body is the council,” she said.
She said under the Act, members of the FNU Council were appointed by the minister responsible for education, not the Prime Minister.
“The minister responsible for education appoints members of the FNU Council under the provisions of the Act,” she said.
Referring to Section 14 of the legislation, Mrs Kumar said the law was explicit.
“Council members are appointed by the Minister for Education. So how can the Prime Minister take over FNU when he is not the minister for education?”
Mrs Kumar said any verbal directive from the Prime Minister regarding the university had no legal standing.
“A verbal directive from the Prime Minister has no legal force in relation to FNU,” she said.
“FNU is governed by statute, and executive authority cannot override the FNU Act through informal instruction.”
She said there were only two lawful pathways for the Prime Minister to assume responsibility for FNU.
“He must either formally take on the Education portfolio by gazetting or amend the FNU Act through Parliament,” she said.
“Until then, any directive issued by the Prime Minister regarding FNU is legally invalid and should not be recognised.”
Mrs Kumar added that the Act did not designate the Prime Minister as the minister responsible for FNU and that the chancellor was legally bound to recognise and report only to the minister designated by statute.
