ATTORNEY-GENERAL and Minister for Economy, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said Parliament did not have any authority over Parliamentary Standing Committees.
He said the Code of Conduct Bill had not been approved by Parliament.
“And if you read Section 121 of the Constitution, it says that the Accountability and Transparency Commission is established under Section 121 of the Fijian Constitution,” he said.
“Anyone with a pedestrian knowledge of the Standing Orders would know that this floor of Parliament does not have any authority over the committees.
“The committees have their jurisdiction, if you like.
“They determine their work schedule and it is upon them to determine what is deemed priority or not.
“This is why we sometimes bring things under Standing Order 51, it is precisely the reason, to get those things elevated on the order list.”
Mr Sayed-Khaiyum made the comments in response to Opposition MP Pio Tikoduadua’s query on the status of the Accountability and Transparency Commission.
Mr Tikoduadua said it was an urgent matter and questioned why it took so long for the “committee to deliberate on it”.
Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said for the first time, Fiji was going to have a Code of Conduct Bill.
“The 1997 Constitution made a reference to the Code of Conduct Bill, no Government has put that in place.
“We have now put this in place, widespread consultations, and it affects all of you also, and this is why it was put before the committee.”
