THE drama surrounding the closed door meeting by FijiFirst party’s members of Parliament at Suvavou House continued yesterday.
By mid-morning, a handful of curious bystanders had slowly gathered around the building, which houses offices within the Ministry of Justice headed by the Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum.
This while police officers slowly beefed up security around Government Buildings in readiness for what is expected to be a year-end high profile case.
Suvavou House’s main entrance was locked with only a small side door open to the public. While ground floor offices belonging to the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages operated normally, level 7 was off bounds to members of the public, many of whom stopped to pop journalists the question “are they still up there?”
For half of the day, many volunteers from Social Democratic Liberal Party’s (SODELPA) youth wing maintained watch over all building exit points, trying to document and catch a glimpse of government politicians.
But there were no signs of MPs until after noon, when FijiFirst politicians started to trickle out of their meeting venue through the buildings’ front and back entrances, tight-lipped about the circumstances surrounding their closed-door gathering.
Since Tuesday, efforts by executives of SODELPA and National Federation Party (NFP) to serve a copy of the petition against the 2018 General Election results personally on the 27 FijiFirst respondents were unsuccessful.
The Court of Disputed Returns had made an order on Monday for SODELPA leader Sitiveni Rabuka and NFP leader Professor Biman Prasad to personally serve the 28 respondents a copy of the petition against the 2018 General Election results.
They were unsuccessful.
The Court of Disputed Returns yesterday ordered that the petition against the 2018 General Election results be served on the 28 respondents by substitute service via advertisement in the two local newspapers.
The idea of serving the petition via advertisement, the court said, was done to ensure that all the parties are present in court.
When approached for a comment about 1.30pm yesterday, as she attempted to quickly leave the building, Minister for Education, Heritage and Arts Rosy Akbar referred all questions to the A-G. “Any questions about the meeting, ask the A-G,” Ms Akbar said.
At 1.54pm, Minister for Fisheries Semi Koroilavesau entered Suvavou House.
He did not talk to reporters.
When asked about the “meeting” as she departed at 2.01pm, Deputy Speaker and Assistant Minister for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation Veena Bhatnagar described it as a “strategic” and “prior planned” meeting.
She said all MPs were healthy and well.
At 2.04pm, Supervisor of Elections Mohammed Saneem entered Suvavou House only saying when asked a question, “I’m a respondent in the case and my lawyers are here”.
Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Disaster Management and Meteorological Services Jone Usamate declined to comment, saying “the matter is before the court”.
While Minister for Health and Medical Services Dr Ifereimi Waqainabete seemed collected when he left the building from the rear end of Suvavou House, the A-G was swiftly whisked off in his vehicle as soon as he was visible.
Bedding materials, clothes and luggage were also spotted being loaded onto government vehicles at the back of the buildings.
When asked why the meeting had lasted so long, Minister for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation Mereseini Vuniwaqa, who was among the last lot of MPs to be spotted by The Fiji Times journalists, said it was strictly Government’s business.
She referred further questions to the A-G
