WHY can’t the Coalition Government use section 111 of the Constitution now when they used it on former senior officers of independent commissions?
That was the question raised by Opposition Leader Inia Seruiratu as he aired his concerns over the Government’s inaction in dealing with allegations involving key constitutional office holders, despite established processes in place under the law.
In an interview with The Fiji Times yesterday, Mr Seruiratu said he was concerned about the Government’s inaction on senior officials of independent institutions who’d been named in the Commission of Inquiry (COI) report.
“I respect that process laid out according to the laws that we have,” he said.
“At the same time, I have concerns about actions not being taken that are within the already established laws. For example, section 111 of the Constitution.
“Initially, when they came into government, the powers that were given to the COC (Constitutional Officers Commission), they used those powers. They recommended to the President that the (former) Commissioner of Police be suspended, that the (former) Commissioner of Correction Services be suspended pending the conduct of a tribunal. The (former) supervisor of elections – that’s the COC.
“For the JSC (Judicial Services Commission), they invoked section 111 to suspend and set up a tribunal for the previous chief justice, Justice Kamal.
“Why can’t the Government use those provisions now?”
Section 111 of the 2013 Constitution states the President can suspend or remove the Chief Justice, or the President of the Court of Appeal upon the advice of the Prime Minister.
He said the Government could not be selective about when to act.
“They appointed the CJ and now the responsibility and the challenge is, what will they do now, given that there are allegations, reports, including the COI report?
“It’s for the Government to take that responsibility and do something about it.”
