Leader of the Opposition Inia Seruiratu says the if\u00a0Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka is serious about accountability, there is a clear and honourable course\u00a0available to him and he\u00a0should take guidance from the precedent set by former Prime Ministers Professor Biman Prasad and\u00a0Manoa Kamikamica and immediately step aside as Prime Minister while the appeal\u00a0process is underway.<\/p>\n
He has highlighted this after Rabuka had\u00a0indicated that he will appeal the High Court\u2019s decision that the dismissal of Barbara Malimali as FICAC Commissioner, based on his advice to the President, was unlawful.<\/p>\n
Rabuka had said yesterday that he is considering resigning if the appeal fails.<\/p>\n
In a statement,\u00a0Seruiratu says stepping aside\u00a0is the only action that would demonstrate credibility, respect for the rule of law and\u00a0genuine concern for the integrity of public office and anything short of that is mere theatrics, a\u00a0distraction tactic that does nothing to restore public confidence or address the damage already\u00a0done.<\/p>\n
He says the Prime Minister\u2019s sudden suggestion that he may resign is nothing more than a calculated\u00a0attempt to generate sympathy for the very chaos he has personally created and inflicted on the\u00a0nation.<\/p>\n
Seruiratu\u00a0says this is not statesmanship, it is a display of disingenuous emotion and crocodile tears calculated\u00a0to invite sympathy rather than accept responsibility.<\/p>\n
The Leader of the Opposition says the Prime Minister knows full well that\u00a0by the time any appeal arising from the Malimali judgement is heard, Parliament will in all\u00a0likelihood already be dissolved. <\/p>\n
He says floating the idea of resignation now without taking any\u00a0concrete step is therefore a hollow gesture designed to distract the public and deflect\u00a0responsibility.<\/p>\n
Seruiratu says the people of Fiji should not be treated as an audience in a circus show, everything that has\u00a0gone wrong in this matter begins and ends with the Prime Minister.<\/p>\n
He says by his own admission, the\u00a0decision under legal scrutiny was his alone and the instability, confusion and legal disorder now\u00a0confronting the country are the direct result of his actions.<\/p>\n
The Opposition Leader highlights that is not an isolated incident it is part of a never-ending drama that has come to define this\u00a0Government, a pattern of reckless decision-making followed by damage control, excuses and\u00a0blame-shifting.<\/p>\n
Seruiratu says that is the true measure of the chaos Fiji is now enduring.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, following today’s Cabinet Meeting, Minister for Information, Lynda Tabuya says\u00a0Rabuka will now assess the presentation and options given by Solicitor General, Ropate Green, and also await the Judicial Services Commission’s decisions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tabuya says Prime Minister has asked to be given a few days to consider the possibilities of the way forward, and an appeal is available to the Prime Minister as is the process that is available to any citizen of the country.<\/p>\n
Tabuya says the court could not order the reinstatement of Barbara Malimali or decide on damages, leaving the matter to the Judicial Services Commission. <\/p>\n
She says the JSC will now convene to decide on Malimali\u2019s future, stressing that the Commission is independent of the Executive.<\/p>\n
Tabuya adds that once the JSC makes its decision, it will be up to the Prime Minister to consider whether to file an appeal, noting that he acted based on legal advice from King\u2019s Counsel in New Zealand and not on his own.<\/p>\n
Tabuya also says there was also a resounding sentiment in cabinet today that they will not accept the Prime Minister’s resignation and they fully support him as the Prime Minister.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Leader of the Opposition Inia Seruiratu says the if\u00a0Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka is serious about accountability, there is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":265620,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[151499,42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-265619","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-coi-court","9":"tag-headlines","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-top-news","12":"tag-top-stories","13":"tag-topnews","14":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=265619"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265619\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/265620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}