‘Let Parliament and the courts decide’
ANY questions on separation of power, constitutionality and legality must be dealt with by the courts and Parliament, says renowned Fijian academic and director of the University of Canterbury’s Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies, Professor Steven Ratuva.
He was responding to comments made by former attorney-general and FijiFirst party general secretary Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum about alleged incursions into the separation of powers since the coalition Government came in, about 30 days ago.
“One of the critical issues here is that any questions on separation of power, constitutionality and legality must be dealt with by our constitutional and democratic institutions such as courts and Parliament to demonstrate the workability and sustainability of our post-coup democracy — something we still need to demonstrate to the rest of the world,” Prof Ratuva said.
“All the organs of the state, including the military, need to understand where the lines are, although often blurred by politics, and as much as possible, keep within their lanes to ensure stability and democratic sustainability.
“But we all hope that’s not the case and also hope that the commander stands firm and does not succumb to any external political leveraging.”
Prof Ratuva was responding to comments made by Mr SayedKhaiyum at a media conference over the weekend where he claimed there had been “a number of incursions into separation of powers” since the coalition Government came into power.
Mr Sayed-Khaiyum claimed Constitutional Offices Commission members had been unlawfully removed from office and criticised Home Affairs Minister Pio Tikoduadua for asking Police Commissioner Brigadier General Sitiveni Qiliho to resign. He also complained about the Government replacing boards of statutory authorities before expiry of their terms.