Biman suggests neutral ‘counsel’
BECAUSE of the Government majority membership, an independent parliamentary counsel should have been requested to guide the Parliamentary Privileges Committee on the report that was tabled in Parliament on a matter of privilege against Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama and Opposition MP Pio
Tikoduadua.
According to the verbatim report of September 3, this was proposed by Opposition
MP Professor Biman Prasad while giving evidence before the committee.
The recommendation from the committee tabled in Parliament on September
6 stated that the two MPs apologise in Parliament or face six months suspension.
Government MP
Inia Seruiratu said the responsibility of the committee was to ascertain facts.
In response, Prof Prasad said the issue was that the majority of the committee members were Government
MPs.
“An independent parliamentary counsel to help this committee go through the facts and the evidence before a report is prepared would be very helpful,” he said.
“As I said, this committee for all intention and purposes is a committee which has a majority of the members from the ruling party.
“When the report goes to Parliament, it will also again have the majority of the members from the ruling party and this is why your statement is such an important statement honourable minister that this committee, in my view, has to ascertain all the facts, the evidence and if this committee, which has the powers of the High Court, you are calling witnesses like us, then you should, because not everyone has, including myself, legal knowledge of a lot of things.”
An independent parliamentary counsel to help this committee go through facts and the evidence before a report is prepared would be very helpful. – Prof Biman Prasad