POSITION OF THE SPEAKER || by James Litai via his facebook post on the 29th of May 2019
The speaker may have some genuine grounds in refusing to vacate the chair because no provision in the constitution regarding dismissal and removal.
Please read this article before all muds are hurled at me. We are all united in the spirit to remove corruption and take back PNG.
The offices of the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker are established by section 107 and preceding subsections of the constitution. The functions of the Parliament Speaker and the Deputy Speaker are explicit in section 108.
There is no provisions regarding dismissal and removal of the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker. This means a Speaker is elected by Parliament during formation of government every after National Elections to remain on the chair for full term until the next election.
On the other hand, there is provision in the constitution to remove and dismiss from office a Prime Minister by section 142 subsection 5, and this applies to the Governor General by section 93.
The framers of the constitution may have forgotten, or maybe a deliberate to include clauses stipulating speakers removal and dismissal. Therefore, Pomat’s refusal to vacant the chair is genuine according to statutes.
Our important move in the VONC maybe stalled if Mr. Speaker runs to the Supreme Court to seek constitutional interpretation of this matter.
To my understanding, the Supreme Court refer to precedents reported in the PNG Law Reports to hand down Supreme Court Ruling (SCR) in such cases where there is no written law in place. If this case regarding the speaker becomes the first of its kind then whatever SCR will be the first precedent.
The constitution has been amended 22 times since independence to current. I would rather suggest to the Law Reform Commission and Office of the Legislative Council to recommend that the constitution be amended by Parliament after this VONC.
ALREADY TIRED OF UNNECESSARY DELAY AND ADJOURNMENT OF VONC..
[End of Litai’s post]
Yalo Hexton Kapili I wholeheartedly endorse this statement. I am bit compelled to add few words of my own here which am doing so as stated hereunder.
The election of the Speaker of Parliament is plainly stipulated in Section 107(2) of the Constitution where it says that the Speaker shall be elected by the Parliament by secret ballot in accordance with the Standing Orders of Parliament.
Clause 5 of the Standing Orders of Parliament succinctly provides the procedures for the election of Speaker by the Parliament in strict compliance with Schedule 1 of same.
The key word to emphasize and interpret is the word “Parliament”. Hence, what is the meaning of Parliament according to PNG context?
According to Section 3(1) of the Interpretation Act Chapter 2, it defines Parliament as the National Parliament established by Section 99 (structure of Government) of the Constitution.
According to Section 99 of the Constitution, Parliament means the 3 arms of the Government where the power, authority and jurisdiction of the people are vested and to be exercised by the National Government.
Subsection (3) of Section 99 clearly states the doctrine of separation of powers between the 3 arms of the Government which make the Parliament.
Well may as it be the law, I now crossed over to touch on what transpired in the Parliament today. The Executive arm of the Government today was led by a minority group. The Speaker was part of the Minority group. The minority group presided over the session of Parliament. The minority group had the upper hand in Parliament today.
The Majority group was overwhelming controlled and manipulated by the Minority group. The subjects of debate brought into Parliament by the majority group was done subject to the permit and control of the Minority group.
In that sense, the healthy democratic practice of parliamentary democracy where Majority rules has been given no meaning. The numerical strength of the Alternate Government team has no effect today.
Yalo Hexton Kapili Continuing..:
Now to the issue of electing of Speaker by the Parliament. The Alternate Government team would have sought leave of Parliament to suspend the terms of the Standing Orders to proceed on with the election of a new Speaker without even notifying the incumbent Speaker of same as they have the numerical strength to do so. It was the Parliament that would have elected the new Speaker by secret ballot presided over by the Clerk of the Parliament as Chairman as provided for under Clause 5 of the Standing Orders of Parliament. The Alternate Government team failed in this area.
As a result of that failure, Parliament was brought into disgrace which eventually resulted in adjourning Parliament to tomorrow.
That’s my personal view relating to what transpired in the Parliament today. Apart from these, I wholeheartedly agree with my mentor James Litai here.
Thank you.
In Kamong We Trust and Live..!
[End of Yalo’s Posts]
Schedule 1.10 (3) that was quoted and intended to be exercised by the Alternative Government, pertinent to the motion on the 18th May 2019 at Parliament, is also attached below
Disclaimer: The opinions above represent the view of the original authors and not the editor of this blog. Mr James Litai is a seasoned Legal Studies educator and author and Yalo Kapili is a practicing lawyer.
Balcony Perspectives 