Salesi Temo has finally acknowledged defeat after his petulant standoff with the President and Prime Minister in which he refused to acknowledge that the Prime Minister had gone over his head and appealed the decision by Justice Dane Tuiqereqere that he had no legal right to remove Barbara Malimali as FICAC Commissioner.
Grubsheet was first with the news on March 11 that Sitiveni Rabuka had done another back-flip and reversed his decision not to take the case to the Court of Appeal. The appeal was lodged yet there was no response from the Judicial Services Commission, which had told the President that because Tuiqereqere had ruled that it, not the Prime Minister, had the sole power to appoint or remove the head of the corruption watchdog, he must remove Malimali’s replacement, Lavi Rokoika.
The President, Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu, chose not to do so, reportedly muttering that Barbara Malimali would return to FICAC “over my dead body”. Days went by and a JSC meeting to discuss the deadlock had to be abandoned when the Chief Justice inexplicably didn’t turn up, depriving it of the quorum it needs under the Constitution. And then came the announcement by the Prime Minister that he would appeal the Tuiqereqere decision after all.
Two weeks went by with no response from Salesi Temo and the JSC. But then finally yesterday, the deadlock was broken when the Chief Justice announced that any action on removing Lavi Rokoika (and presumably reinstalling Barbara Malimali) will have to wait for the Court of Appeal hearing.
Of course it has to wait. So why did it take so long for Temo to bow to the inevitable? Simple, at least as Grubsheet sees it. Because he is a bloody-minded egotist who assumed that Justice Tuiqereqere’s ruling was all he needed to get what he wants. That his old friend and relative by marriage, the President, would do as he was told.
Alas for the Chief Justice, that isn’t going to happen. And the question now is whether Salesi Temo will pay for his lèse-majesté – his offence against the dignity of the Head of State. Will the President – on the recommendation of the Prime Minister – finally accept the advice of the Ashton-Lewis Commission of Inquiry that the CJ be suspended?
Temo has given a rambling interview to CFL-Fiji Village (see below) with the reasoning for finally backing down which again underlines his unsuitability to head the judiciary. But let’s just cut to the chase here and explain, more or less, what Grubsheet understands will happen now.
1/ The application for the appeal by the Prime Minister was lodged two weeks ago and we now await a date for the hearing from the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Isikeli Mataitoga, and his decision on which three judges will hear it. Mataitoga can’t do so because he is a member of the JSC and would be conflicted.
2/ Grubsheet understands another request has reportedly gone/will go to Justice Tuiqereqere at the High Court asking him to delay hearing all applications for judicial review of the Ashton-Lewis Commission of Inquiry that are before him until the Court of Appeal gives its verdict. Presumably the same will apply to the applications for a permanent stay of FICAC proceedings against the sidelined deputy prime ministers, Manoa Kamikamica and Biman Prasad.
3/ All this means that the colourful cast of characters before the courts seeking to torpedo the Ashton-Lewis Commission of Inquiry are going to have to wait. How long will the Court of Appeal hearing take? How long is a piece of string? It depends whether it is fast-tracked or the wheels of justice turn slowly, which could mean many months, and with an election creeping ever closer.
4/ In the meantime, the Prime Minister’s legal team is working to prepare his case – the lead counsel, Dr Andrew Butler KC, his consultant and expert witness, Professor Philip Joseph and their junior, the PM’s lawyer, Simione Valenitabua. Who will face them to argue the case for Justice Tuiqereqere’s ruling to be upheld isn’t yet clear. Yet given that another Kings Counsel in the form of Martin Daubney argued the stay of proceedings application last week on behalf of Manoa Kamikamica and Biman Prasad, we can expect a KC from overseas to be hired to go up against Dr Butler and Professor Joseph.
It is all going to take time and with the clock ticking down to election day. And it is going to be the mother of all courtroom dramas – with the prestige of the Prime Minister and President firmly on the line. If Sitiveni Rabuka loses this case, it won’t just have serious implications for the aforementioned colourful characters but his own mana and prestige and the prestige of the state.
Already, there is deep division in the government over Rabuka’s decision to appeal the Tuiqereqere decision in the first place, especially after all his to-ing and fro-ing. But if he loses, it will be a personal disaster for him, a severe embarrassment for the Head of State – who happens to be his chief – and a disaster for the government as a whole. It will again bring into question the Prime Minister’s judgment and ability to lead, arm his critics within the Coalition with the further ammunition they need to replace him and severely dent his electoral standing.
On the other hand, if Rabuka wins, it provides him with a powerful platform on which to fight the election as a relative clean-skin. He can argue that it might have taken him time but he has established an important constitutional principle that the Prime Minister has the ultimate power of appointment and removal. And it will give him the legal power he needs to move against the “crocodiles” he asked Justice David Ashton-Lewis to identify, go to the nation as a reformer and corruption fighter (the gold Rolex aside) and enter the history books in a much better position than he is destined to inhabit if he loses.
Fasten your seat belts, Fiji. It’s going to be one hell of a ride.
Timeline. Some of the stories of the past few weeks.
The Tuiqereqere decision…
Vaka malua…The on and off appeal…
The standoff as the President digs in…
Breaking…Grubsheet is first with the news that the PM has changed his mind. Again.
And some of the follow-up…
The Coalition Government has gone rogue big time…Ram Puker sh*ts on all aspects of good governance with no consequences or curbs. Military, GC Chors, and Judiciary compromised in his service. Evil 😈 🦹♀️ empire of drugs, racism, violence and abuse of office. Truth Fiji 🇫🇯 🙌 👏 All this plays out to an increasingly dumbed down Fijian populace high on racism and ethno-nationalist posturing.
The alleged statement to President and Prime Minister that if the PM appealed the Malimali court decision, he would acquit the former Attorney General and Supervisor of Elections on the charges before him now come into sharp focus for the CJ.
At next Monday’s hearing, the CJ will deliver his verdict on the charges brought against former Attorney General and Supervisor of Elections, unless of course he again delays?
Many will watch and wager what the outcome will be!
Surely, saying that he would base his verdict on what someone else did or didn’t do would be grounds for an investigation, at the very least.
A person or persons can only be judged on the evidence presented,
and their fate has nothing to do with anything other than the evidence provided in the court and the case being proven, beyond reasonable doubt.
For a member of the judiciary to even think of the above scenario would or should be grounds for the removal of that person and a case brought against him or her.
But, of course we are talking about this happening in Fiji, so none of the above would apply. All that is missing is the group of guys on horses with a rope, looking for a suitable tree.