Academic: Constitution rules

By SHIRLYN BELDEN
THE Constitution must take precedence over all, political scientist Dr Henry Okole said in a brief commentary last week.
Okole was pointing out ideas and agendas that the government or the court did not pursue and which, he said had now ended in a form of dual legitimacy crisis.
He said: “The government system has gone from a three-arm of government to two-arm and now, a dual legitimacy crisis where both the judiciary and parliament are recognising two different prime ministers.”
He mentioned instances that appeared amiss in the process:
l    If the change of government was illegal on Aug 2, wouldn’t it be the case that everything that happened after that date became untenable?
l    When the decision to grant leave to Sir Michael Somare for his medical appointment was rescinded and decided that he had missed three parliament sittings which then created vacancy in the East Sepik regional seat, can such retrospective decisions be recognised when it was due to be ruled in the highest court?
l    If the government appears to be bent on piling up cases (including contemptuous ones) in the courts thus creating delays and frustrating processes, when can the court step in to uphold the Constitution above everything else?
He said the government appeared to be dictating the agenda, time and pace of how developments evolved on the ground.
He said the Constitution, which created the government and the judiciary, must take precedence.
Political scientist Dr Alphonse Gelu of the National Research Institute said before the scuffle with policemen at Government House in Konedobu on Dec 13 that “if the two factions are not controlled, but even worse both will have their own policemen since the police will be divided then it is not good for the country especially when Christmas is near”.