Goroka MP granted leave to review court decision

The Supreme Court has granted Goroka Open MP Henry Ame an application for leave to review the decision taken to recount the votes for the Goroka open seat.
The court also dismissed an application by the runner-up, Bire Kimisopa, to dismiss Ame’s leave for review application.
Justice Derek Hartshorn granted Ame’s application to review the decision of the recount for the Goroka open seat that was held in July last year, saying the MP was not given a chance to argue the recount results.
“I am satisfied that the applicant (Ame) has successfully made out that he has a serious issue that he was denied natural justice in that by his counsel, he was not given the opportunity to fully argue the merits of the first respondent’s (Kimisopa) application disputing the result of the recount,” Hartshorn said.
“I am also satisfied that the applicant has demonstrated serious issues on points of law to be determined such that if leave is granted, the applicant is likely to succeed. Consequently, the application for leave for review should be granted.”
The court in February rejected a National Court-ordered recount of for Goroka open and declared the election of Ame void and ordered a by-election.