Supreme Court to decide on panel of judges

By JACOB POK
THE Supreme Court will today decide on a panel of judges who will hear two special references before it in relation to the actions of Parliament since last Aug 2 that sparked the political impasse in the country.
The two references were filed by Dr Allan Marat and parliament and which contained questions in relation to the actions of parliament since the change of government.
This was when parliament declared a vacancy in the office of the prime minister when Sir Michael Somare was overseas for medical treatment.
Parliament acted on the basis that Sir Michael had missed three consecutive parliament secessions without leave of parliament.
Peter O’Neill took over as prime minister.
The matter was referred to the Supreme Court to decide and on last Dec 12, the court found the election of O’Neill as prime minister invalid and restored Sir Michael as prime minister.
Before the court’s decision, a bill was passed in parliament to amend the Prime Minister and National Executive Council Act that provided a time limit for an acting prime minister to be in office.
The amendment provided that should a prime minister fail to return to resume his position within three months of the appointment of an acting prime minister, a vacancy in the prime minister’s office would occur.
Other changes took place in parliament and O’Neill was again elected by a majority to lead.
That triggered confusion as to which faction is the legitimate government.
The confusion ignited other problems in government offices that the country still faces.
The court will now look into the questions raised in the two references and give its opinion on a way forward to resolve the issue.
The 29 questions raised by Marat in the reference include whether the seat of a MP becomes vacant when the MP is absent from three consecutive parliament secession, whether parliament had inherent power to elect a prime minister when the incumbent abandoned his position, whether section 134 of the Constitution prevents the Supreme Court from making orders that dictate the duties of parliament and other relevant questions.
The three-judge bench headed by Deputy Chief Justice Gibbs Salika, Bernard Sakora and Nicholas Kirriwom will set a time length for the hearing of the references.
Twelve other related cases were stayed pending the hearing of the references.