Judge to rule on Mikaele Leawere's case on Monday

High Court Judge, Justice David Alfred will rule next Monday on whether SODELPA’s, Mikaele Leawere is the rightful holder of the parliamentary seat and whether the Electoral Commission made the right decision in awarding him the seat.

The lawyer for the Electoral Commission, Bhupendra Patel today told the High Court that the commission correctly awarded the parliament seat to SODELPA’s Mikaele Leawere after the passing away of SODELPA MP, Ratu Viliame Tagivetaua.

While arguing the case on behalf of the commission, Patel mentioned that the award was made under the Electoral Decree.

He says the seat was awarded on the 27th of April and the commission carried out it’s duty under the law to award the seat to Leawere.

Patel also highlighted that Opposition Leader, Ro Teimumu Kepa had written a letter to the commission in March this year which also included attached letters from July 17th, 2014 showing that Mikaele Leawere wrote to the Fijian Teachers Association stating that he is to file his nomination for elections and tendered his resignation from FTA.

Patel says the resignation was also accepted by FTA on 18th July, 2014.

He told presiding judge, Justice David Alfred that there is no law that prohibits Leawere from holding the parliamentary seat.

Patel says the Electoral Commission had to pick the name of the highest ranked candidate from the same party who did not get elected in the elections. He says there is no dispute that Leawere was the highest ranked candidate.

Patel says the commission can only refuse to award the seat to a candidate if he or she is not available at the date of the vacancy.

The Attorney General’s petition seeks a determination that the Electoral Commission erred in law in awarding a vacant parliamentary seat to Leawere, who was the SODELPA candidate with the highest number of votes in the September 2014 General Election after SODELPA MP, Ratu Viliame Tagivetaua’s death on March 5th this year.

Mikaele Leawere’s lawyer, Jon Apted said in court today that Leawere had already resigned from FTA before the general elections. Apted says Leawere resumed employment at FTA after he was unsuccessful in the elections.

Lawyer for the AG’s Office, Devinesh Sharma says the law is clear that if you are a holder of a public office, your nomination becomes invalid after you take up public office.

Sharma says Leawere was disqualified from January this year when he took up office at the Fijian Teachers Association. He says he was still holding that position when he was approached to take up the parliament seat in March.

Under section 64 of the constitution, when a seat of a member from a political party becomes vacant, the Commission must award the seat to the candidate of the same party who in the past general election is the highest ranked of the candidates who did not get elected to Parliament and who is available to serve.

Mikaele Leawere’s lawyer, Jon Apted says Leawere was the highest ranked SODELPA candidate who was not a member of Parliament. He says based on this, the Electoral Commission awarded the seat to Leawere.