Several key PNG hospitals full with Covid patients; Covid-19 case in American Samoa is discussed in Samoa's Parliament; Schools reopen in Tahiti, and more.
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Samoa Parliament
Photo: RNZ Pacific
Under the Constitution, Parliament should convene 45 days after an election. Samoa s general election was held on 9 April.
The emergent Fa atuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) party has a one seat majority in Parliament, following a court case on Monday.
The Office of the Electoral Commission and the Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) sought a court order to stay the execution of a Supreme ruling earlier this week in which a sixth women s seat was declared void.
The motion to stay the execution of Ali imalemanu Alofa Tu uau s seat was rejected today in the Court of Appeal, and she will not be able to sit in parliament when it convenes.
By Fuimaono Dylan Asafo
It was reported that the counsel for the incumbent Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP), Aumua Ming Leung Wai, seeks to justify that declaration, by arguing the call for fresh elections was lawful because they were exercising their reserve powers .
The Attorney General is also likely to make the same argument, and they have indicated that they are likely to engage the services of a Queen s Counsel (a foreign lawyer whose work has been given special acknowledgement by the British Crown) to act or advise on the matter.
In my view, this argument should be rejected, because the Head of State does not have any reserve powers .