I received this comment indirectly via an email and hope the author does not mind me using it.
Throughout this whole matter, with the wranglings of ANZ versus MSG and the normal protocol lines of foreign policy talk, including a short press statement by MSG Secretariat on the postponment matter, there has been one important matter missing. Either the media have missed out on it, or no-one is reading between the lines.
The MSG has a formal Constitution document, which drafted by Vanuatu lawyer Bill Bani. If there is a procedural question as to the holding of a meeting or the term of office of a chairmanship, is it not the 'normal thing' to check what the Constitution of MSG says in regards to such a matter. In listening to Radio Australia, Daily Post and other media outlets, I have not come across any comment or statement as to what the MSG Constitution states in these matters.
This Constitution was signed and passed by the MSG Leaders in Port Vila in 2008 during the MSG Leaders Summit and opening of the MSG building. Surely, some lawyer or journalist out there has a copy and can interpret the exact provision.
From a Vanuatu context and perspective, it is not the first time that a person like the Honourable Edward Natapei has come into strife with the reading and application of a Constitution. Only recently in April 2010, the VP Constitution was tested and twisted when it came to term of office and election matters during its Congress. Now we have the MSG issue of Chairmanship involving the same leader.
As I conclude, can someone please bring out the MSG Constitution, especially in regards to "postponement" and "chairmanship".
3 comments:
Who cares about the MSG and its constitution? What about the constitution of Fiji? Where has that gone? By whose authority was that torn up?
Get a grip Croz. Sometimes you focus on such minutiae you miss the big picture.
possibly the MSG scrapped it like the fijian constitution and will now rule by decree because they feel they can and have told anyone who'll listen how popular their policy is and preclude anyone from saying anything different.
Me thinks this might bite both ways:
Not sure how Bainimarama's unilateral attempt to convert MSG into "MSG Plus" would fly within the framework of this constitution.
Beside Croz, as pointed out by the first commentator, you're on record supporting the ejection of a constitution that "was't working".
That said, it's moot. This new meeting in Fiji is not an MSG meeting any more.
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