Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka has confirmed that he will appeal the decision quashing the Commission of Inquiry report into Barbara Malimali’s appointment as FICAC Commissioner and will resign if he fails in the Court of Appeal or, if necessary, the Supreme Court.
He says he is appealing the parts of the ruling that implicates him and not on the whole ruling, depending on what his lawyers advice.
Rabuka says he is not the author of the COI report, he made the recommendation and it’s up to the advice he gets from the Attorney General, the Solicitor General and his personal counsel Simione Valenitabua.
He stresses that the President only acts on advice and the onus is on him as the Prime Minister.
When questioned on the ruling that natural justice was denied to Malimali, former Attorney General Graham Leung and lawyers Wylie Clarke and Laurel Vaurasi, Rabuka says that is outside the scope of the advice the President and is a procedural thing, which is beyond their control.
He further says that he does not have to right to give them the right to respond to anything as he is not investigating anyone.
When questioned about the amount of money spent on the whole COI exercise, the two High Court rulings going against him and the impact on Deputy Prime Minister Manoa Kamikamica, Rabuka says
they couldn't have foreseen the expenditure at the beginning.
He says the COI Commissioner took the time required, and the rates provided by the Commissioner and the counsel assisting were approved by the Office of the Solicitor-General.
Rabuka did not confirm how much was spent on the COI.
