The logic of moving the Fiji National University to the Ministry of Strategic Planning makes sense on paper however, a "smart idea" does not give this Government the right to break the law.
That is the message of Opposition MP, Jone Usamate as he says under the Fiji National University Act, the "Minister" is defined specifically as the Minister responsible for tertiary education, and that is currently the Minister for Education.
Usamate says no amount of verbal instructions or "requests" from the Vice-Chancellor can change what is written in black and white in our laws.
The Opposition MP says right now, the Government’s actions are legally hollow as the Prime Minister has no power to reassign statutory duties without amending the Act or being gazetted as the Minister for Education, interfering with Council meetings and freezing Secretariat communication is a blatant executive overreach into a statutory body, and Cabinet cannot "approve" its way out of a legislative requirement as they are not the law-makers, Parliament is.
Usamate says as Opposition MP Premila Kumar has warned, this is not just a "transition", it is a mess.
He says by bypassing Parliament, you are paralyzing the FNU Council’s legal authority.
Usamate says stop the shortcuts and if you want this change, bring the amendment to the floor of Parliament.
He says respect the rule of law, or stop pretending you follow it.
He adds the Prime Minister’s Office is currently acting as if policy directives are superior to Acts of Parliament.
