Pomat applies to intervene in Papua New Guinea Parliament’s legality case

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Pomat applies to intervene in Papua New Guinea Parliament’s legality case

PORT MORESBY: The Supreme Court will make a ruling on whether Speaker Job Pomat can intervene in the case filed by Ialibu-Pangia MP Peter O’Neill.

O’Neill had filed the case asking the court ton inteprete the Constitution on various issues.

Justice Derek Hartshorn, sitting as a single Supreme Court judge in Waigani yesterday (Aug 18, 2022), reserved his judgment on Pomata’s application to intervene in the proceeding.

The National reported the court’s proceedings:

Pomat applies to intervene

August 19, 2022The NationalMain Stories

THE Supreme Court will make a ruling on whether Speaker Job Pomat should intervene in a case filed by Ialibu-Pangia MP Peter O’Neill on the interpretation of the Constitution on various issues.
Justice Derek Hartshorn, sitting as a single Supreme Court judge in Waigani yesterday, reserved his ruling on Pomat’s application to intervene in the proceeding.
O’Neill had also sought the court’s interpretation on whether:

  • THE election was deemed to have failed if, according to Section 97 (2) of the Organic Law on National and Local Level Government Elections, no candidate was declared by Aug 5;
  • THE Electoral Commissioner (EC) had the power under the Organic Law and elsewhere to extend the deadline of the return of writs beyond Aug 5; and,
  • THE EC was in breach of Section 50 of the Constitution by extending the date for the return of writs.

O’Neill is questioning the legality of the first sitting of the 11th Parliament.
The interveners in the case are the People’s National Congress (PNC) party, the Attorney General and the Pangu Pati.
Pomat’s lawyer Robert Ranewa said the Speaker should be allowed to intervene because the questions raised in the application referred to constitutional laws of national importance.
O’Neill’s lawyer George Kult objected saying that the correct person to intervene was the Clerk to Parliament and not the Speaker.
He said when Ranewa appeared in court on Aug 9, he was representing the Clerk to Parliament.
Ranewa explained that it was because a Speaker had not been elected at that time (Aug 9).
PNC party lawyer David Dotaona agreed with Kult that Pomat should not be allowed to intervene. State lawyer Troy Mileng representing the Attorney-General said Pomat should be allowed to intervene because he was named in the application.

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