{"id":5638,"date":"2021-04-26T21:59:14","date_gmt":"2021-04-26T08:59:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/talamua.com\/?p=5638"},"modified":"2021-04-26T21:59:14","modified_gmt":"2021-04-26T08:59:14","slug":"attorney-general-opposes-second-applicant-in-fast-legal-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/talamua.com\/?p=5638","title":{"rendered":"Attorney General Opposes Second Applicant in FAST Legal Challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Alofa

Ali\u2019imalemanu Alofa Tu\u2019u\u2019au at centre of legal challenge to declare her appointment void as unconstitutional and unlawful.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

By Lagi Keresoma<\/p>\n

APIA, SAMOA \u2013 26 APRIL 2021:<\/strong> Lawyer Sefo Ainu\u2019u of the Attorney General\u2019s office representing the Office of the Electoral Commissioner, has opposed the Fa\u2019atuatua ile Atua Samoa ua Tasi – FAST application to have Seu\u2019ula Ioane as a second respondent in their legal argument against OEC.<\/p>\n

Seu\u2019ula is the winning election candidate for the Alataua West constituency but the OEC last week activated Article 44 (1A) appointing the former MP Ali\u2019imalemanu Alofa Tu\u2019u\u2019au as the sixth woman MP that triggered the legal arguments before the court.<\/p>\n

FAST Application<\/strong>
\nLast Friday, FAST lawyers filed an amended motion against the appointment of Ali\u2019imalemanu. They also made another application for Seu\u2019ula Ioane as the second applicant.<\/p>\n

The original application is for the court to declare void the appointment as unconstitutional and unlawful.<\/p>\n

AG opposes application<\/strong>
\nJustice Lesatele Rapi Vaai questioned the reasons behind the Ainu\u2019u\u2019s rejection of the application.<\/p>\n

Ainu\u2019u gave two reasons, one is whether the applicant (Seu\u2019ula) is a citizen of Samoa and secondly, the impact of the case to Seu\u2019ula who is label as a \u201cjoiner\u201d in the application.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo are you saying the intending applicant has no right under the Constitution to challenge the Constitution,\u201d asked Justice Lesatele.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes Your Honour,\u201d responded Ainu\u2019u.<\/p>\n

Lesatele pointed out that every citizen of Samoa has a right to challenge the Constitution, then asked Ainu\u2019u if there were any other citizens in this country who have that right.<\/p>\n

Ainu\u2019u again said yes then explained his reasons.<\/p>\n

\"court

Lawyer Sefo Ainu\u2019u of the Attorney General\u2019s office representing the Office of the Electoral Commissioner.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

He referred to Section 4 of the Declaratory Act 1988 where it says a Samoa citizen must be someone that is affected by the action taken and the intended applicant in this particular case has not identified how he is affected by the Warrant of Election which appointed Ali\u2019imalemanu as an MP.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you saying the applicant used the wrong method but he has the right to be here?\u201d asked Justice Vui Clarence Nelson.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is for the Court to determine Your Honour,\u201d Ainu\u2019u responded.<\/p>\n

FAST Response
\n<\/strong>Lawyer for FAST, Muriel\u00a0 Lui\u00a0 said Seu\u2019ula has an interest.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is a citizen of this country who is seeking to look at the enactment of the Constitution if it\u2019s accurate or not, and this part of the Constitution affects his constituency, his election of having two MPs from one constituency,\u201d said Muriel.<\/p>\n

She informed the Court that they are seeking an interpretation of the Constitution.<\/p>\n

Justice Vaai asked if there was a relevant factor of having two MP\u2019s in a constituency in Section 44 (1a)<\/p>\n

\u201cNo Your \u00a0Honour it does not\u00a0but still, it\u2019s a question of his constituency because he was the one elected during the polls but with the enactment of the constitution for another member, he has an interest for his constituency,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n

Lesa reminded Muriel that two MP\u2019s in one constituency has happened before to which Muriel conceded it had.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut this is the first time it\u2019s been looked at by the Court,\u201d she responded.<\/p>\n

Justice Vaai responded that the Constitution allows it.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, but was it done properly, lawfully and was it done within the works of the Constitution and that is what we are here to look at,\u201d Muriel responded.<\/p>\n

She then pointed out part of the Clarity Judgement Act, where it says \u201cin any other manner interesting in the construction or validity thereof.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEven if we were not to call in a strict interpretation of that section, there is that part where it allows for any interests,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She also highlighted many challenges against the Constitution already dealt with by the Court in the past.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the interpretation of my learned good friend is correct, then all cases that came before the Court on Constitutional matters would all be voided,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"HRPP

HRPP supporters leaving court.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

A Member of Parliament or Member of the House ?
\n<\/strong>Justice Vui referred Muriel to one of\u00a0their unconstitutional grounds in the application where it says two MP\u2019s for Alataua West.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo one MP was the elected representative for Alatau I Sisifo, and the other MP was appointed under 44 (1a), but not as a member of the territorial constituency,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t say the constituency now has two members, it only had one member but if there is an additional member of the house, not the additional member of the constituency,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cWould not that be more correct\u201d to which Muriel quickly conceded to.<\/p>\n

Strike out hearing Wednesday<\/strong>
\nActing Chief Justice, Niava Mata Tuatagaloa after listening and participating in the discussion adjourned the matter to Wednesday to hear the strike out motions, with the substantive hearing of the original application set down for Friday.<\/p>\n

The Court room was packed with supporters of FAST and HRPP.<\/p>\n

Outside the court room, police officers were strict in scanning people going into the court room.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Lagi Keresoma APIA, SAMOA \u2013 26 APRIL 2021: Lawyer Sefo Ainu\u2019u of the Attorney General\u2019s office representing the Office of the Electoral Commissioner, has opposed the Fa\u2019atuatua ile Atua Samoa ua Tasi – FAST application to have Seu\u2019ula Ioane as a second respondent in their legal argument against OEC. Seu\u2019ula is the winning election […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5639,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[182,177,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5638","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-court","category-latest","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nAttorney General Opposes Second Applicant in FAST Legal Challenge - Talamua Online<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/talamua.com\/?p=5638\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Attorney General Opposes Second Applicant in FAST Legal Challenge - Talamua Online\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Lagi Keresoma APIA, SAMOA \u2013 26 APRIL 2021: Lawyer Sefo Ainu\u2019u of the Attorney General\u2019s office representing the Office of the Electoral Commissioner, has opposed the Fa\u2019atuatua ile Atua Samoa ua Tasi – FAST application to have Seu\u2019ula Ioane as a second respondent in their legal argument against OEC. Seu\u2019ula is the winning election […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/talamua.com\/?p=5638\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Talamua Online\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-04-26T08:59:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lagi Keresoma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lagi Keresoma\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/talamua.com\\\/?p=5638#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/talamua.com\\\/?p=5638\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lagi Keresoma\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/talamua.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/00fcb385682986ec4474da283aca0a0a\"},\"headline\":\"Attorney General Opposes Second Applicant in FAST Legal Challenge\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-04-26T08:59:14+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/talamua.com\\\/?p=5638\"},\"wordCount\":890,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/talamua.com\\\/?p=5638#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"articleSection\":[\"Court\",\"Latest\",\"Politics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-NZ\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/talamua.com\\\/?p=5638#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/talamua.com\\\/?p=5638\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/talamua.com\\\/?p=5638\",\"name\":\"Attorney General Opposes Second Applicant in FAST Legal Challenge - Talamua Online\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/talamua.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/talamua.com\\\/?p=5638#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/talamua.com\\\/?p=5638#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-04-26T08:59:14+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/talamua.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/00fcb385682986ec4474da283aca0a0a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/talamua.com\\\/?p=5638#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-NZ\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/talamua.com\\\/?p=5638\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-NZ\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/talamua.com\\\/?p=5638#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"\",\"contentUrl\":\"\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/talamua.com\\\/?p=5638#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/talamua.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Attorney General Opposes Second Applicant in FAST Legal Challenge\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/talamua.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/talamua.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Talamua Online\",\"description\":\"'Talamua' in english means the 'First Word'\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\\\/\\\/talamua.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-NZ\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/talamua.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/00fcb385682986ec4474da283aca0a0a\",\"name\":\"Lagi Keresoma\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-NZ\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/talamua.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/Lagi-Keresoma.png?resize=96%2C96&ssl=1\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/talamua.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/Lagi-Keresoma.png?resize=96%2C96&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/talamua.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/Lagi-Keresoma.png?resize=96%2C96&ssl=1\",\"caption\":\"Lagi Keresoma\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/talamua.com\\\/?author=2\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Attorney General Opposes Second Applicant in FAST Legal Challenge - Talamua Online","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/talamua.com\/?p=5638","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Attorney General Opposes Second Applicant in FAST Legal Challenge - Talamua Online","og_description":"By Lagi Keresoma APIA, SAMOA \u2013 26 APRIL 2021: Lawyer Sefo Ainu\u2019u of the Attorney General\u2019s office representing the Office of the Electoral Commissioner, has opposed the Fa\u2019atuatua ile Atua Samoa ua Tasi – FAST application to have Seu\u2019ula Ioane as a second respondent in their legal argument against OEC. 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