{"id":6333,"date":"2021-05-27T02:17:52","date_gmt":"2021-05-26T13:17:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/talamua.com\/?p=6333"},"modified":"2021-05-27T02:17:52","modified_gmt":"2021-05-26T13:17:52","slug":"court-dismisses-13-motions-against-fast-counter-petitions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/talamua.com\/?p=6333","title":{"rendered":"Court Dismisses 13 Motions Against FAST Counter Petitions"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Election

Election petition counsels, Afa Lesa, Leiataualesa Jerry Brunt, Fuimaono Sarona Ponifasio and Tanya Toailoa.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

By Lagi Keresoma<\/p>\n

APIA, SAMOA \u2013 27 MAY 2021:<\/strong> The Supreme Court dismissed 13 motions from unsuccessful Human Rights Protection Party candidates and one from the Tautua Samoa party against the FAST party successful candidates.<\/p>\n

Their argument presented before a panel of 3 judges was that the respondents, FAST can respond to the petitions but cannot file counter petitions against their petitioners.<\/p>\n

FAST filed a strike out motion and the Court ruled in their favour.<\/p>\n

Petitioner\u2019s arguments<\/strong>
\nThe petitioners were represented by counsels Shane Wulf, Afa Lesa and Leiataualesa Jerry Brunt who argued that the FAST elected members, whom the petitions are against, cannot respond to the petitions.<\/p>\n

FAST legal team were Fuimaono Sarona Ponifasio and Tanya Toailoa.<\/p>\n

Wulf started the argument by citing previous election petition cases dealt with by the Court such as the\u00a0Le Tagaloa Pita vs Faumuina Liuga<\/em>,\u00a0Uluvaomalo Ulu Kini vs Lealailepule Rimoni Aiafi<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Farani Posala<\/em>\u00a0vs Su\u2019a.<\/em><\/p>\n

In the case of\u00a0Le Tagloa Pita vs Faumuina Liuga,<\/em>\u00a0Wulf argued that a leave to withdraw the original petitioner from the case and substitute with another was granted.<\/p>\n

“Nothing was changed and the respondent filed a counter petition,” he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnder Sect 111 of the Electoral Act 1963, the Court ruled that a counter petition can only be filed against a petitioner where he is claiming the seat of some person and the substituted petitioner has done no such thing,\u201d he argued.<\/p>\n

\n
Justice Vui Clarence Nelson pointed out that the case between\u00a0Pita vs Liuga<\/em>\u00a0was based on one of the candidate\u2019s qualification as an election candidate, nothing to do with election corrupt practises.<\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Reference was also made to the case of former Cabinet Minister\u00a0Uluvaomalo Ulu Kini\u00a0and Lealailepule Rimoni Aiafi<\/em>\u00a0which also set up the law of election petitions and Wulf read out part of the judgement that said: \u201cThe respondent is entitled by the Act, Section 111(6) where release sought is (1) claiming the seat for some person, and to give evidence to prove that person was duly elected in the same manner as if, he has petitioned against the election of that person<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wulf argued that the Court can only deal with the issue of a Respondent bringing a counter petition when the petitioner\u2019s claim is for the seat.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut that is not what section 107 says,\u201d responded Justice Vui.<\/p>\n

\u201cSection 107(1) of the Electoral Act says differently and it makes no reference to a petition having claim for the seat of some person,\u201d Vui continued.<\/p>\n

\n
\u201cIt just said the only way you can bring a challenge to an election is by petition, complaining of an unlawful election decision. It does not say by petition complaining of an unlawful election and claiming the seat of some person,\u201d said Justice Vui.<\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n

He then asked Wulf how he would get around the clear words of section 107(1) of the Electoral Act.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s our submission Your Honour based on the Electoral Act, that the petitioner claims that the person elected (Respondent) did not prove corrupt practises, is not properly elected,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s happening now is that the respondent will be in a position to file a counter petition against the petitioner and our argument is, that is not the purpose of the Act,\u201d Wulf continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe petitioner is there to say that your (respondent) election is not valid due to corrupt practises, only then can the respondent turn around and file a counter petition,” said Wulf.<\/p>\n

Justice Niava Mata Tuatagaloa asked Wulf if he was claiming that there should be two kinds of counter petitions.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo Your Honour, we are saying that section 115 (7) of the Electoral Act says, if you are claiming the seat and on an unlawful basis,\u201d Wulf argued.<\/p>\n

\u201cIsn\u2019t response the same as a counter petition,\u201d asked Justice Niava.<\/p>\n

Respondent\u2019s argument
\n<\/strong>Counsel for the respondents Tanya Toailoa took up Justice Niava\u2019s point and elaborated on it.<\/p>\n

\u201cA counter petition is actually a response to an allegation or to an attempt to unseat you,\u201d said Tanya.<\/p>\n

She made reference to how election petitions had been conducted in the past whereas a petition was filed and counter petition followed.<\/p>\n

She said the distinction her learned friends tried to explain when a counter petition should be filed based on their argument is \u201cartificial distinction.\u201d<\/p>\n

She then asked the Court to ignore any allegations and the declaration made by the petitioners.<\/p>\n

Counsel Leiatauales\u0101 argued the same pointed raised by Wulf and Les\u0101 did not submit anything as he agreed with his colleagues.<\/p>\n

It only took 15 minutes for the Judges to return with a dismissal decision.<\/p>\n

The panel also ruled to remove the Office of the Electoral Commissioner as a respondent to the 14 petitions and was rewarded costs of $4 000 tal\u0101.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Lagi Keresoma APIA, SAMOA \u2013 27 MAY 2021: The Supreme Court dismissed 13 motions from unsuccessful Human Rights Protection Party candidates and one from the Tautua Samoa party against the FAST party successful candidates. Their argument presented before a panel of 3 judges was that the respondents, FAST can respond to the petitions but […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6334,"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-6333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-court","category-latest","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nCourt Dismisses 13 Motions Against FAST Counter Petitions - 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=6333\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Court Dismisses 13 Motions Against FAST Counter Petitions - Talamua Online\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Lagi Keresoma APIA, SAMOA \u2013 27 MAY 2021: The Supreme Court dismissed 13 motions from unsuccessful Human Rights Protection Party candidates and one from the Tautua Samoa party against the FAST party successful candidates. Their argument presented before a panel of 3 judges was that the respondents, FAST can respond to the petitions but […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/talamua.com\/?p=6333\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Talamua Online\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-05-26T13:17:52+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=6333#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/talamua.com\\\/?p=6333\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lagi Keresoma\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/talamua.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/00fcb385682986ec4474da283aca0a0a\"},\"headline\":\"Court Dismisses 13 Motions Against FAST Counter Petitions\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-05-26T13:17:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/talamua.com\\\/?p=6333\"},\"wordCount\":810,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/talamua.com\\\/?p=6333#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"articleSection\":[\"Court\",\"Latest\",\"Politics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-NZ\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/talamua.com\\\/?p=6333#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/talamua.com\\\/?p=6333\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/talamua.com\\\/?p=6333\",\"name\":\"Court Dismisses 13 Motions Against FAST Counter Petitions - Talamua Online\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/talamua.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/talamua.com\\\/?p=6333#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/talamua.com\\\/?p=6333#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-05-26T13:17:52+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/talamua.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/00fcb385682986ec4474da283aca0a0a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/talamua.com\\\/?p=6333#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-NZ\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/talamua.com\\\/?p=6333\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-NZ\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/talamua.com\\\/?p=6333#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"\",\"contentUrl\":\"\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/talamua.com\\\/?p=6333#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/talamua.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Court Dismisses 13 Motions Against FAST Counter Petitions\"}]},{\"@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":"Court Dismisses 13 Motions Against FAST Counter Petitions - 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=6333","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Court Dismisses 13 Motions Against FAST Counter Petitions - Talamua Online","og_description":"By Lagi Keresoma APIA, SAMOA \u2013 27 MAY 2021: The Supreme Court dismissed 13 motions from unsuccessful Human Rights Protection Party candidates and one from the Tautua Samoa party against the FAST party successful candidates. Their argument presented before a panel of 3 judges was that the respondents, FAST can respond to the petitions but […]","og_url":"https:\/\/talamua.com\/?p=6333","og_site_name":"Talamua Online","article_published_time":"2021-05-26T13:17:52+00:00","author":"Lagi Keresoma","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lagi Keresoma","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/talamua.com\/?p=6333#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/talamua.com\/?p=6333"},"author":{"name":"Lagi Keresoma","@id":"http:\/\/talamua.com\/#\/schema\/person\/00fcb385682986ec4474da283aca0a0a"},"headline":"Court Dismisses 13 Motions Against FAST Counter Petitions","datePublished":"2021-05-26T13:17:52+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/talamua.com\/?p=6333"},"wordCount":810,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/talamua.com\/?p=6333#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"","articleSection":["Court","Latest","Politics"],"inLanguage":"en-NZ","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/talamua.com\/?p=6333#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/talamua.com\/?p=6333","url":"https:\/\/talamua.com\/?p=6333","name":"Court Dismisses 13 Motions Against FAST Counter Petitions - Talamua Online","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/talamua.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/talamua.com\/?p=6333#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/talamua.com\/?p=6333#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"","datePublished":"2021-05-26T13:17:52+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/talamua.com\/#\/schema\/person\/00fcb385682986ec4474da283aca0a0a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/talamua.com\/?p=6333#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-NZ","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/talamua.com\/?p=6333"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-NZ","@id":"https:\/\/talamua.com\/?p=6333#primaryimage","url":"","contentUrl":""},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/talamua.com\/?p=6333#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/talamua.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Court Dismisses 13 Motions Against FAST Counter Petitions"}]},{"@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"}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pdAiL5-1E9","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/talamua.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/talamua.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/talamua.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/talamua.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/talamua.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6333"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/talamua.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6333\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/talamua.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/talamua.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/talamua.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}