By Kramer Report Last Friday 27 March, the Supreme Court dismissed Opposition Leader Belden Namah’s Supreme Court Reference challenging the election of James Marape as Prime Minister on 30 May 2019 following the resignation of former Prime Minister Peter O’Neill. The Supreme Court upheld the objection to competency application to dismiss the case because Namah's lawyer filed the proceedings using the wrong form. By Academia_Nomad :PNG Political Commentary How did Belden Namah go from volunteering to lead the State of Emergency as a Chairman of the Emergency Committee to arguing it as unconstitutional and invalid in less than 72 hours? But this is Namah-like, and you should not be surprised. But a much bigger question is, even if Namah appears to be a nuisance to many, does he have a point? A little background: Namah has been pursuing a case in the Supreme Court, seeking the court to declare the election of Prime Minister James Marape on 30 May 2019 as unconstitutional and therefore invalid. James Marape and Steven Davis, the Minister for Justice & Attorney General, countered this claim by first stating that election of the PM is governed by the Parliament Standing Orders which are non-judicial (not matters for the courts to decide), it is not constitutional matter which requires the courts’ involvement. Second the PM & AG argues that Belden Namah did not have the legal standing, that he was eligible to pursue this case. PM and AG therefore wanted the case dismissed. |
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