Civil servants resigned to become candidates for election [1]
Thursday, November 18, 2010 - 13:20. Updated on Monday, September 9, 2013 - 18:40.
WHEN civil servants registered as candidates for the election, their resignations took immediate effect, the Solicitor General 'Aminiasi Kefu said on November 17.
In clarifying the requirement he told Matangi Tonga Online that under section 20 of the Public Service Amendment Act 2010 when Civil servants registered on October 21-22 to become candidates for the coming Parliamentary Election it meant that they had also resigned.
The Act that was assented to by King George Tupou V on September 20 and gazetted on September 27 stated under Section 20 that a Chief Executive Officer or employee in the Public Service should resign upon registering as a candidate for election to the Legislative Assembly.
However, there was some confusion as to what this section of the act meant as some candidates had also tendered their resignations under the normal civil service procedure by submitting a written letter of resignation to the Public Service Commission, while others did not.
Options for resignation
The Solicitor General clarified there are two options of resignations. A civil servant could tender their resignation through the normal process of submitting a written letter notice of resignation to the Public Service Commission, for instance, a junior level required one-month notice, or senior level three months notice before registration date.
The second option was that once a civil servant registered as a candidate their resignation took immediate effect, and this applied to all candidates, he said.
He said that this law came into effect on the day it was passed by parliament and was not retrospective. If there were challenges to it, then they should take it up with the courts.
Candidates' Registration
The Supervisor of Elections Pita Vuki said that it was the Electoral Commission's understanding, that once civil servants registered as candidates, it was clear they had resigned as according to the amended law.
He said the process that followed after the registration on October 21-22 was that the Electoral Commission submitted the list of candidates to the Public Service Commission on Monday, October 25.
The PSC would then screen the civil servants who had registered and process their resignations, because it is under the Electoral Act 2010.
Candidates were also required to provide written clearance from both the Magistrate and Supreme Court and submit 50 signatures of registered voters from their constituency, and the registration fee.
"Once they passed these requirements and were registered we then submitted the list to the Public Service Commission to deal with the public servants on the candidates list. I think by now PSC should have finished processing the civil servants resignations," he said.
However, to date, the Public Service Commission has not released the names and figures of the civil servants who are among the 146 candidates.
Exemption
The only appointments exempted from the Public Service Act included Ministers appointed under the Constitution, Governors, Judges of the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court, Magistrates, the Attorney General, Auditor General, Commissioner for Public Relations and Commissioners appointed under the Public Service Act 2010.
There are five Ministers who are contesting People's seats in the election: Hon Dr Viliami Tangi the Minister of Health, Hon Rev Dr Tevita Palefau, the Minister of Education, the Minister of Revenue, Sione Teisina Fuko, the Minister of Labour Commerce, & Industries, Lisiate 'Aloveita 'Akolo and the Minister of Law, Samiu Kuita Vaipulu.