Petitioners aim to take Cabinet Ministers to court [1]
Sunday, November 18, 2018 - 18:07. Updated on Monday, November 19, 2018 - 13:48.
Mele 'Amanaki Samate, who presented a petition to Parliament calling for the impeachment of seven Cabinet Ministers this year, said they are working on cases to take the Cabinet Ministers to Court.
Mele said on Friday that, so far, while she was not aware of an impeachment case in preparation, it was also possible that impeachment cases against Cabinet Ministers could proceed when Parliament resumed in 2019. She believed that the seven Cabinet Ministers who were identified in the petition should not be eligible to vote in the House if or when an impeachment case is tabled by Members of Parliament into the House next year.
The petition with 3330 signatures was presented to Parliament on May 30. Before the House closed it accepted the Auditor General's report which alleged misuse of public funds.
Mele said that in addition to impeachment cases, which may only be presented by Members of Parliament, the people who were behind the petition were also working on cases to take the Cabinet Ministers to the Courts of Justice.