17 Oct 2002

Fiji's SVT attacks prime minister over comment on court case

5:11 pm on 17 October 2002

The Fijian Political Party, the SVT, has attacked the prime minister, Laisenia Qarase, over his statement in Canberra this week that there were many good reasons why the Fiji Labour Party was left out of the government after last year's election.

The SVT spokesperson, Ema Druavesi, says Mr Qarase's continued rthetoric about why he dislikes the multi-party cabinet provisions of the constitution is unethical and wrong.

Mrs Druavesi says Mr Qarase should not be talking about this issue because the matter is before the supreme court.

She says the prime minister is doing this deliberately because he is trying to influence the public and the court.

Mrs Druavesi has criticised the attorney general, Qoroniasi Bale, for failing in his duty to properly advise Mr Qarase that such statements are in breach of court procedure.

Meanwhile, the SVT has also called on police to speed up investigations into the 13-million US dollar farming assistance scam in the agriculture ministry.

Mrs Druavesi says it seems police are deliberately stalling the investigations so that after a while the people will forget about the issue.