A MOTION of no confidence has been filed by Malaita Provincial Premier Daniel Suidani against the Malaita Provincial Speaker and his Deputy.
The motion was filed due to what the premier termed as ‘lack of neutrality’ exercised by the office of the Malaita Provincial Assembly Speaker.
The Office of the Provincial Assembly Clerk confirmed to Solomon Star Auki the motion of no confidence notice against Malaita Provincial Assembly Speaker Ronnie Butala and his Deputy Joe Heroau has been received from Premier Suidani yesterday morning.
The motion of no confidence notice has four specific points, two related to the Speaker’s action on the previous motion 12 months ago which Premier Suidani defeated, while the other two points were related to the current motion of no confidence and refusal to swear in new ministers under the MARA government.
The motion of no confidence notice issued by the Premier reads; “I write to inform you that I as the MPA for Ward 5 and the Premier of Malaita Provincial Government I hereby give notice of a motion of no confidence in the Speaker of the Malaita Provincial Assembly in accordance to S.0.116 AS READ WITH S.0118 of standing orders of the Provincial Assembly of Malaita Province.”
The specific terms and grounds for the lack of confidence in the Speaker are as follows;
- The Speaker in the previous Motion of Confidence against me 12 months ago acted contrary to S.0.152 Open Ballot voting which is contrary to S.O.152
- The Speaker in the previous Motion of No Confidence against me was not impartial in conducting the meeting. He was colluding with the mover of that motion to remove the premier from office.
- More recently, the Speaker acted contrary to my advice to administer the oath of the affirmations of the office according to the Standing Order 9 of the Malaita Provincial Assembly. This has resulted in the matter now being contested in the High Court.
- The Speaker is not impartial in exercising his function and is colluding with certain MPAs to move a motion of no confidence against the Premier.
The Premier stated, “As the head of the Elected Assembly, the Speaker is duty-bound to decide independently on assembly practices, procedures, and process following the Standing Orders and PGA Act 1997.”
“Instead the Speaker’s recent decision not to administer MPAs oaths contradicted some of his past decisions on similar matters.
“As the result of the specific issue that has been highlighted, the Speaker has not been impartial nor neutral in exercising his duty. His action bring the reputation and respectability of the Assembly into dispute.
“Thus the motion of no confidence against the Speaker is to restore the sanctity of the Assembly to ensure it is a respectable and impartial institution.”
This paper was informed that the motion of no confidence against the Speaker will go first before the second motion of no confidence against the Premier.
If the Speaker loses his seat in the motion, it will make way for a new unbiased Speaker to officiate in the second motion of no confidence against the premier.
By WILSON SAENI
Auki News Bureau
