PRESSURE is mounting on Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare to sack the Attorney General following admission by a senior Minister that the advice he gave the Western Provincial government to go to the election later this month was reportedly “wrong”.
The Minister for Provincial Government and Institutional Strengthening, Rollen Seleso reportedly made the admission in an article published by the Island Sun newspaper last week.
Since the publication, there have calls for the removal of John Muria jnr as the country’s Attorney General.
“He (the Attorney General) should never be allowed to remain in his job. He’s been making costly decisions that taxpayers of this country have to pay. It is time Prime Minister Sogavare remove the man from office,” one man told Solomon Star over the weekend.
“As a member of the public, I expect the Office of the Attorney General to provide quality legal advice to the Government and its Ministers on all matters. He’s the top legal advisor in the land.
“Unfortunately, his decisions have become costly on many issues. I think if he cannot handle the demands of the office, he should resign with dignity. The alternative is for the Prime Minister to sack him,” the man said.
Based on the initial advice, the Western Province is due to go to the polls on Wednesday 14th December.
But given the admission by Minister Seleso it is unclear whether the election is still going ahead.
Neither the Office of the Prime Minister nor the AG’s Chamber could be contacted for comments.
One fundamental consideration for the Prime Minister before taking any action is whether removing the Attorney General would rock the coalition given the support by the Guadalcanal bloc in the ruling DCGA.
By Alfred Sasako
