Fiji and USA have electoral misconduct in common?

Fiji's interim government suffers temporary setback in court ruling

SUVA, Jan 17 (AFP) -

An attempt by Fiji's army-backed interim government to defend its legitimacy suffered a temporary setback
Wednesday when the Appeals Court rejected a bid to suspend a High Court ruling declaring it illegal.

Dismissing the application, Justice Sir Maurice Casey said orders issued by High Court Judge Tony Gates in
November declaring the interim government illegal were judicial statements of the law and could not be nullified,
except on appeal.

"Short of setting aside the judgement, there is no way that the declarations themselves can be nullified, either
temporarily or permanently," Casey said.

The interim government, led by Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase, had asked the Appeal Court for a stay of Gates
ruling.

However, the Qarase government has retained leading counsel from Britain and New Zealand to fight a substantive
appeal in a case to be heard in the Appeals Court on February 19.

Qarase was installed by the army following an attempted coup by failed businessman George Speight, who stormed
parliament with rebels soldiers on May 19 and took Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry and his government hostage
for 56 days.

The army also dumped the constitution, declared martial law and ousted President Sir Kamisese Mara.

The orders by Justice Gates were in response to an action by an Indian farmer, Chandrika Prasad, who was driven
out of his home in the ethnic violence that followed the insurrection.

Prasad had sought a High Court declaration on the validity of the 1997 Constitution abrogated by the army.

In his landmark ruling, Gates declared the constitution was still valid, Chaudhry's government was still legally in power
and Mara was still head of state of the South Pacific island republic.

He called on Mara to recall parliament and appoint a prime minister heading a government of national unity to take
over executive control.

Casey said he had no jurisdiction to intervene against specific predictable effects of a declaratory judgement in
appropriate circumstances.

In in this case there was no evidence of activities or proposed conduct flowing from the judgement in respect of which
a stay order could effectively operate, Casey said.

Casey's ruling effectively supports the Gates ruling that the 1997 constitution is still valid and puts the onus on the
President to recall parliament so that a government of national unity could be formed to take office.

However, Gates was expected to deliver another ruling later Wednesday on an application by the Fiji Labour Party
seeking some of his orders to be carried out.