Leader of the Opposition, Belden Norman Namah today called on the Registrar of the National and Supreme Court to list cases, which are urgent and time bound.
Mr Namah said he had filed an urgent Section 18 (1) Application to have the Supreme Court rule on whether or not Parliament was in breach of the Constitution on the 63 Days Mandatory Sitting Days in relation to the 2021 Parliamentary Calendar Year.
“By my count, Parliament is in breach but only the Supreme Court has the powers to interpret and put this matter to rest beyond any doubt as it is its sole mandate to do so,” Mr Namah said.
“Commentators like Paul Barker of the Institute of National Affairs and many Papua New Guineans can be forgiven for thinking that the 2021 Parliament calendar remains and is yet to be exhausted.
In fact, the 2021 Parliament Calendar expired on 28th of July, 2021. The Parliamentary Calendar Year starts when the Writs are returned after the National General Elections.
“The August 10 sitting was the first sitting of the 2022 Parliament Calendar. All subsequent sittings this year and in 2022 to 31st July will be counted for the 2022 calendar.
“The 2021 Sitting Days were just 23 days, well below the Constitutional mandatory requirement for Parliament to meet no less than 63 Days in any year.
“Since the court registry has not listed the case to be heard, this case has moved beyond a safe date when remedial action could have been taken i.e., recall of Parliament to sit for a certain number of days to fully meet the Constitutional requirement.
“Regardless of this, the matter remains on foot in court and needs to be attended to.”