Kandep seat review hearings to continue

The substantive hearing of the two Supreme Court reviews filed by rivals in the Kandep Open seat has been put on the fast track list and will return on Monday for directions.

The two Supreme Court election petition reviews filed by Don Polye and Alfred Luke Manase will return for directions before a Single judge. Review books will now be settled in preparation for the substantive hearing. A date will be set for that hearing on Monday.

On Friday a three-judge Supreme Court bench consisting of Justices Allan David, Jacinta Murray and Frazer Pitpit handed down their decisions on four preliminary applications filed by applicants in the two reviews.

Each party in the case filed two applications that were ruled on yesterday (Friday July 8).

In review filed by Polye, he sought two applications; one was an application to stay the counting of the five boxes which the National Court on May 2 had ordered. That application was consented to by parties pending the outcome of the appeal.

The second application by Polye sought to dismiss the review appeal filed Alfred Manase.

Manase filed a motion asking the court to allow a review of the decision the National Court when it refused three of the four grounds in the Election petition. The judges ruled that leave that was granted earlier by the single Supreme Court judge was an error as he had no powers to do so. They dismissed this appeal.

The review filed by Manase also had two applications. One asked the Supreme Court to quash the decision of Single Supreme Court judge, Justice Terrence Higgins of May 24, which reinstated or stayed the National Court’s decision to set aside Polye’s election as member elect for Kandep Open.

The three-judge bench on Friday upheld submissions by Manase that a single Supreme Court judge does not have the jurisdiction or power to grant stay. However during submissions in court on July 1, Polye made a fresh application asking the full court to stay the decision of the National Court that set aside his election as Member for Kandep open seat. That stay application by Polye was granted by the full court pending the determination of the substantive reviews.

The second application sought by Manase was to stay the counting of the five disputed ballot boxes from the 2012 National General Elections. This application was also stayed as agreed by both parties pending the determination of the reviews in the substantive hearing.

On May 2, Justice Joseph Yagi of the Waigani National Court set aside the declared election of Don Polye as member for Kandep Open on July 13, 2012.

He ordered the Electoral Commission to count five ballot boxes that were disputed during the General Elections within 30 days from May 2. The five boxes were not counted after they were disputed. The boxes are from the areas of Lungutenges No.1, Kombros No.1, Kambia No. 1, Maru and Imipaka.

While the Electoral Commission was preparing to get the five disputed ballot boxes counted, Polye filed a judicial review before the Supreme Court which went in his favour on May 24, reinstating him as the Member elect for Kandep Open.

(Loop File picture of Polye and Manase.)

 

Author: 
Sally Pokiton