Solicitor General Tauvasa Tanuvasa

He said following the decision, the Attorney General has written to Electoral Commissioner Simon Sinai advising him of this decision.

The Electoral Commissioner however is yet to make a statement on this landmark ruling and the steps EC has in place to carry out these orders.

“It is only proper for EC to comply with the orders to avoid being in contempt with the law”, he added.

The Solicitor General further explained that the EC must undertake due diligence and put in place a screening process for every candidate who nominates to contest elections.

The special reference filed by Attorney General Pila Niningi through the Solicitor General Tauvasa Tanuvasa went before a full Supreme Court bench this morning, headed by Acting Chief Justice Les Gavara-Nanu.

Under the Special Reference, Mr. Tanuvasa relied on Section 50 (1) of the Constitution on the Right to vote and stand for public office and Section 103 of the Constitution on the Qualification for and Disqualification to stand for office.

The extension of his contract comes after amendments made to the recently passed Attorney General’s Act.

Attorney General and Secretary for the Department of Justice Dr. Eric Kwa while congratulating Mr. Tanuvasa said prior to the amendment, the State Solicitor was appointed for three years.

“There was an amendment to the Attorney General’s Act in 2014 but it did not include the office of the Solicitor General. For some reason the office of the State Solicitor was improved with an amendment to the AG Act and not the Solicitor General. 

The recent court events were triggered by an application by Retired Major General Gilbert Toropo that saw the National Court respond by ordering a stay on the Head of State Appointment Instrument that appointed Major General Mark Goina as Commander PNGDF.

On December 31, 2021, the former Commander, Major General Gilbert Toropo filed a judicial review proceeding at the National Court, over his revocation as PNGDF Commander, and Commander Goina’s appointment as the new Commander of the PNGDF.

“The orders of the 31^st of December 2021 has now been stayed,” said Solicitor General Tauvasa Tanuvasa. “That means that we are now in a situation as if the National Court proceedings were never filed in the first place.”