Suspended Nauru MPs stripped of entitlements, salaries
One of five opposition MPs suspended from Nauru's parliament says they have now been stripped of their entitlements, offices and salaries for speaking out against the current regime.
Transcript
One of five opposition MPs suspended from Nauru's parliament says they have now been stripped of their entitlements, offices and salaries for speaking out against the current regime.
Three MPs were suspended last month, and two more followed last Thursday in a motion they say was unconstitutional.
Mathew Batsiua says that while the MPs may have been suspended from the legislature, they are still elected representatives of the people of Nauru.
He has called for an independent legal review into the suspension, saying that the Speaker, Ludwig Scotty, has only sought the opinion of the Secretary of Justice - who is part of the government.
He told Jamie Tahana that the government has gone completely beyond its powers in an attempt to disable Nauru's democracy.
MATHEW BATSIUA:In censoring the activities of anybody wishing to criticise the actions of the government - they are effectively disabling a democracy the way that we govern our country and have an effective and independent judiciary they have disabled that by interfering and sacking judicial offices. They have effectively dismantled the robustness of parliament by illeagly suspending members of parliament of the oppistition who can debate their bills. So from day one they have been moving on an agenda of censorship and trying to control how Nauru is governed through systematically disabling the other key parts of the democracy and the judiciary plus the parliment.
JAMIE TAHANA: Where do you think it could go? Are these kinds of actions going to stop?
MB: There is still a lot of uncertainty. We the members who are affected believe that our constituional rights have been breached. We also believe that our privileges as members of parliament have been breached as well just today we have had members of parliament withdrawn like our salaries, our fuel rations, and so forth. Even our offices - we have been prohibited from entering our offices to do our daily work so the government is treating our suspension from the meetings as an overall suspension of being members of parliament.
JT: So that has happened today has it?
MB: Yeah I mean today we have seen our membership of parliament withdrawn. I went today to get my fuel allocation as a member of parliament and I was told that I was no longer entitled to it. So those kind of things keep happening and the government is now trying to push us out which is unlawful. They can in a way I guess move a motion to suspend us from sitting but they cannot stop me from being a member of parliament - I was elected by the people of my constituent and I will continue to be a proud representative of my constituent until the people of my constituent remove me not through this fashion so I think this is unlawful and I am certainly looking at my options to challenge the type of things they have taken against me.
JT: So this is more than a mere suspension from the house. This is effectively treating you as if you have been completely sacked a member of parliament?
MB: Yes, they are treating us as removed members or members who are no longer considered to be members of parliament which is just absurd and unlawful because we continue to be members of parliament What the motion tried to do was prevent us from attending meetings of parliament so they are completely different matters and if this is the way that the government is going then it is going to be strongly challenged.
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