SODELPA Members of Parliament are concerned about the legality of the appointment of the President.

As a result, they walked out of Parliament during the Special Parliament sitting earlier today.

In a statement by the Leader of Opposition said  Semesa Karavaki raised a Point of Order for the Members citing Section 84 of the 2013 Constitution which stipulates the process of appointment can only occur if there is a vacancy.

“Clearly, there is a President that is still serving and as such, there is no vacancy until his term expires later this year.

“SODELPA believes that the proposed appointment is illegal and may affect any major decisions such as the upcoming election,”

The Party had also expressed concern from the outset at the manner the process was handled in that they were notified to nominate their nominee over 48 hours.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama was not impressed.

He said SODELPA was always walking out of Parliament.

“They spring a surprise for us this morning.”