No rush for A-G: Prime Minister rules out external appointment

There is no rush to appoint an Attorney-General.

Speaking to this masthead, Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, clarified that there were no plans to appoint an Attorney-General from outside Government.

“We cannot look outside Government at the moment while we still have one who is qualified to be the Attorney-General,” Mr Rabuka said.

The Prime Minister was referring to acting Attorney-General Siromi Turaga.

Mr Turaga was sworn-in as Attorney-General and Minister for Justice on December 24, 2022. The Prime Minister removed him as Attorney-General in June last year.

One key reason was that he had wrongly advised the Prime Minister on the issue of Members of Parliament awarding themselves a pay rise.

Mr Turaga was reappointed acting Attorney-General in June this year.

“It depends on how his occupation in the office affects the other things that are going on,” he said.

“It could be biased in some of the ongoing investigations in which case he will have to declare his interest and declare also that he is unable to continue as Attorney-General in that capacity because of those conflicts of interests.”

The Prime Minister clarified that the investigations he was referring to was the Commission of Inquiry, in which Mr Turaga was also mentioned.

“The investigation into the Commission of Inquiry report is progressing independently. As stated earlier, Government will ensure that due diligence is fully observed,” he said.