Usamate blocks Turaga's drug court case statement in Parliament

Opposition MP Jone Usamate blocked Acting Attorney-General Siromi Turaga from delivering a ministerial statement on the Justin Ho drug case yesterday, citing parliamentary procedures.

Mr Usamate raised a point of order under Standing Order 61, arguing the matter should not be discussed in Parliament because sentencing had not been completed.

“The court is not yet functus officio, sentencing is not yet to take place, and therefore we do not see this as something that Parliament should be speaking about,” Mr Usamate said.

The confrontation unfolded when Mr Turaga was about to deliver what was described as a “ministerial statement on the successful prosecution by the ODPP in the case of the state versus Justin Ho and others.”

Speaker Filimone Jitoko initially questioned whether Mr Usamate was pre-empting the statement, asking if he was certain about its content.

When pressed, Mr Usamate insisted the statement would focus on the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution’s case against Ho and others, adding that discussing it before sentencing would violate parliamentary procedures.

In response, Mr Turaga said he had two ministerial statements - one on the International Court of Justice advisory opinion and another “about the rule of law and the work of the public prosecution.”

He said it was “not specific on that matter, but a general issue.”

However, when Mr Usamate persisted and read from the statement title referencing the Ho case specifically, Mr Turaga Mr Turaga backed down and withdrew to make the statement.

Speaker Jitoko stated there should be “no specific reference to any case that is before the court.”

Mr Turaga then proceeded with his statement on the ICJ climate advisory opinion instead.

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