[ Source : Parliament of the Republic of Fiji/Facebook]

The representatives of the 16 FijiFirst Members of Parliament who voted in favour of the Emolument Committee report to increase the salary and allowances of the MPs had a meeting with the Speaker of Parliament today.

Opposition MP Jone Usamate says the meeting was to seek clarification of the processes of Parliament from the Speaker.

This after FijiFirst in a statement said it will take action against the MPs for voting against party directive.

He says the Speaker has assured them that all due processes of Parliament will be followed, should such a notification be received by his office.

According to Section 63 of the Fijian Constitution, the seat of a Member of Parliament becomes vacant if the member votes or abstains from voting in Parliament contrary to any direction issued by the political party for which he or she was a candidate at the time he or she was elected to Parliament, without obtaining the prior permission of the political party; or if the Member of Parliament is expelled from the political party for which he or she was a candidate at the time he or she was elected to Parliament and the expulsion was in accordance with the rules of the political party relating to party discipline.

The Sixteen FijiFirst members of Parliament who went against the FijiFirst directive are Mosese Bulitavu, Sanjay Kirpal, Semi Koroilavesau, Shalen Kumar, Virendra Lal,

Ioane Naivalurua, Sachida Nand, Vijay Nath, Viliame Naupoto, Ratu Josaia Niudamu, Penioni Ravunawa, Taito Rokomatu, Inia Seruiratu, Alipate Tuicolo, Naisa Tuinaceva and Jone Usamate.

Opposition MP Usamate says they needed to seek clarification from the Speaker and Secretary General of Parliament.

The FijiFirst Central Executive Committee was supposed to convene sometime this week to discuss the next course of action against these 16 MPs.

When contacted this afternoon, Party acting General Secretary Faiyaz Koya told FBC News that they will stick to the Party President statement released earlier this week and will not make any further comments on the matter.