The Registrar of Political Parties, Mohammed Saneem, has this afternoon suspended the Social Democratic Liberal Party for a breach of the Political Parties Act.

The Registrar of Political Parties has suspended the Social Democratic Liberal Party for a breach of the Political Parties Act.

The party has been in the doldrums from a while back, which took another twist on Saturday when two sets of officials were elected to run the affairs of the party.

All appointees have now been declared null and void, and now have 60 days to rectify all issues or face deregistration.

Also further revelations today that party has multiple versions of the constitution, which has created further confusion amongst members.

The internal rumblings of the party have taken a new twist, with the registrar Mohammed Saneem, today issuing the party an ultimatum, get your house in order.

“And in applying Section 19 of the Act, I hereby put SODELPA (suspended party) on notice that it will be deregistered should it not remedy the breach/contravention.”

After all the squabble on Saturday, it has now been made public that SODELPA (suspended party) constitution is in tatters.

In fact, there is more than one version of the constitution in play, with members now left in limbo, as to which constitution to follow.

“A complaint was received from Mr Watisoni Nata on 19th May 2020, regarding purported amendments and fraudulent activity in terms of the constitution of SODELPA. It was noted that Mr Nata annexed six versions of the SODELPA constitution that had been made available to SODELPA officials in their meetings and other activities by Honorable (Adi Litia) Qionibaravi.”

Saneem following Watisoni Nata’s claims of about different versions of the constitution being present, this was the explanation given.

“In reply from Honorable (Adi Litia) Qionibaravi, she submitted, that she had erroneously submitted an incorrect version of the constitution to the Registrar back in 2018. The version that was in the custody of the registrar, omitted some provisions. Once the Registrar accepted the document as an amended constitution, it appears from the admissions of Honorable Qionibaravi, the omitted provisions should not have been omitted from the constitution.”

It was also announced today that the position of treasurer of the suspended party has been vacant for a while now.

And with two factions meeting on Saturday, it has been ruled that both outcomes were illegal.

“The total number of management board members being 42 and considering there are vacancies in officeholders, the quorum was not met by both the meetings. However, for reasons outlined in this decision, establishing exact persons qualified to sit on the management board matters is more complicated.”

There is even more confusion within the ranks of the suspended party as there are no clear records of who is eligible to sit on the management board.

It has been revealed that at most times, it was different people attending the meetings.

“The party office could have a readily available list that could act as a source for verification. The management board has far-reaching powers in SODELPA and failure to maintain a consistent record of who is entitled to sit in the management board may result in governance issues such as this.”

The ruling today sees the party members also now not being able to attend Parliament until after the suspension is lifted.

This has all stemmed from Saturday when one faction elected Vijay Singh as the acting President, Ratu Jone Lesuma and Georgina Pareti Raiwalai as acting Vice Presidents, while Emele Duituturaga was named the acting General Secretary of the party.

Another group had elected Tui Cakau, Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu as acting President, Ratu Luke Ratuvuki as acting Vice President, while Adi Litia Qionibaravi was appointed as acting General Secretary.

Singh’s faction had submitted its list to Saneem yesterday, but this was disputed by Adi Litia.

Upon further consultations between the two factions and Saneem, it was ruled that both meetings and elected officials were invalid as the quorum was not met.