“If he doesn’t resign, they should remove him.”
Social Democratic Liberal Party (SODELPA) board member Tanya Waqanika made this comment while responding to former attorney-general Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum’s membership of the Constitutional Offices Commission.
Ms Waqanika, who was one of the appointees from Government to the Constitutional Offices Commission, announced her resignation yesterday.
She said she made the decision because she did not wish to leave her party.
According to Section 63 (1), the seat of a member of Parliament becomes vacant if the member (b) with the member’s consent, becomes the holder of a public office (as defined in section 57).
Section 14 (4) of the Political Parties Act 2013 also states that if any public officer intends to be an applicant or a member of, or hold office in, a proposed political party or political party registered under this Act, must resign from the respective public office.
Ms Waqanika said the law was very clear.
“I have resigned, the law is the law, no one is above the law, not even Khaiyum, his own law that he made,” she said.
“I’ll put it in this way: if he doesn’t resign, they should just remove him because the law is quite clear.”
SODELPA is expected to name another nominee to replace Ms Waqanika soon.
Questions sent to Mr Sayed-Khaiyum remain unanswered when this edition went to press.
