Dear Editor,

We have all now learned of the Chief Justice’s decision this week to legalise the Speaker’s deliberative vote in Parliament on a Constitutional Amendment.

This is despite our belief that, according to the provisions of the Constitution, the Speaker does not have a deliberative vote – a requirement to ensure the Speaker conducts the meetings of parliament without bias.

In anticipation of the decision, we had already prepared in advance to appeal the case with a clear frame of mind, inspired by the words of one poet – “To err is human, to forgive, divine”.

Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi

Leader of HRPP