Preoples Alliance Party lawyer Simione Valanitabua presented his final argument before the Supreme Court, challenging the legitimacy of the 2013 Constitution and urging the court to restore the 1997 Constitution. Representing the People’s Alliance Party, whose leader is also the current Prime Minister, Valanitabua questioned whether the court would ignore the sinking state of the nation by not acting. He argued that relying on the 2013 Constitution when the 1997 Constitution was still available would be like letting the country’s “canoe sink,” and emphasized that the appearance of cooperation with the 2013 document was for convenience, not acceptance of its legitimacy.
He insisted that the entire 2013 Constitution was void from the start and called on the court to uphold the rule of law by reviving the 1997 Constitution, which he claimed was never lawfully abrogated. He supported his case with previous legal rulings, including Fiji v Prasad and Fiji v Qarase.
