Former Justice Minister and Attorney General, Dr Allan Marat, has said the proposed 'Maladina' amendments would "legalise previous wrongful conduct of any member of [Parliament]."
"Justice and righteousness would therefore demand that the amendment was not pursued".
His comments were made in his resignation letter which was given to the media last Friday.
Dr Marat was sacked as Justice Minister and Attorney General for speaking out against the governments proposals to limit the powers of the Ombudsman Commission, but says the need for justice and righteousness in governance outweighed his responsibility to maintain cabinet solidarity.
The sacked minister also said: “The recently passed amendments to the Constitution, enabling amendments to the Organic Law on the duties and responsibilities of leadership seek to legitimise misconduct in office charges and glaring instances of misconduct that are yet to be investigated and charges laid".
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The National Alliance-led government is legalising corruption by
The National Alliance-led government is legalising corruption by pushing through legislative amendments to the Ombudsman Commission, says former Justice Minister and Attorney General.
Dr Allan Marat resigned last week after publicly criticising controversial amendments to the Ombudsman Commission which many observers say will undermine its integrity.
He says Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare forced him to resign in an angry outburst in front of the government caucus.
Dr Marat says that the motive behind the amendments doesn’t sit well with some coalition members although not many are prepared to speak out.
“We are all aware of existing charges against politicians and the constitutional amendments, in our view, now with hindsight, we see that they are actually legalising the wrongs. They’ve rendered the wrongs that were previously done by cetrain politicians to be legal. It’s like legalising corruption.”