BY ROMINAH FAKA
The election petition against MP for North Guadalcanal Jamie Vokia has been withdrawn in court.
Furthermore, the High Court ordered that each party to the case bears its own costs.
The ruling was delivered on Tuesday this week by Judge Augustine Aulanga.
On the previous hearing the petitioner and his lawyer Gabriel Suri filed an application seeking leave to withdraw the petition, claiming that his two remaining witnesses were being interfered with by Vokia, which the petitioner claimed affected their credibility as witnesses.
As a result, the petitioner believes that there was no need to proceed to the trial.
The petitioner and his lawyer sought court for the cost to be paid by Vokia, claiming that his interference with the petitioner’s witnesses affected their credibility as witnesses, which leaves the petition no chance but to be filed for withdrawal.
In response to the petitioner and his lawyer’s application, the respondent and his lawyer Jillian Soaika submitted that the petitioner’s witnesses themselves had sought help from Vokia, therefore allowing the alleged interference.
Soaika said if the witnesses had not approached the respondent, he would not have interacted with them.
Therefore, Soaika submitted that the petitioner Brandley Lenga will be the one who pays for the cost as they were the one who initiated the withdrawal.
The primary focus on the issue of who to pay the cost either petitioner or respondent was ruled on Wednesday this week, where court ordered for the parties to bear their own cost.
Initially, there were four different occasions of bribery and three occasions of undue influence which the petitioner filed against the respondent.
On September 2, 2024 court ruled the application to strike out the petition by dismissing the three occasions of undue influence along with two allegations of bribery. Living only two grounds of bribery to proceed to trial.
Ms. Jillian Soaika appear for the respondent Jamie Lency Vokia and Gabriel Suri representing the petitioner, Bradley Lenga.
Published on Thursday, February 20.
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