Presidential Power

The suspension of three opposition MPs from parliament has resulted in a dramatic standoff in the Pacific nation of Nauru where the Speaker called on the police to remove one of the offending members Dr Kieren Keke, the other two were out of the country from the chamber. Protestors later gathered outside the parliament building in support of Dr Keke. The rationale given for the suspension by Minister of Justice David Adeang was that the three members were talking too much to foreign media to the extent that their critical commentary was damaging Naurus development. The presence of foreign media has become increasingly controversial on the island since the Australian government reopened its asylum seekers detainee facility for 2012. In mid-2013 a number of detainees rioted, bringing heightened interest from overseas observers. Along with raising the cost of visa applications for foreign media, the government recently dismissed the chief magistrate and barred the chief justice from returning to the country.