This article is more than 11 months old

This article is more than 11 months old

No assault charges will be laid against the prime minister of Fiji in relation to an incident with an opposition MP outside parliament, despite there being “sufficient evidence for the matter to proceed to court,” the country’s department of public prosecutions has ruled.

Frank Bainimarama was accused of assault by Pio Tikoduadua, an opposition MP for the National Federation Party, who alleges the prime minister grabbed and shoved him outside Fiji’s parliament in Suva, causing his glasses to fall to the ground and break.

The incident was captured on video and the footage was widely shared online.

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It shows Bainimarama grabbing the lapel of Tikoduadua’s coat and giving him a light push before the men were involved in what appeared to be a heated exchange while security guards looked on.

Bainimarama told the Guardian in the weeks following the incident that Tikoduadua had insulted Bainimarama’s family during a parliamentary debate.

The Fijian department of public prosecutions issued a statement saying that while there was enough evidence for the case to go to court, they would not lay charges against Bainimarama because the incident had already been dealt with by the parliamentary privileges committee and to pursue criminal charges “would, in effect, be subjecting the prime minister to double jeopardy”.

“Had the matter not been heard by the privileges committee and dealt with by Parliament, there was sufficient evidence for the matter to proceed to court,” said Christopher Pryde, the director of public prosecutions.

In September, a report to the parliamentary privileges committee recommended Tikoduadua apologise to Bainimarama for what it described as a personal attack on the prime minister.

Tikoduadua refused and walked out of parliament in protest, leading to his suspension for six months without salary.

Tikoduadua later tweeted: “If I am to choose between my seat and my dignity, I’d rather lose my seat.”

The parliamentary privileges committee cleared Bainimarama of physical assault, but recommended he apologise to Tikoduadua for verbally assaulting him, which he did.

The two parliamentary staffers who filmed the incident say they were forced to resign last month over allegations that they had breached parliamentary neutrality rules by leaking the video.

Bainimarama came to power in 2006 in a military coup and was widely criticised for refusing to call elections for eight years. He has since won two elections – in 2014 and 2018. He made headlines in August after accusing Australian prime minister Scott Morrison of being “insulting and condescending” to fellow Pacific leaders at the Pacific Islands Forum in Tuvalu, and refusing to make concessions on climate policy.