NATIONAL PARLIAMENT OF
DAILY HANSARD
FIRST MEETING – EIGHTH SESSION
The Speaker, Rt Hon Sir Peter
Kenilorea took the Chair at
Prayers.
ATTENDANCE
At prayers all were present with the exception of the Ministers
for the Department of Fisheries, Police & National Security, Tourism,
Culture and Tourism, Finance and Treasury, Communication, Aviation and
Meteorology and the Members for West New Georgia/Vona Vona, West Guadalcanal
Rennell/Bellona, Small Malaita, Maringe/Kokota, Marovo, and
Motion of Sine die
Debate on the
motion of sine die as amended continues and concludes
Mr TOM: Thank you, Mr Speaker, for
allowing me these few minutes to contribute to this motion of sine die.
Mr Speaker, I would like to return all glory, honor and
thanks to God for his divine call for me and every one of us in this Chamber who
are here today. The 50 of us here in
this Chamber have been called by God to represent his people in the respective
constituencies. In any particular
society, the government is God’s institution.
Mr Speaker, it is God who initiated, designed, planned,
established, authorized and ordained this country’s highest institution to be
formed, thus allowing God’s servants and God’s ministers to serve his people
and to show characters that reflects his institution.
Mr Speaker, I would like to thank my
good people of West Kwaio Constituency for their trust, honor and respect for
voting and giving me the mandate to represent them here in this Chamber. For without their votes I would not be here.
Mr Speaker, I would like to especially thank all
respected chiefs, women, youth leaders, other community leaders and church
leaders in West Kwaio for their prayers and spiritual support that has brought
us this far. I hope this support will
continue for the next four years, which you have mandated me to represent you
here in this Chamber.
Mr Speaker, on behalf of my people of
Mr Speaker, my humble and sincere thanks also goes to the
Queen’s representative, His Excellency the Governor General of
Mr Speaker, I would like to forward my sincere thanks to
the Speaker of this House for the God given wisdom bestowed upon Him. Your re-election to this House gives me the
insight that you have gained the heart of Solomon Islands as both sides of this
House have no doubt in re-electing you. Mr
Speaker, I would like to thank you for the decisions you made during these
challenging times our country is facing.
Mr Speaker, I also acknowledge the election of the former
Prime Minister, the honourable Member for Marovo and for his humble
resignation. This shows he has concern
for the demands of the people and for the good of the country. The incident that happened during the
election, which some called ‘Black Tuesday’ was a surprise to some of us in
this House.
Mr Speaker, I sympathise with the Chinese Community here
in
Mr Speaker, I would like to thank all former Members of
Parliament and the former Prime Minister, the Member for Savo/Russell for their
hard work during the past four years.
Mr Speaker, on behalf of the people of
Mr Speaker, I would like to thank the 450 plus candidates
who have contested the recent election, and out of this only 50 have been
chosen to be here in this House. This
means we are the best chosen to be here for this divine call for God’s
institution.
Sir, I see no reason at all why we should throw mud at
each other for we are the best, and we should be shouldering each other for the
advancement of this House and Solomon Islands.
Mr Speaker, all our constituencies have their hope and
trust in us. Why should we continue in
this type of behaviour that does not reflect God’s character inherent in this
institution - the government?
Mr Speaker, I would like to urge all new and old Members
of Parliament who are currently seated in this Chamber not to dwell on former
things but to look for new things which our God will help us realise for this
nation.
Sir, I would like to comment on Apostle Paul’s message
about forgetting what is behind us and look forward to the future for better
things to come. This is the means for
our country’s success and advancement.
Sir, before I resume my seat, I would like to quote Psalms
133:1. “How wonderful, how pleasant it is for God’s people and brethren to dwell
in unity!” The way forward for us in
this highest Chamber is to dwell in unity, for this will bring peace amongst us
resulting in better decision making for the good people of
(hear, hear)
Let us accept all criticisms
as an element of cleaning one another. As a leader we cannot escape from it.
Sir, may I call on all law abiding citizens and
Christians of this country to continue support this House in prayer and the
future of the country.
Sir, it is not by might not by power but by my Spirit,
says the Lord.
God bless
Hon IDURI: Thank you, Mr Speaker, for allowing me this
time to very briefly contribute to this very important motion.
First of all, Mr Speaker, I would like to thank God for
his love and care for each and every one of us, sitting here in this honourable
House. It is in God that we live, move
and exist. Without Him we cannot do
anything.
Mr Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to
convey my thanks and sincere gratitude to my people of West Kwara’ae, the
chiefs, church leaders, teachers and everyone.
Thank you for having trust and confidence in me for electing me to
Parliament as your leader for the next four years. I am looking forward to working together with
you.
May I also Mr Speaker, congratulate all Members of
Parliament for winning their electoral seats in the last election on 5th
of April.
Furthermore Mr Speaker, I would like to congratulate the
honourable Member for North East Choiseul for winning the election as Prime
Minister of the ruling government.
I wish to congratulate you, Mr Speaker, for your election
unopposed to the Office of the Speaker, not forgetting also the Deputy Speaker,
my friend the Member for Russells and Savo in his unopposed election as well.
Lastly Mr Speaker, I would like to thank the staff of the
National Parliament for their assistance to us Members of Parliament in one way
or another and hope that mutual cooperation and understanding will continue to be
rendered to us.
Thank you, Mr Speaker, and I support the motion.
Hon SOGAVARE: Mr Speaker, I rise to wind up the debate on
the motion of Sine Die. I would like to
begin by thanking all the Members who have contributed to the debate, and of
course the kind words that have been expressed.
Sir, I was thinking of how to respond over the last three
days when this motion was debated. I had
a choice of several options, and one is to directly confront the issues that
were raised in Parliament by Members of Parliament and address it through a confrontational
way or the other option is to adopt a more reconciliatory approach.
I
decide not to follow the first option after hearing what a lot of Members have
expressed, and I think there is a need for Members of Parliament to work
together. There are only 50 of us and
the Constitution does not allow us to look outside during the four years so
there is a need for all of us to work together.
I noticed as well, Mr Speaker, over the years that if you
want to pick the brains of Members of Parliament, they are the best during
debates on motions of sine die, in response to Speech from the throne and
during budget debates. I think for the
simple reason that these debates allow Members of Parliament to talk on a wide
range of issues.
Sir, I believe we need to do justice to the efforts and
thinking devoted to the preparation of these speeches by Members of Parliament,
and as the custodian of government policy Mr Speaker, I do not think Members of
the Grand Coalition will disagree with me that the Government must take the
concerns of Members of Parliament that are being expressed seriously. I see it as an opportunity may be to improve
on government policy, and the Policy Evaluation Unit in my Department will be tasked
with that responsibility that we use the brains of Members of Parliament.
In this regard, I agree with the views expressed by some Members
of Parliament and I would like to assure my honourable colleagues, especially those
from the other side of the House that their concerns and sound advice will be
taken seriously.
I am obliged however, Mr Speaker, as the leader of the
Grand Coalition may be to correct many false allegations and misleading
statements and deliberate misunderstandings of the Government’s official
position, and I am going to do it in a very reconciliatory approach.
In
addition to the many issues raised in the House, Mr Speaker, during the
debates, which I have indicated I am obliged to clarify, I will take the
concerns raised on the following more seriously because they questioned the
credibility of the government and the pillars upon which the Coalition Joint Development
Strategies is premised.
These are, and if I have time, Mr Speaker, I will play it
by time. First is the Government’s
official position regarding the case of the two colleagues in custody. Mr Speaker, I appreciate that this is a
matter before the court of law and therefore my clarification will be purely on
matters of principles and the conduct of individuals in important key
positions, which I feel I need to make it very clear as far as the Government’s
position is concern. I would also like
to appeal to the people of
There are questions raised as well, Mr Speaker, on how
the Coalition will address the underlying issues of the ethnic crisis. It would appear to me, Mr Speaker, that many
Solomon Islanders, may be including Members of this honourable House as well, may
get to appreciate this concern. This is
demonstrated clearly by the fact that development strategies and policies so
far have been formulated minus the concerns for the reason why the country
collapsed in year 2000.
I feel, Mr Speaker, this is a very important point of
reference i we need to take this country forward more constructively, and we
need to take account of the reason why this country collapsed in year 2000.
I am saying this, Mr Speaker, because we are pretending as
if everything was normal, and the country did not go through a period of
crisis. Any wonder, Mr Speaker, that our
development strategies have yet to be focused and meaningful.
If I have time as well, Mr Speaker, I may need to also
make some clarifications on the proposed reform of the monetary system advanced
by a political party in the Grand Coalition.
Let me first of all just run through some of the issues I
feel needs to be clarified before I address the main concerns that I have
regarding the issues that I am inclined to address today.
Mr Speaker, concerns were raised, and I do appreciate as
well that what I read out on Tuesday when I introduced the broad direction of
government policy is that it is not a full detail of government policy as
such. I made it very clear when I
introduced the statement that a more detailed joint position of the Grand Coalition
will be put out to the public when we finally come up with the joint position
of the Grand coalition.
We
are intending to do that as soon as we settle down and get the ministries to
work and clear in where we are going, and we would like to immediately call
Parliament and allow His Excellency to address the nation through a speech from
the throne where Members of Parliament will be given the opportunity to comment
more fully on the decision the government is taking as to how we would like to
see the development of the country moving forward.
Sir,
I think there is lack of appreciation, and this position taken by people
referring to what happened on Tuesday as only involving the minority in this
country Mr Speaker. I think we really
need to think a bit broader. Statements like
this disregard what happened in year 2000.
We
really need to appreciate that it was actually the action of the minority as
well that brought this country to its knees in year. That is why it is very important for decision
making leaders like us to always appreciate the concerns of the minority. I think history has spoken very loud and
clear in that regard. It is not the
majority that brought this country down in year 2000, and a minority again did
what happened on ‘Black Tuesday’ as alluded to by Members of Parliament. It is very important that we appreciate that
and may be that should drive policy makers like us to think more on how to
address that. What does that tells us in
terms of formulating the approach to avoid things like that. The clear message is decentralise. Get developments out to rural areas so that
we disburse people out to the other development centres so that we do not put
unnecessary pressures in
There
is always this concern raised about the Party’s foreign policy, and as I have
said the joint position of the Coalition would be made clearer. We still maintain that the Republic of China
is a reliable donor for this country, it has made a lot of good works in this
country, it came when we needed them most, at the time when nobody came it
came. I feel as the leader of this
present Government to make it very clear to the nation that the ROC is a
reliable donor and we will continue to treat them as such.
Sir, the expectation by militants that is raised, I am
surprised that we continue to refer to people as militants. I think we have gone past that and we should
start to see Solomon Islanders as what they are. I cannot remember making any promises to
militants. I want to make that very
clear, I am dealing with Solomon Islanders.
Militants have limitations and we would treat them as Solomon Islanders
and discuss their concerns. I will discuss certain matters with them, which I
feel are sensitive to national security, and that will happen as soon as Parliament
goes into recess, I will begin to have a series of consultations with them.
The 100 Days Program is nothing more than a big political
‘maus wara’. We are not going to waste
our time on political point scoring. We
are here for the long haul and committed to our development program. If the Group wants to put up the100 days
program we will do that but we are here to deliver.
Sir, there is so much said about corruption and may be I
am amused or may be disgusted at the claims of
self righteousness in this House. It is so clear that we have testimonies and
people speaking in Parliament saying that they were approached by certain
people in the House offering them monies and whatever. Let us stop talking about corruption because
only God knows about the past, it is no secret to Him. When we stand to talk in this honorable House
trying to defend ourselves we are like hypocrites. Hypocrisy is saying one thing and not doing
it.
Sir, I can go on and talk about these things but I do not
want to waste Parliament’s time on this.
As I have said we take note of a lot of things that were said in
Parliament for example, the concern about the influx of sectarian religion and
new ideas into the country. We need to
be careful how we tread and deal with that.
This is a very sensitive area that we must tread with absolute care and
sensitivity that we do not open up areas that would undermine the very
principles that we have been seeking to advance.
Sir, on RCDF we will be working on a strategy that will
see greater transparency and accountability in the administration and
utilization of the RCDF money. The
Government’s position will be made clearer when the Grand Coalition’s joint
policy is finalized and approved.
Sir, I will outline to proceed rapidly with the
establishment of a commission of inquiry to delve into the truth about the
events of the tragic day we realized that law and order could not be guaranteed
by anybody. The two Ministers of the
Government are yet to be sworn in, they are being in prison by the system to
bear the consequences of their alleged involvement in the engineering of the
problem that followed.
It is no secret that all the protests, violence and
destruction was aimed at the government with which I had initially decided to
join and support against my better judgment.
History will, no doubt, judge both me and the honorable MP for Marovo
kindly for the decisive action we took to diffuse a volatile situation at a
risk of a long and personal implication. We were attacked almost daily in the local and
international media by critics including the Australian and the New Zealand
Governments, not for any lack of integrity, but simply the wisdom of my Grand
Coalition’s choice of Honorable Charles Dausabea, the MP for
Until now, Mr Speaker, all Solomon Islanders had grown up
to believe in the majesty of the system of law we had inherited from our
British Colonial Masters. We were taught
to admire the English system of justice, which preached as its cardinal
principles the entitlement of every subject of justice according to law.
The golden thread, Mr Speaker, running through the Common
Law we believe is presumption of innocence.
Although our experience of colonial rule ruled otherwise, we accepted
the theoretical premise of equal treatment of all under the law. That was the legacy of the colonial rule that
we decided to adopt and cherish as values that were worthy of retention and
protection under the Constitution we adopted at independence.
Mr Speaker, we appear now to be paying lip service to our
constitutional creed when it is more fashionable to quote international favor
for invoking the mantra of democratic governance according to law.
The people’s government that I now have the honour of
leading has done a lot of soul searching, Mr Speaker, and realise that we need
to be careful before getting on the bandwagon of those who chant praises about
the virtues of democratic governance - the rule of law, transparency,
accountability and all the other phrases which simple and sophisticated Solomon
Islanders clearly do not understand.
Mr Speaker, we decided to take a stance on the legal
treatment of my two Ministers who are being remanded in custody, not because we
disrespect anybody nor do we wish to trespass on the separation of powers and
principles for engaging in a contest between the executive and the
judiciary. We have to live with the
consequences of judicial decisions in our constitutional democracy. Fortunately our system of justice does not
convict and punish before the trial of those who are charged with offences.
Sir, the Director of Public Prosecution has publicly
cautioned me not to pollute the streams of justice by making remarks that
undermine the integrity of the prosecutorial process in
Sir, I am going to substantiate my remarks by tabling
documents which are now filed in court and form part of the pubic records of
the Magistrate’s Court accessible to everyone.
Sir, they do not affect the subject matter and substance
of the proceedings now before the courts but the legal process we now have and
praise without any criticism for fear that we might be stepping on powerful toes.
Sir, with your indulgence let me read the contents of
four affidavits which have been sworn and filed by witnesses on the recent
conversation between the Director of Public Prosecution and the presiding
Magistrates in the corridors of the Central Magistrates Court before the hearings
of the Member for
I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker, to read the four
affidavits.
Mr Speaker: Affidavits by whom honourable Prime Minister?
Hon Sogavare: By four people. I have them right here Mr Speaker?
Mr Speaker: Honorable Prime Minister, I think the
Standing Orders gave me the privilege of making the decision on this particular
issue on issues that are before the courts.
Since the case is still alive I must rule that I do not allow you to
read relevant affidavits to a case that is still alive. But you can explain the principles of why.
Mr Fono: Point of order, Mr Speaker, can I draw your
attention to Standing Order 36(2) where matters that are before the courts should
not be made reference to in Parliament?
Mr Speaker: Yes, that is the section I was referring to, where
it gives the Speaker, ‘in the opinion of the Speaker might prejudice the case’. That is what I was referring to where it gives
authority to the Speaker to make the decision, and so I made the decision not
to allow matters that are still relating to cases that are alive before the
court to be read in Parliament. You may
continue to clarify certain principles of your actions.
Hon Sogavare: Thank you, Mr Speaker. It would be much clearer if I am allowed to
read the four affidavits, but I do respect your ruling and take it as
that.
But
the revelations of these four affidavits Mr Speaker, are very serious. This points to a serious act of misconduct by
the Director of Public Prosecutions colluding with the sitting Magistrate who
is supposed to be hearing the case that morning. As I have said they are now public documents,
anyone can go and read these documents if they kept in files, any Member of the
public can have access to it and read it.
I might be publishing it in the Solomon Star.
May be with that little explanation, I am going to leave
honorable Members to draw their on conclusions from what I have said concerning
what actually happened, which I can
prove here on the floor of Parliament.
What
I would like to say, Mr Speaker, is that no honourable Member who believes
firmly in the elementary principles of the rule of law on the presumption of
innocence justice according to law, equal treatment under law, liberty, good
governance, transparency, accountability and fair play will dissect on my call
here today openly on this floor of people’s cathedral of democracy, for the
Director of Public Prosecution to step down, be investigated and suffer the
fate which his constitutional powers and office empower him to inflict on all
of us Mr Speaker.
What is good for the goose, Mr Speaker, must also be good
for the gander.
Sir, I want to explain further. This is not about the government or the Prime
Minister, not even the two Members of Parliament who are locked behind bars but
rather it is about the claim of the Judiciary to be independent which is now
called into question. This is a matter
of serious concern to the executive government, as I said based on the fresh
evidence available to us.
We are aware, Mr Speaker, of the implications that have
arisen in the aftermath of the riot that occurred on April 18th Mr
Speaker, and we will use our power to establish a commission of inquiry to
investigate the circumstances surrounding this unfortunate and tragic event. As soon as the terms of reference of this commission
is finalised, I will appoint three commissioners to conduct the inquiry. I will be taking this matter up with the
Foreign Affairs Ministers of Australia and New Zealand, and of course the participating
countries before they come to see me later this month.
At this stage, Mr Speaker, this side of the House cannot
as representatives of our people accept the easy solution of using scapegoats
to justify the events of April 18th.
There are much more serious issues at stake, which cannot be attributed
to only a handful of individuals.
Issues relating to the basic rights of our citizens Mr
Speaker, and the constitutional rights of the Solomon Islands Government which have
been established for the purpose of ensuring long term peace and stability
within an unbiased environment.
My
request only to the people of
We
are a responsible government, we hear, we listen to the many groups that have
raised their concerns, the women group and civil society, we are listening, our
ears are open.
Sir, I would
like to take this opportunity to appeal to them to be patient and as soon as we see our way through we should be able
to resolve these issues in the best interest of everybody - Solomon Islands,
our development partners and, of course, both sides of this House.
Sir,
I think the other thing raised in Parliament, which I see as still needing
understanding of certain happenings in the country is the underlying issues of
the tension. I raised that in media
conferences on what are these issues. Mr
Speaker, allow me now to take some time to explain issues that cause this
country to collapse and probably will continue to haunt the country if we fail to
address them now.
These
issues are summarized in the log of claims lodged on behalf of the people of
Sir,
the twelve point demands are logically grouped under three main categories of concern
against the incompatibility of the system adopted at independence, and are as
follows. Mr Speaker, firstly the
resistance against a very heavily centralized foreign control topped down
development. Secondly, the incompatibility
of the inherited land policy, colonial land.
And thirdly, the disrespectful for custom and culture of indigenous
people either directly by the government both colonial and our own or by other
indigenous groups competing for what is seen as scarce opportunity. These issues have serious policy implications,
and I feel that we need to appreciate them.
The
original demands were complicated in fact by developments of the ethnic crisis,
and the disregard for long standing issues which were clearly taken up in the
strategies to consolidate the peace process. And these are as follows Mr Speaker:
(i)
the resistance
against foreign ownership of decision making process and economic system.
(ii)
the disregard for
the requirements of the joint peace strategy agreed under the Townsville Peace
Agreement, which complicates things further.
(iii)
the compensation
claims by the people of
(iv)
the continual
marginalization of
All
these issues, Mr Speaker, were further complicate by the effects of the ethnic
conflict and post conflict development.
Let me
comment on this briefly Mr Speaker. First
is the struggle against the centralized top-down donor driven and foreign
control development strategy. You can
almost categorize some demands under that thinking. The first one is state government. The demand for state government system is
really a revolt against the heavily top-down process of planning, budgeting and
governance that marked successive Solomon Islands Government’s political and
socio economic development strategies throughout the years. Mr Speaker, indigenous
Solomon Islanders felt that they are deliberately left out by a system that was
structured to be bias.
As
well as that is the exercise of political power. Political and economic power remains the prerogative
of a very few. Their success and improved economic status is taken to mean that
the country and its people are better off.
Sir, this is a glaring fallacy of the conventional economic system which
had proven to be a total failure.
There
is also the concern, Mr Speaker, for the undesirable process of alienation,
which is a catchword that is used very, very often here. The overwhelming call for the state
government system demanded the introduction of a new federal constitution which
calls for recognition of the rights of people.
The
other group, Mr Speaker, is fair distribution of economic benefits from
development of customary land and other resources. This is another protest against the
centralized development strategy considered a contributing factor to the unfair
distribution of benefits derived from utilization of indigenous wealth.
Under
such a system, Mr Speaker, the control of the use of revenue and other benefits
is subject to a national debate on their allocation, and as a result, the needs
of indigenous people who contribute the revenue, the perception is that the
utilization of their resources are not seriously addressed.
This
unfairness is perceived to be embracing a wide spectrum of issues, which I need
not to go through it.
The
other group, Mr Speaker, is distribution of major economic development
activities to other provinces. We noted
with serious concern that the country paid dearly for this gross neglect during
the ethnic crisis, and in fact we made a serious mistake of putting all major
economic activities on
Sir,
we believe that we cannot possibly afford to repeat this mistake again this
time round and still consider ourselves normal. Mr Speaker, loss of lives and destruction to
important development infrastructures must stand as important reminders for the
present and future governments to adopt strategies that will open up other
centres in the country.
And
of course people of
Sir,
whilst such a demand may appear impractical, we believe that its stands to
stamp the seriousness of the resistance against the centralized development
strategy. The point is that the
government has a duty to see that other provinces are also developed - a call
that is repeatedly emphasized by many well-to-do people throughout the
country.
Mr
Speaker, I would now like to comment briefly on the systematic marginalization
of
Sir,
there have been many, many cases where request of additional financial
assistance by Solomon Islanders were refused for no good reason other than the
fact that they indigenous. If one
analyzes the attitude so far that is precisely what has just happened.
The
banks’ excuse is the absence of bankable projects, which is confusing because
Solomon Islanders who applied for assistance have proven themselves in business.
The other area is the reserve list for areas of investment
by Solomon Islanders. This is a total joke because the policy is not supported
by strategies to make financial resources readily available to
Sir, this is an insult to all Solomon Islanders, and
if not quickly and sensibly addressed would be potentially dangerous for peace
and harmony. The government is seriously
looking into that.
Sir, there is a perception that
the country’s development strategies are systematically also alienating Solomon
Islanders from the formal system making the formal sector the primary
jurisdictions of non indigenous. In
addition to lack of capital because of the perceived discriminating attitude
against aspiring entrepreneurs is unreliable transportation, domestic market constraints,
lack of confidence engendered by lack of appropriate business training and fear
of failure have also contributed to the marginalization of Solomon Islanders. The Government will be seriously looking into
those areas.
We
also recognize, Sir, the culture clash resulting from the influence of
individualism under the capitalist mode of economic development, which
emphasizes the development of individuals as opposed to facilitating individuals
to pursue community interests.
We are
also concern about the attitudes of unscrupulous community leaders who are
usually lured into accepting the superiority of the capitalist ideologies of a
communal philosophy by the material advantage observed. The process systematically breeds a leadership
and community that is oriented toward self-satisfaction and is an area, which
the Minister of Culture will seriously address.
We
are concern as well, Mr Speaker, that the government as the supreme institution
and custodian of the various institutions may be is structurally and
technically deficient and therefore ineffective as a facilitating institution, and
because of these the system becomes vulnerable
to the dictates of people who have no real interest in the welfare of Solomon
Islands.
In
fact there is no real incentive in the investment strategies of the country to
encourage indigenous Solomon Islanders to participate in economic activities. The
Government will be seriously looking into these areas.
We
also noted that there is a total absence of appropriate institutional
arrangements within the government structure to provide the needed supervision
and technical assistance to assist indigenous Solomon Islanders to be successful
in business. This is clearly
demonstrated in the ineffectiveness of the various essential services, which the
government will also seriously address and may be restructure, to a concept of
active management rather than merely a supervisory or advisory role.
When
the detail joint policy statement of the government is finalized, we should be
able to see clearly the direction this country will be moving forward under the
leadership of this government.
I
would like to end here, Mr Speaker, and this is inline with the inaugural
speech that I made some days ago to Parliament about good governance and the
role that Members of Parliament play in ensuring good governance in their work,
in the House and also on Committees. I
want to inform this Honorable House of the forthcoming Induction Program for
Members. The program has been designed specifically
to assist support Members of Parliament in their work and will encourage
Members to consider and discuss important issues as public leadership,
constituency relations, the role of Parliament and its relationship with other
institutions of governance including the executive and the judiciary, and the
role and functioning of parliamentary committee.
The
program has been designed by the National Parliament under the United Nation
Development Program Parliamentary Strengthening Project in partnership with
other important institutions and will include participation of regional leaders
and colleagues.
The
program will be treated as a parliamentary sitting week, and will run from
Monday 29th May to
Sir,
I would now strongly encourage every Member of Parliament to attend and participate
in this very important. The program is
the first of its kind to be held in any South Pacific Country, and it aims at
supporting us to be effective legislators and leaders. Of course, I will be delivering the opening
address at 9am on Tuesday 30th May, and I understand that my
colleague the Leader of the Opposition will also be addressing Members
immediately afterwards. I look forward
to seeing all of you at that time.
Sir,
in bringing my remarks to a close, I would like to join the other colleagues in
thanking a number of people. First is your
good self, Mr Speaker, for may be putting up with us for the last four weeks and
for your guidance and leadership in the business of Parliament. I also would
like to take this opportunity to congratulate you for another term in the chair. I wish you all God’s blessing and guidance as
He continues to lead you in your work to provide the needed leadership and guidance
in this Honorable House and the Legislature.
I would
also like to thank Christians throughout this country for continuing to pray
and petitioning God for his guidance in all spheres of leadership, not only in
Parliament but leadership in all spheres of life, from smallest units in the
House to this National Parliament. Sir,
I strongly believe that God is still alive and He rules and leads our
country. I thank Christians throughout
this country for continuing to place the government in their prayers every
day.
Sir,
as leader of this government, I would also to assure the donor communities of
the continual cooperation of this government with them, and I would like to
thank them for what they have contributed to the development of this country. When the joint policy of the Grand Coalition
is finalized we should be able to sit together and look at ways of making
partnership approach in taking this country forward. I thank them for their continual
support.
Sir,
we continue to support the work of RAMSI in this country as well. We will work together with them. We need to consolidate the good work that has
been done. As I have assured RAMSI their
work is always in the best interest of
Sir, the last but not the least, Mr Speaker, to my own
people in East Choiseul Constituency for their trust and confidence in me to
return me as their Member of Parliament.
I promise to serve them in the best way that I can, of course within the
confines of available resources. So I would like to thank them for that.
Sir, I think I have exhausted everything that I would
like to say at this point and so I would like to move that at the adjournment
of Parliament on
(applause)
Mr Speaker: Thank you honorable Prime Minister. Although the honorable Prime Minister has
made his round up speech in terms of Standing Order 33, paragraph 5, the
question is yet to be put. Is there
anyone who wants to make any remarks before I put the question?
(No one responds)
The motion of Sine Die agreed to
Mr SPEAKER: Before the honorable Prime Minister moves the
motion of adjournment of Parliament today, I too would like to say a few words.
Amidst the high level of political discussion that is
currently taking place within our homes, offices, the market place and on the
street corners of
The first point I would like to make is the difference
between the Parliament and the Government.
It is often misunderstood, even at the most senior levels and has led to
a perception by many that Parliament is an arm of the executive Government
which is called together occasionally at the whim of Government of the day
simply to pass their legislative agenda.
On the contrary, while the Executive is formed from within Parliament
and is accountable to it, the Constitution provides Parliament with powers and
functions that are distinct to those of the Executive. These are briefly outlined as follows.
Perhaps
the most visible and the best understood functions of the National Parliament
is to pass legislations or laws by which a country is governed. The legal power to initiate legislation is
vested only in the Legislature or the Parliament. Section 59 of the Constitution of Solomon
Islands states that: “Parliament may make laws for the peace, order and good
government of
One
of the most important responsibilities of the new Government will be to
articulate its new polices, some of which we have already heard for change and
to commence the process of preparing a legislation to bring to Parliament to
implement those policies.
There
are, however, other very important functions of Parliament. Parliament is the arena in which people are
represented in the decision-making process.
One way that Members of Parliament formally carry out their
representative function is through the parliamentary debate, which we have
enjoyed a lot of it this week. Another
is to present petitions to the House from members of the public as the final
form or redress of grievances. However,
it must be noted that representation is a two-way process. While Members of Parliament have the role of
representing the people’s views to the National Parliament, they also represent
the actions of the House and the Government to the people in their various
constituencies. This is the connection
between each individual voter and the actions of Parliament that can affect the
way the country is governed. If an
individual voter disagrees with what they hear from their elected Members, they
can exercise their votes at the next election to change their representation to
better reflect their interest and expectations.
In
any democracy, there is a principle that there should not be any expenditure of
public funds without representation. And,
of course, our Constitution says, ‘no expenditure public funds without
appropriation’. Therefore, another major
function of Parliament is to consider and debate the budget the government
proposes. The government regularly
requires Parliament’s approval for supply of public funds to run the
country. The annual budget of the
government is subject to Parliament approval.
In addition, the government obtains interim finance by occasional
passage of a ‘Supplementary Appropriation Bill’. Supply Bills must be scrutinized by the
Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee and debated in the House and its debate
on the supply of public funds represents an opportunity for the Parliament to
review or to renew its confidence or otherwise in the government.
Another
major function of the Parliament is to scrutinize the actions of the
government. There are several processes
by which Parliament can hold the executive or government to account. Perhaps the most visible of these is the
daily question time, where Members question Ministers of the Government on the
management of this country’s affairs.
This can be a very powerful means of extracting information that might
bring into question the performance of individual Ministers or the government
as a whole.
Another
way of scrutinizing the government is the ability of Parliamentary Select
Committees to undertake inquiries and report their findings to Parliament. Usually committees hear evidence from witnesses
who attend and answer questions. Also,
committees can request the government to produce documents such as reports for
the committee to use as material for their enquiry. Committees provide an opportunity to take
Parliament to the people and hear directly from citizens about their concerns. Unfortunately, until recently Parliament has
not had the staff or resources to undertake this work effectively.
Lastly,
the Parliament provides from amongst its members a government. Part of the misconception that Parliament is
part of the executive arises from the fact that the Prime Minister and his
government are constituted from among Members of Parliament. The shift of power to the executive has been
a feature of most systems of government in recent times, however, the Parliament
remains responsible for holding the government of the day to account and must
have ‘confidence’ in the government for it to continue in office. This is known as the ‘responsible
government’, which is the principle that Ministers are collectively responsible
to Parliament for the action or actions of the government. The government is responsible for the day to
day administration of the country. The
Opposition on the other hand is responsible for holding the government to
account, and it is for this reason that a strong Opposition is good for good
governance.
In
The
previous government of, if I may use the name, Sir Allan Kemakeza (2001 – 2005)
was the only government since independence that has maintained the confidence
of the House for a full parliamentary term.
However, the newly elected Prime Minister, the Hon Snyder Rini (leader
of the same Coalition) was forced to resign when he could not guarantee his
government to maintain the confidence of the House.
As
the events of that week are so topical, perhaps it is important to emphasize
that the defeat of the government on a vote in the House does not mean the
House has lost confidence in the government.
It simply means that there is insufficient support in the House for that
proposal. When however a particular vote
is identified as a confidence issue, a lost vote could lead to another party or
coalition forming a government or the need for an election. Matters relating to ‘supply’ of public funds
are always matters of confidence because without funds for public expenditure
the government cannot function.
All
that have been mentioned so far pertains to how Parliaments function in
At
my request, the United Nations Development Program conducted a Legislative
Needs Assessment for
However,
these issues are being addressed and thee has been marked improvement
particularly in areas where the role of parliament has been supported by the
work of the Machinery of Government Program under RAMSI. This program has lent assistance to the
vitally important Constitutional bodies such as Auditor-General, Ombudsman and
Leadership Code Commission that oversee the conduct of the executive and the
public service and report to parliament on their findings.
The
United Nations Development Program has also been given the mandate to manage a
‘Parliamentary Strengthening Project’ with the Parliament of Solomon
Islands. As Speaker I am the National
Project Manager. UNDP is an ideal
organization to administer the project since it is not appropriate for foreign
governments to be involved in the operations of a Parliament of another
country.
However,
the project has been the beneficiary of substantial AusAID funding which is gratefully
acknowledged. Recently the project has
made considerable headway with the establishment of a research and committee
secretariat unit to assist Members undertake their important duties; the
Parliamentary Library is focuses on providing current information and
background material to Members, and their has been a heavy investment in
Information and Communications Technologies (ICT). Perhaps the most important initiative has
been the strengthening of the Parliaments Secretariat support with 8 recent graduates
now supporting the Clerk of the Parliament in her important role of providing
procedural and other advice to the Speaker, Prime Minister, Leader of the
Opposition and all other members.
Moreover,
as part of this initiative, an Induction Program to which the Honorable Prime
Minister has referred to in his closing remark was also drawn up for Members of
Parliament. The aim of this induction
program is to assist Members in their important responsibilities as public
leaders, as the representatives of their constituencies and in their work in
parliament. The program has gained the
interest and support of regional leaders and experts from Papua and
It
must be noted that civic education programs are also an important part of the
project. Our people, particularly our
children must know and understand, what the Parliament is, what it does, how it
works, what happens there and what is said there. For the system of parliamentary democracy to
work effectively, the people of Solomon Islands are required to exercise sound
judgment in, firstly, electing their representatives, and, secondly, in
consulting and communicating with them in relation to their responsibilities
once their representatives are elected.
The people’s elected representatives must in turn, be aware of the
beliefs, needs, aspirations and circumstances of those they represent, and
represent them effectively and honestly.
This communication between Members and their constituents must move
beyond personal matters such as family finances to matters affecting the
electorate and the nation if there is to be real change in the way Members
interact with their constituents and how they represent them in Parliament.
Parliament
is ultimately the link between the people and in a way in which they are
governed. The road to recovery for
I
wish to emphasize that the recent crisis will be best addressed through the
proper functioning of Parliament, not through unlawful actions on the
street. In this regard, I was heartened
by the commitment of the former Minister of Finance to improve the budge and
resources of Parliament so that it can do its job better. I will be seeking a meeting with the honorable
Prime Minister as soon as possible to discuss a similar commitment from your
government and sincerely request that you place policies and projects that
ensure the effective operation of Parliament is high on your government’s
agenda.
In
the coming weeks and months, Parliament will face new challenges. However, so long as leaders work together
towards strengthening Parliament and the way it operates to ensure open and
accountable government, these challenges will be met.
In
regards to the forthcoming induction which I referred to earlier on for new Members,
I would simply like to remind you and all Solomon Islanders of the words of the
former President of the United States of America, Woodrow Wilson, who reminded
his Congress and his nation, and I quote “there is no cause half so sacred as
the cause of a people. There is no idea
so uplifting as the idea of service to humanity”.
Thank
you once again, on behalf of my Deputy and myself and the Staff of Parliament
for all the kind words you have lavished upon us all honorable Members during
your concluding remarks this morning and during the week. Thank you very much indeed.
Motion of Adjournment
Hon Sogavare: I beg to move that the House do now adjourn
The House adjourned Sine Die at