Political Party Integrity Bill Deferred.

As you might have heard, the Political Party Integrity Bill, which was tabled in Solomon Islands National Parliament was recently deferred to allow for more consultations, and there has been some debate on it is deferral.

Personally, I believe that the action to to defer the bill is sensible. While it is important for Solomon Islands to have such a bill, the need for a wider consultation is important. I was fortunate to have attend one of the few cosultative workshops that were organised in Honiara in 2008 by the Prime Minister's Office. I have learnt from Papua New Guinea participants in that workshop that inorder for us to have a law that will regulate our political party system in a manner that we would prefer, the process of consultation is very important.

Papua New Guinea already has such a law and for us to learn from them we must be able to see both the positive and negetaive effects of that law on thier system. We must not succumb to political pressure and implement such a very important ans significant law without proper insight and critical analyses of the PNG experience. PNG is our neighbour in Melanesia but its socio-economic and political mechanisms are different from ours. Hence, to 'copy and paste' thier law and and make it ours is totally undesireable.

Existing issues and problems must be incorporated in such a law; issues such as corruption, gender and political stability.

The most important thing is that the public must be allowed to contribute and have a say in the consultation process so that the outcome is inclusive of all issues that are affecting our government system. On that note, it is also important that we are not too optimistic of such a law to be the answer to all our political problems. Such a law will only provide a proper platform whereby politics is to be exercised. It does not effectively set a boundary to the creativity of the human mind. Humans are creative animals who politically are highly adventerous. Hence, even with a political party integrity bill corruption will always be there. All we are trying to do is to control it and avoid or prevent it from occuring wherever and whenever we could.

Solomon Islands Politics- Members Entitlements

Dear Readers,

Much has been said and written in Solomon Islands news websites and the local media about the entitlements of Members of Parliament. Personally, I have contributed to the debate by writing to Solomon Star and National Express on the issue, expressing my personal opinions and views.

According to unconfirmed sources, there are rumours that the recent decision by the Parliamentary Entitlements Commission (PEC), the body that decides on the entitlements of Members of Parliament and thier immediate dependents, to give a terminal grant of SBD$50 000 to Members' spouses will now be annulled. This is unconfirmed rumour. However, if it does become reality then we must all be glad that our concerns have been taken into account. Hence, we must not give up but to keep fighting for fairness and for the sake the silent mass; our people who are suffering back in the rural areas, and whom succesive governments have deprived of the right of access to reliable social services and infrastructure development.

The Parliamentary Entitlements Regulations (PER), the document that outlines the Members' entitlements is a public documents. Once it is passed by PEC for enforcement by relevant authorities, the public has the right to view that document. However, little attention has been given to it by the media or the public at large. But once you have a read of it, you will realise that the entitlements in it for Members are outrageous. The National Parliament of Solomon Islands website is a good place to visit to gather reliable information about Solomon Islands Members of Parliament and to access a copy of the PER. You can follow the following link to do so: http://www.parliament.gov.sb/ and go to Members page (top of home page), and click on Parliamentary Entitlements Regulations (PER) 2008. Recent amendments to this document were made on 1st April 2009. However, the copy that is available at the above website, does not include those recent (2009) amendments but will give you an idea of how outrageous the Members entitlements are. Once, you have a look through it and have grasped the facts you will realise why becoming a Member of Parliament is so enticing. Just imagine how outrageous the current entitlments will be, given the inclusion of the recent amendments, which includes the terminal grant of SBD$50 000 for Members' spouses?

As responsible Solomon Islanders, we must raise our voices to show our disagreement on such irresponsible actions by our leaders and the manner in which our elected leaders are running our country, especially on the use of state funds. We must continue to pressurise them to make further reductions to their current entitlements. In the light of the current global economic down-turn we need responsible leadership and drasctic measures must be imposed to lessen the consequences of the crisis. Therefore, our leaders must now lead by example to fulfill our national motto: "To lead is to Serve" and not "to lead is to be served" or "self-service" kind of leadership. Instead of making increases to thier entitlements they should make reductions to prove to us that they are committed to lead our country in a transparent, accountable and responsible manner, even in times of crises.

Another national general election is coming up and I am not too surprised by the current move to allocate terminal grant for Members' spouses. It does not require a rocket scientist to figure out what that money is intended for; to lure voters and win and retain thier seats. It is a typical example of leaders putting thier personal interests, and in this case thier political ambitions, before matters of national importance, that is to control national expenditure.

Readers, I must confess that I have lost my confidence on our leaders . They no longer hold the trust and confidence of the people, befitting to be what they are now.