Parliament debate and rejected the proposal for 17 new seats and it appears the government hem barava split olobaot nao during the vote for this bill. Interestingly umi lukim too who nao oketa gang up tomas lo this present government. But the most revealing thing wea me surprise lo hem nao Sikua and Sogavare agree on rejecting the proposal. They both voted no agreeing that this is not the time to increase - pretty much getting a sense of what the public was arguing against. But heavyweights like Fono, Rini, Lilo, Boyers supportim bill ya...and e no small support too...barava over tomas na
So who nao garem sense...oketa man wea no likem Sogavare by come back lo Forum ya and still se hem useless leader or by umi start for lukim that sometimes umi judgim oketa leaders on their principles not the person they are....Sogavare and Sikua are clearly leaders with their head in the right place. They can forsee that it is not good for the country and have answered the call from Solomon Islands. Fono seemed to be more interested in keeping his seat than serving the interest of Solomon Islands....I believe he will come back but an extra constituency would guarantee his return.....bill rejected so it just makes his chances harder and smaller - same for every other MP who supported the bill. Take my hat off to Sogavare and Sikua for hearing the people.
Finally, hem clear nao Sikua was leading a bunch of dysfunctional MP's who were prepared to serve their interest first. I believe this result shows that the group will be split after the elections even though they have signed an MOU to compete together......vote wisely Solomon Islands.
At least Sikua & Sogavare agree on one thing
Fri, 04/16/2010 - 07:47
I'm not a politic kind of person and neither do a radical fan of Hon. Fono but since mi kam from bush lo Malaita lo constituency blo Fono mi feel like talk lelbet barata blo mi neo....
Constituency blo mifala hem wan of the overpulated ones lo Solo n if ota splentim ating bae road kasim home blo mifala na ya....that's wat mifala thingim cos ating Fono like 4 belivim that mifala staka tumas for hem
thinkim mifala ota sore sore wans lo bush nao...I mean lo big project osem lo side lo road..... mi go back lo bush lo last Christmas n guess what hem blindim every eye blo ota man lo village blo mi with ota rain water tanks.....b-4 election help or what?....lol...
Two fala side na lo argument ia. if you splitim constituencies bae development bae happen tu or nomoa? whether govt bae garem enough selen for that new constituency nao question. where na bae extra selen for oketa development ia kam from? this time iumi bata survive lo rcdf from taiwan nomoa ia... iu increasim go constituency ia moa, bae taiwan head soa na ia. whether bae hem givim extra or bae hem sei everyone sharem nomoa same usual amount hem givim ia then bae iumi come again to sq. 1 nomoa ia.
So I guess my point is: increasing constituencies doesn't mean new development. Constituency Development depends only on the money the govt have or the donors give. So let's be content with whatever small money each constituencies have. The only problem to tackle is the management and disbursement of funds. That's the real issue here.
Why do we have so many fat and wealthy parliamentarians? Before they enter parliament, they were just like us. After they get out, they have businesses everywhere, new buildings, etc. Not because of their salary. No! Any local staff at FFA or local lecturer at USP Honiara campus would have a higher salary than these MPs. But they dont get fat and wealthy like these MPs. It's because some of the money that were supposed to be dished out to the constituencies for development were held back and make them fat. It's time to get rid of the self-serving MPs. Get rid of old politics! We need new politics now! The govt doesnt need knowledgeable people only, but Champions - someone who has knowledge and can bring about positive change for the country. We need action-oriented and nation-centered MPs.
Vote wisely my friends.!!
A leader is not measured by a single decision nor does an effective leader is measured by a single speech or a single vote. A good leader is one that listens to the people he represents and if you are the head of government, it is wise to listen to your fellow country men. If there's any self-serving politician in parliament today, it is the Leader of Opposition. He is the only PM fought the law to go for a second term amidst a national election, a clear attempt to bypass the election process (PM's election). When he appointed a man accused, regardless of the outcome of that man's indictment in Vanuatu, a good leader would have listened to the people of Solomon Islands; Sogavare didn't! Even when the civilians marched to his house, he gave them a fake promise to rid of Moti only to sworn him in the following few days.
So here we are talking about a man known to many as the man who ruled country with an iron fist, stubborn enough to take on his own supporters which led to the end of his government. But we should all credit him for stanidng up against a very confused proposal, for credits should go where they due! However, ask me if I'd changed my mind regarding Sogavare's reputation and my answer would be NO!
Secondly, the CBC proposal was a complete farce. Those who drafted this proposal did so poorly in a sense that the proposal created more problems than intended. The initial report was for the Commission to consider tabling a motion to add at least 3-5 constituencies for Malaita, Guale, and Western province. Trying to please everyone, the CBC proposed a few more, and with heavy lobbying from other provinces, the CBC increased the seats to more than 10. Now, it is important to note that the CBC was hoping the Parliament would trim the number down to the ones that seemingly legitimate. It is not surprising the Parliament is doing exactly that. Just recently, the Motion was defeated in Parliament and was sent back to the Commission for further scrutiny and refinement. Exactly what the CBC planned; they tabled it knowing that it would be defeated.
But besides all the hypes, the need for an extra seat for Fono's constituency and that of the Western is rather legitimate and I would expect this to sail through Parliament in the second round.
Another thing that really shows how incoherent our leadership is the proposed Federal System. It is quite funny in my view for the government to propose additional seats worth hundreds of millions of dollars while actively working on breaking Solomon Islands up to different states. It would have been better to wait till Malita and Western became states before they could divide up and add more districts, wards, or whatever you called it. That would have beend one under State government without the hustle of the Federal govenrment.
Yufala moa
He who has never learned to obey...cannot be a good commander.
Aristotle
Mastermind, rightly put, the last paragraph. Has the govt decided yet where they are going? Adopting federalism or increasing the no. of constituencies? Dunno, the new govt might have their own view. So they should not jump on the gun now on the 11th hour, to bring back this proposal in parliament only because they have a few days left in power. Let the new govt take more time to research and rethink the appropriate road for the country before deciding in the parliament. Let these self-serving MPs go out first...
to be perfectly honest i have never seen the need to increase constituencies in our country. Do we really need more? Population should be a factor in deciding this? I do not agree, bigger countries like the US have 1 politician per millions...umi 1 per thousands and yet they cannot do a decent job. A while ago i contemplated on the idea that we shud determine constituencies based on their impact on the economy...those constituencies that do not impact shud be downgraded until such time when they can positively contribute to our economy...new way of thinking ating but we need to decide on what works for us not follow everyone else nomoa. But it may actually force mp's to use rcdf for development.
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Posted from my Nokia 5230 on the Our Telekom 3G network.
The thing I find funny about this whole fiasco was that the government went ahead and amended the constitution increasing the maximum and the minimum seats before CBC produces its report. Now we have a situation where a piece of legislation sits high and dry for may be another 10 years without coming into force a clear case of wasteful use of our limited financial resources. The logical thing to do would have been to wait for the CBC report recommendations before amending the constitution. It’s a case of putting the cart before the horse what a shame.
I come from constituency created in 1994 after it splits from another constituency, basis for the split the same old arguments population size, representation and all that. 16 years down the line the aspirations that drived the move for a new constituency came to nothing but frustration. Well few might benefited alone the way especially those closest to the mps but the promise of new roads, bridges, schools, wharf and clinics that were talked about are still in someone’s books. I am pretty sure some of those who were behind the move may have gone to their resting places and may be a few more but the big dreams still unfulfilled.
I am not sure whether building of new political structures like new constituencies and even the federal system will do much in terms of addressing the issues the country is facing. Solomon Islands is truly a difficult country to manage. Imagine servicing all the villages in the country that themselves contributes very little to the revenue of the country and yet are all shouting for increase of services. It makes very little sense. I often heard politicians talked about creating growth centres but we have yet to see these good ideas shaping into any meaningful things. Any way we only hope that the country will find a model that will suit this geographically scattered country.
well, as a wrap up...hem luk olsem by some fala traem more dis fala bill lo next parliament....ating big loss nao hem dis fala political integrity bill....but hem too might needim time before umi developim good....hem interesting dat some fala man talem this one hem kenisapa bill nomoa ba....anyway, but there is a need to add integrity to the parliament.
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