As the donkeys continue to fiddle with our laws, the people’s frustration continues to burn. Whether or not the public protest last week was successful or not remains to be seen, but what it clearly highlighted in the way it was rapidly organised over an Easter weekend (when most families are in church), was that the public really is getting frustrated with this time warped legislating circus. Here are some examples for your studying pleasure:
- National Parliament Notice Paper_Wednesday 18 April 2012
- Parliamentary Powers and Privleges (Amendment) Bill 2012
- Supreme Court (Amendment) Bill 2012_Minister Speech
- Supreme Court (Amendment) Bill 2012
- Judicial Conduct (Amendment) Act 2012
- Criminal Code (Amendment) Bill 2012
So how did it all go wrong? When the O’Namah government came into power there was immense support for them, by the simple fact that they were finally saying what we wanted to hear. Finally, we all though that the policies that really mattered like education, infrastructure, health and so on would be put on priority.
With such record approval rates, why did they begin tampering with our laws? There is nothing wrong with amendmenst to laws or introducung new Acts of Parliament, this is of course one of the great functions of our adopted Westminster system. However we do have to ask what greater good each amendment or new act brings to society.
As with any country that has a written charter for its government, where else do you turn to but to your Constitution. Specifically within our Constitution is our National Goals and Directive Principles (forget Vision 2050 and all that rubbish). I won’t go through the whole body of text that comprises the National Goals and Directive Principles, (you can read it for yourself with explanations on its origins here), but I will say that if those goals and principles are not the guiding light for these amendments and bills, then what is motivating them?
Fundamentally and on an absolute personal level, what does O’Namah hope to achieve? They have already lost the publics support, they are slowly losing the International community’s approval, they are testing the patience of the private sector and all for what purpose?
My advice to them would be that they say they’re sorry, drop all their bills and put all their efforts into running the best elections this country in the Pacific has ever seen. This would at least maintain some integrity for them because the more they fiddle to stay in the big house, the more likely that house is going fall on them as the fire rages around them.
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