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Since he was a child, Parliament House in Honiara has been like a second home to Jude Devesi. His father was an MP for 12 years and Governor-General for 10 years before that.
Despite being born into politics Jude laughs off any suggestion of a high profile political career for himself, preferring to carve out his own niche within the machinery of Parliament. And the tall, lanky graduate is well on the way to doing just that.
Jude is among a group of eight young recruits chosen for a graduate training programme as part of the Solomon Islands first Parliamentary Strengthening Project.
The project is headed by the Speaker of the National Parliament, Sir Peter Kenilorea and is funded by UNDP, the United National Development Programme, and RAMSI, the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands.
“One of our first tasks was to set up an induction programme for all the MPs in the new Parliament,” Jude says. “Many had just been elected and knew very little about what would be expected of them in their new roles as lawmakers and as scrutineers of executive government.
They needed to learn about everyday procedures of Parliament such as Standing Orders, dealing with constituents and the need for transparency.
“We invited prominent academics and politicians from around the Pacific, Australia and New Zealand to talk to them about these issues. It was the first time such a course had been held in the Pacific and it was enormously exciting and productive for everyone,” says Jude.
Many support services found in other parliaments have not yet been established in the Solomon Islands Parliament leaving MPs unable to carry out their responsibilities as well as they might. Using graduates to develop these services was the idea of Warren Cahill, a senior officer from the New South Wales Legislative Council, seconded to Honiara to run the Parliamentary Strengthening Project.
“When I arrived, it was clear that the clerk was doing all the procedural and professional work that goes with the running of a Parliament and was terribly overloaded,” says Cahilll.
“I decided it would be a great opportunity to employ a fresh batch of graduates who aspired to a career that would be important for the future of the Solomon Islands and would set them up for a career in public service.”
For one year the graduates receive extensive hands-on training in the range of tasks that go on unseen by visitors to the Public Gallery. They might research and prepare Parliamentary briefings or organise public hearings and private meetings of committees, draft questions for committee chairs and even provide apolitical advice to members.
One graduate, Gordon Denty, is modernising the parliament’s computer services to make information in the library more accessible to MPs. Plans are underway to set up a parliamentary website.
Of the group, only two have politics in their blood—Jude Devesi and Celsus Talifilu—whose uncle Sir Frederick Osifelo was the country’s last Speaker before independence. Most had only a passing interest in the workings of Parliament until they landed jobs as researchers.
“Every day there are new issues to deal with,” says Alice Piko. “I work with the clerk and do research for MPs. I could be working on a Banking Act one minute and the Mining Act the next. It’s the variety that makes the job so interesting.”
Derick Manu’ari agrees. “Our scope is very broad. For example, Solomon Islands MPs don’t have a Code of Conduct so I am investigating options for one,” says Derick.
“I’m looking at what happens in other countries to see what might be applied here. I think most people would like MPs to behave to a certain standard but drawing a line between public and private behaviour is difficult here. In the Solomon Islands, people live very communal lives and what is public and what is private can be very blurred.
Teasing out some of these issues is very stimulating and is one of the things about this job that makes it so appealing.” Weak accountability is widely recognised as a problem in the Solomon Islands and one of the reasons for the country’s sluggish economic performance. Jude hopes the Parliamentary Strengthening Programme will give MPs the skills to perform better in this area.
“During the induction programme, MPs were given a lot of information about transparency and the need to be open about how money is spent. Some went straight back to their villages and told their constituents how much money there was in their budget and how it was being used. It’s the first time we have seen that happen here.”
Solomon Islands Speaker Sir Peter Kenilorea believes the increased capability of the Parliament’s research staff will give MPs the impetus they need to think beyond village and local issues.
“MPs need to understand the importance of oversight, representations and responsibilities. Solomon Islands is not an island to itself. We cannot pretend to be in isolation. Globalisation and world trends see to that,” says Kenilorea. “We need to be part of the world.”
The Solomon Islands MPs induction programme is attracting considerable interest in other Pacific countries including Fiji which has 90 percent new members in its Parliament.
“We decided to run a similar programme and invited some of the Honiara induction team to help design and run it. The collaboration was very good,” says Mary Chapman, Secretary-General to the Fiji Parliament. “TBy Elizabeth James
Riot crackdown
Tonga has started its clean-up campaign.
Police Commander Sinilau Kolokihakaufisi said a total of 355 people have been charged with various offences, including arson and theft and are expected to appear in the Nuku’alofa Magistrate’s court on December 7. This follows rioting in Nuku’alofa which saw the capital razed to the ground.
Kolokihakaufisi said 100 of the suspects were still being held in custody by the police.
“There will be more arrests as we continue our investigations into the destruction of the businesses and buildings in central Nuku’alofa,” he said
Matangi Tonga reports police had also confiscated stolen goods from people’s homes, such as double beds, refrigerators, boat engines, food items and other goods.
“It is crazy to see all these heavy stolen items that the thieves managed to carry away,” said the Tongan police commander.
Meanwhile, Tongan pro-democracy MP, Clive Edwards, says Tongan soldiers have brutally beaten dozens of people as the state of emergency set up nearly two weeks ago remains in force.
Edwards says those beaten up were denied medical treatment.
He says people are being denied their human rights and they need New Zealand and Australian help to end the abuses.
Edwards, who says he himself was attacked and dragged along the ground on Monday, estimates more than 300 people have been hurt.
Samoa’s opposition to sue Speaker?
Samoa’s Democratic United Party (SUDP) is considering legal action against the speaker’s ruling that the party is no longer recognised in parliament as a political party, a Radio New Zealand International report said.
The ruling last month also rejected the party’s request for the standing orders to be amended to allow the SDUP’s seven MPs to be recognised as the Opposition following the resignation of its former party leader, La Mamea Ropati and another senior MP.
The new leader of the SDUP, Asiata Sale’imoa Va’ai said there are strong legal grounds for the speaker’s ruling to be questioned again in court.
UN warns Fiji’s military
Outgoing United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has warned Fiji’s military commander Commodore Frank Bainimarama that any military takeover in Fiji will affect Fiji’s chances in participating in UN peacekeeping operations.
Annan rang Fiji Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase to say that he and his Department of Peacekeeping have told Commodore Bainimarama that a military takeover of the democratically elected government would jeopardise Fiji’s participation in UN peacekeeping operations.
Annan told Qarase that Commodore Bainimarama had wanted to speak to him. However, before he allowed that Annan wanted to speak first with Qarase.
Annan told Qarase that he would make it very clear to Commodore Bainimarama, once again, that a military seizure of the constitutionally elected and appointed government in Fiji would not be accepted and recognised.
‘We’re struggling but surviving’: PM
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare said he was insulted with the reports branding his country as one of the most corrupted countries in the Pacific with no real economic growth in the past 20 years.
Sogavare strongly condemned reports stating that as the leader he knew its economy was growing at a fast pace, Solomon Star reported.
“Solomon Islands is struggling but we are not suffering,” he said.
Sogavare’s comments came after an Australian Treasury Department report stated that there had been no real economic growth in the past 20 years in PNG, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.
ADB cancels Marshall’s loan
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has cancelled a long-planned nearly US$8 million loan for infrastructure improvements on remote atolls in this central Pacific nation because the Marshall Islands is delinquent on current loan payments and because of concerns about the ability of the Marshalls to manage increasing levels of debt.
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