BY RODRICK DESURI
FREELANCE JOURNALIST
THOUSANDS of constituents in Buma Catholic station, West Kwaio in the Malaita province have condemned the proposed consultation awareness carried out by officials from the national government to extend the life of parliament.
The team of government officials led by the former Malaita provincial deputy secretary, Robert Wales on Sunday faced an outburst of community criticism from constituents frustrated by talks to advocate on the matter of the extension of the life of parliament for another year.
“Go and do the awareness at any constituency. Go and meet our premier, we don’t need that,” the constituents shouted.
A local chief, and catholic parish catechist, Patrick Ainikwaru argued that they will not waste their time listening or participating in any form of government consultation meetings on the proposed extension of Parliament because the government has failed them many times.
Patrick said extending the life of Parliament from four to five years doesn’t have any meaning to the people of West Kwaio but only causes frustrations and hatred among our people.
“The truth is that we have already know the government’s intentions and why do they want to come and tell us.
“Now, the people are looking forward to the 2023 national general elections; and let next year’s election date stay as it is,” he taunted.
A similar criticism from the Lafari House of Chiefs in West Kwaio reminded the Sogavare-led government that they don’t need sweet talks on the proposed extension of the life of parliament from four to five years.
Meanwhile, a previous statement from the government said the Attorney General (Ag), Special Secretary to Prime Minister (SSPM), and other officials are firming up the consultation process for the proposed policy.
“On prima facie, we will be doing injustice to ourselves and the nation if we go to the polls in 2023, however, I will not delve into this until proper consultations will be made to firm up this proposed policy.
“The Government is fully aware that since the extension of the life of parliament will touch on the national constitution, such proposed policy will need to be grounded with a solid and valid basis to garner two-thirds support in parliament for the amendments of the national constitution and the relevant Acts of parliament.
“The government will be cautious and ensure due processes of consultation must be taken to ensure peoples’ views and opinions are taken on board,” the statement said.
The Solomon Islands government has previously considered a constitutional amendment to extend the current parliament’s term from four to five years, thus delaying elections for a year, according to last year’s leaked document in April 2021.
One of the government’s main reasons for proposing such an amendment is that the Solomon Islands is hosting the 2023 Pacific Games from 19 November to early December 2023. The government contended that “resources, manpower, and logistics would be stretched in two major events”: elections in mid-2023 and the Pacific Games later that year.
