Why government fears parliament

Members of Parliament in the Cook Islands are being called lazy and worthless. People write to newspaper or phone radio talkback shows to complain about MPs not even working a full day. Why is this happening, and what can be done about it? I believe it is not the fault of elected MPs. Instead, the blame rests on the prime minister, Henry Puna. Our system places the sole responsibility on him to call parliament. He, and he alone, is therefore accountable to the people of this country and responsible for the progress of democracy in our sunny isles. Why blame and demean MPs when they have nothing to do with the planning and the scheduling of when and how often parliament sits? In the last three years, parliament has sat for only a handful of days. Yep, I could count them on my fingers and it is embarrassing when visitors ask about it. In 2015 it was, I believe, less than 10 days and last year, even less than that. But why is the PM doing this? The answer is simple: he could get voted out of office. We know very well that government does not have a strong majority to govern and therefore the PM’s thinking is to minimise the risk and have few days of parliament actually sitting. This is bizarre, isn’t it? The greater wheel of democracy is being held to ransom by one man, simply so he can stay in power. It’s political siege by Henry Puna. We could also say that it is a social and economic siege. It is also a siege on our integrity as a country that boasts to practice good democratic principles. Unfortunately, our political system can easily be manipulated as in such instance. After Henry Puna and his team won office in 2014, albeit by a small majority, an enduring promise from the 2010 elections was that there would be an increase in the number of days when Parliament sits. But that was not to be. Instead, the PM regressed into fewer and fewer days of Parliament. That was a major promise broken. That broken promise also overlapped with one of parliament sitting at least 100 days in one year. Of course that was never achieved. Should the PM be held up as a liar in this instance? Should the reasons why parliament doesn’t sit more often be accepted by the public as legitimate, even though they have never been clearly explained? I’m talking about the prospect of being voted out, even in these days of anti-vaka hopping. We have now seen the prospect of a vote of no confidence against the PM and his Cabinet several times and of course it’s the reason the government guillotines the budget debates so the MPs can close up shop and go home. We have clashes about constitutional clauses, disputes over the clarification of relevant provisions of no confidence motions and votes, and each time the PM has survived. That’s the key really, isn’t it? Regardless of how brutal it will be, Henry Puna must allow the proper process of democracy to take place and of course fight to defend his team and himself. What he does instead is an improper use of the power and authority of the executive arm of government. What is more alarming is the fact that MPs in the government side appear to me to be gutless and too scared to speak up about it. To them it is the natural thing just pack up their folders and go home after a hearty lunch and without even questioning the reason they are in parliament. Most of them go to parliament and ride along with the PM in a tunnel of persuasion, manipulating the system to their advantage. It is so shocking that people can actually think of excuses such as being unable to this month, for example, because they may not have the numbers to pass the budget. The Opposition also has the responsibility of passing the budget for the running of the country and so the public service can be paid. The PM is likely to leave it right until the last few days until the country is near strangulation, before actually introducing a budget. And this despite the fact that there is always full co-operation by those MPs who mean well to pass the budget without the PM’s fears coming to fruition. Things need to change. People need to be a lot smarter. Politics as a game of overpowering one another should not be the rule or the norm, but the exception. In the past, votes of confidence involving a change of government have taken place as the result of one-off situations. They were the result of democracy at work and the voting facility of parliament being used. Today, one person frequently blocks democracy for reasons, I believe, of his own self-preservation. If it is for the preservation of his political party in office, then the obvious thing is that when the situation is fragile, it’s time to return to the polls. That would be more acceptable than holding on to office under some dubious belief that you still hold the mandate of the voting public.

Members of Parliament in the Cook Islands are being called lazy and worthless. People write to newspaper or phone radio talkback shows to complain about MPs not even working a full day. Why is this happening, and what can be done about it? I believe it is not the fault of elected MPs. Instead, the blame rests on the prime minister, Henry Puna. Our system places the sole responsibility on him to call parliament. He, and he alone, is therefore accountable to the people of this country and responsible for the progress of democracy in our sunny isles. Why blame and demean MPs when they have nothing to do with the planning and the scheduling of when and how often parliament sits? In the last three years, parliament has sat for only a handful of days. Yep, I could count them on my fingers and it is embarrassing when visitors ask about it. In 2015 it was, I believe, less than 10 days and last year, even less than that. But why is the PM doing this? The answer is simple: he could get voted out of office. We know very well that government does not have a strong majority to govern and therefore the PM’s thinking is to minimise the risk and have few days of parliament actually sitting. This is bizarre, isn’t it? The greater wheel of democracy is being held to ransom by one man, simply so he can stay in power. It’s political siege by Henry Puna. We could also say that it is a social and economic siege. It is also a siege on our integrity as a country that boasts to practice good democratic principles. Unfortunately, our political system can easily be manipulated as in such instance. After Henry Puna and his team won office in 2014, albeit by a small majority, an enduring promise from the 2010 elections was that there would be an increase in the number of days when Parliament sits. But that was not to be. Instead, the PM regressed into fewer and fewer days of Parliament. That was a major promise broken. That broken promise also overlapped with one of parliament sitting at least 100 days in one year. Of course that was never achieved. Should the PM be held up as a liar in this instance? Should the reasons why parliament doesn’t sit more often be accepted by the public as legitimate, even though they have never been clearly explained? I’m talking about the prospect of being voted out, even in these days of anti-vaka hopping. We have now seen the prospect of a vote of no confidence against the PM and his Cabinet several times and of course it’s the reason the government guillotines the budget debates so the MPs can close up shop and go home. We have clashes about constitutional clauses, disputes over the clarification of relevant provisions of no confidence motions and votes, and each time the PM has survived. That’s the key really, isn’t it? Regardless of how brutal it will be, Henry Puna must allow the proper process of democracy to take place and of course fight to defend his team and himself. What he does instead is an improper use of the power and authority of the executive arm of government. What is more alarming is the fact that MPs in the government side appear to me to be gutless and too scared to speak up about it. To them it is the natural thing just pack up their folders and go home after a hearty lunch and without even questioning the reason they are in parliament. Most of them go to parliament and ride along with the PM in a tunnel of persuasion, manipulating the system to their advantage. It is so shocking that people can actually think of excuses such as being unable to this month, for example, because they may not have the numbers to pass the budget. The Opposition also has the responsibility of passing the budget for the running of the country and so the public service can be paid. The PM is likely to leave it right until the last few days until the country is near strangulation, before actually introducing a budget. And this despite the fact that there is always full co-operation by those MPs who mean well to pass the budget without the PM’s fears coming to fruition. Things need to change. People need to be a lot smarter. Politics as a game of overpowering one another should not be the rule or the norm, but the exception. In the past, votes of confidence involving a change of government have taken place as the result of one-off situations. They were the result of democracy at work and the voting facility of parliament being used. Today, one person frequently blocks democracy for reasons, I believe, of his own self-preservation. If it is for the preservation of his political party in office, then the obvious thing is that when the situation is fragile, it’s time to return to the polls. That would be more acceptable than holding on to office under some dubious belief that you still hold the mandate of the voting public.