Bishop Claims “Half Pie Referendum Approach” by Government Irresponsible

Teina Bishop MP for ARENIKAU in Aitutaki, has made a stinging attack on government’s
announcement to commit Parliament by the next government to a Referendum result of the reduction of seats in Parliament as proposed by the Group for Political Change GPC. He warns that if the GPC is not careful, their hard work on this “half pie” issue will be wasted as the lack of clarity on the issue will lose the number of electors required in the referendum.
This “half pie” approach is not only disappointing but irresponsible given that no direct official approach was made to consult over these issues with other political parties including the Opposition and the Cook Islands Party.
Some fundamental governance principles have been ignored as it is no secret, the Prime Minister and Cabinet do not have the mandate on behalf of the majority of Parliament and all MP’s to commit to such cause without first consulting the members on an important issue such as reducing the number of seats in Parliament. After all, the Prime Minister has already indicated the date of the election. His government is only in a caretaker role at the moment and such referendum announcement should not have been made without proper consultation with current Members of Parliament in the House so their people in the Sister Islands can be part of the dialogue.
In my view, the government and the GPC should identify the seats that they have in mind to reduce in order to make it a full and informed National Referendum for the election. It is unfair to put such a question to Referendum where it is unclear which seats are likely to be affected. Cabinet and the GPC should be reminded that people in the Sister Islands do listen to the radio and read the newspapers and will not be happy that their future is being decided upon by a few people in Rarotonga. I am confident people from the Sister Islands living in Rarotonga will feel the same way too.

The responsible thing to do is for the Prime Minister to convene a “one day sitting” of Parliament prior to the proposed dissolution date in a couple of weeks time, to enable all MP’s to be given the opportunity to discuss this very sensitive issue as it concerns all their constituencies. I also consider this very unfair to put such a question to Referendum without proper consultation with the MP’s prior to an election.
I’m inclined to agree with Minister Rasmussen that the options as proposed by the GPC are too wide and far and that there is no real focus as the issues are much more complex and difficult to come to grips with however, he must also be reminded that it’s not too late to convene Parliament for one day as I am proposing, in order to enable proper debate by the members to take place. Mr John Herman, Iaveta Short and other interested parties of politics with Mou Piri and GPC must be part of an “in camera session” of that sitting of Parliament.
As an alternative, should Cabinet decline the suggestion to convene Parliament for one day, I intend to invite GPC and any other interest group to a live tv debate to discuss the proposed Referendum options for all to see and hear.

 

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