Historic opportunity to go forward

After 44 years, it’s time for change

An outline of the proposed direction for political reform was presented to the media at a meeting in the Cabinet room of the Prime Minister’s office on Thursday afternoon at 2pm.
Prime Minister Hon Jim Marurai made a brief statement before Tata Crocombe and Iaveta Short took the media representatives through the 12 proposals on reform which will also be put to the political parties next week and later for public consultation.
The PM said he wanted the proposals which have been approved by Cabinet to be presented to the public and he welcomed public debate.
Crocombe said this was an historic opportunity to address a long standing issue. The proposals were a starting point. He said while there had been many changes over the last four decades of self government which saw tourism become our major industry and our nation suffer population loss, our system of government had not changed significantly or moved with the times. The events of the last three weeks had highlighted that we needed to look at the system.
He said we needed to consider options and the debate would be designed so MPs understood the need for changes. The public said Crocombe wanted stability and more say in government. They wanted to see less politicking on the part of MPs and more work being done.
Short raised a number of fundamental issues. The Cook Islands was a very small country. Referring to figures from June 2009, he said there were 10,000 registered voters. We had instability in government and the leadership he said and that this instability had arisen 4-5 times in the last 40 years.
Short said there four matters which needed to be done.
Firstly, it was time the PM was picked by the people.
Secondly, there was a need to correct imbalances in the constituencies in regard to voter numbers. Tupapa had over 1,000 eligible voters and Rakahanga had just 47. While the national average was 477 voters, 14 of the 24 electorates had less voters than this number.
Thirdly, there was a need to streamline the system to bring to the fore the best so we have stability.
Fourthly, we need to get away from politics and get into running the country as efficiently as we can.
The media reps were then taken through the 12 proposals (see page 6 and 7).
Basically, the proposals are for a mix of constituency and national seats with a PM elected by the people and Ministers appointed by the PM from outside the government. Actual numbers are up to the people to decide after debate.
Short commented that the Westminster system we adopted is 500 years old and more suited to a country with a population of millions as in the UK, but this system is not appropriate for such a small country.
Following the presentation, Short said if the political will is there, there is sufficient time to make changes before the next election. We had a window of opportunity if MPs could put their differences aside.
Short said the legal drafting of changes to the Constitution could be done by early February 2010.
Parliament could meet mid March 2010 to debate and get through the first and second reading. Then 90 days needs to follow before the third reading in June 2010.
To change the Constitution, a two thirds majority is needed, 16 of the 24 MPs to agree.
Short said we’ve been talking about making changes since 1998 and if not all the proposals could be adopted he would be happy if some of them were.
Short said the changes proposed were very simple and if not accepted there danger was we would go back to square one. He said the momentum must not be lost.
Crocombe said there needed to be restructuring as each year over 1,000 Cook Islanders were leaving. While the political reform proposals had now been split off from the Economic Development Reform package, there were still inter-relationships and also links to social reform. Crocombe mentioned we would do a lot better economically and socially with an upgraded form of government. It was also time for a fairer system of representation that brought more stable government, less waste and unnecessary expenditure, increased efficiency and an end to horse trading and favouritism.
The plan now is to give the proposals wide publicity through the media. Crocombe and Short will also conduct presentations to both political parties and there will be public consultations. Early in February 2010 the PM will hold a political reform conference possibly at the National Auditorium starting about 5pm. The public and organizations will be invited to attend and take part and also contribute ideas and suggestions.
Following this, it is hoped to be able to prepare legal drafts and call parliament to debate the proposed Constitutional changes.