Political reforms must be taken to the people not just Parliament

When businessman and CIP candidate for Takuvaine, Mark Brown was asked by the Times for comment on the proposed political reforms, his reply was that the Cook Islands Party is still formulating their official response which would be announced in due course.
However, he was prepared to provide his own views and said any changes to the political system had to be the people’s decision because they are the ones who will be governed and their views matter.
Political reformists, Tata Crocombe and Iaveta Short appear to be saying that changes can be made in Parliament without having to have a referendum. That is not correct and MPs ‘can’t just say yes’ on such fundamental changes, they must go back to the people and ask: them: ‘what do you say?’
The model used by reformists appears to be that of a private company where there is only one boss and his edicts are to be obeyed without question. However, that is not the way of a democracy where the will of the people is paramount to formulating policies for the good governance under our Constitution, there are many steps set out including public referendums with two thirds of the people and confirmed by a two thirds majority in Parliament for the same.
Mark said the spin doctoring by the Economic Development Taskforce is that the changes are for the good of the people whereas the changes are in the interests of only a chosen few. He said many business people had privately approached him to voice their concerns at the influence of a few powerful and wealthy people over the current government.
The reforms as proposed would remove all the checks and balances of the Westminster system and enshrined in the Cook Islands Constitution. The fear is that concentrating all the power under the hand of just the one person, the Prime Minister (whoever that maybe) and being able to choose Cabinet Ministers from anyone on the electoral roll - would only lead to corruption.
He said the job of a Cabinet Minister is to ensure that the policies of government are carried by the Heads of Ministries and to ensure that sufficient budget appropriations are passed in Parliament to achieve those policies. Any key performance indicators should be for the HOMs and their Ministries or Departments to achieve with the help of the Public Service Commission.
The push to reduce the seats is really about changing of the boundaries for the seats but it would still be a ‘first past the post’ system.
Other systems which work are the MMP (mixed member proportional) as introduced to New Zealand a decade or so ago There is also the single voter transferable system such as in Australia aka ‘preferential voting’ where voters can pick their first, second, third choice as candidate.
He said the real issue is that successive governments have not done what they are supposed to be doing and any criticisms are really saying that the Public Service are not doing their job properly. It does not help that all appointments are to be approved by Cabinet instead of being independently assessed and chosen on merit and not on political patronage.
The push by reformists to put the reforms through without the benefit of a referendum reminded him of the warning by US President, George Washington in his farewell speech in 1796, some 200 years ago.
The president said: “The basis of our political systems is the right of the people to make and to alter their constitutions of government. But the constitution which at any time exists till changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole people is sacredly obligatory upon all”
Washington cautioned against ‘a small but artful and enterprising minority of the community’ who had the ‘real design to direct, control, counteract, or awe the regular deliberation and action of the constituted authorities, are destructive of this fundamental principle and of fatal tendency’
On a lighter note, Mark said the public can see things clearly very clearly and circumstances (eg paying for Toa Petroleum due in March 2010) will probably force the government’s hand to call an elections sooner rather than later.