Fijileaks
  • Home
  • Archive Home
  • In-depth Analysis
    • BOI Report into George Speight and others beatings
  • Documents
  • Opinion
  • CRC Submissions
  • Features
  • Archive

Powerless Parliament: Ro Kepa, 'The failure of the Government Whip to advise his superiors in his party of the Speaker’s decision to suspend the sitting of Parliament, result of authoritarian control on government side' 

8/2/2016

3 Comments

 
Picture
Picture

The Opposition's Official Response to Powerless Parliament

Picture
Picture
The On Again Off Again On Again operational shambles of today’s Parliamentary Sitting

Opposition Leader Ro Teimumu Kepa today hit out at Parliament’s inability to ensure constant power supply even with a $9 million budget plus $6 million in kind from donors.

The Opposition Leader made her criticism after the changing decisions of the Speaker and Parliament Secretariat this morning following a summons by the Speaker to the Government and Opposition Whips to discuss power disruptions before the start of the scheduled parliamentary meeting. The entire episode, said Ro Teimumu, was a shambles.

It was decided to suspend today’s sittings. The Whips were to pass that decision on to their respective parties. The Opposition members dispersed for the day. Then the Secretary General called to advise that Parliament would resume at 10.30am. The Leader of the Opposition protested as opposition members had dispersed following the Speaker’s advice that Parliament would not sit today.

Ro Teimumu said she was advised that the government whip could not get to see his superiors and that government wanted the sitting to proceed. So the Speaker’s decision was ‘reversed’. Hence no Opposition Members were present when the parliament sat today.

Ro Teimumu said todays ‘on again, off again, on again’ shambles made it obvious that:

 17 months after the ‘new parliament’ opened it still does not have a suitable back-up generator to ensure the highest law making body in the land can proceed with the business of the nation in the face of FEA’s increasing ‘outages and unreliability’ of supply.

 The failure of the Government Whip to advise his superiors in his party of the Speaker’s decision to suspend the sitting until tomorrow, is a consequence of authoritarian control on the government side. That control is vested in one person.

 The fact that the government ‘over turned’ the Speaker’s ruling is yet another example of interference by the executive in the operations of parliament and non-compliance with the constitutional requirement for the ‘separation of powers’.

Ro Teimumu reiterated that the Opposition was absent today because it followed the Speaker’s ruling, relayed via its Chief Whip that the House would not sit today due to power supply problems.

Authorized By
Ro Teimumu Kepa

3 Comments
Dekho
8/2/2016 10:55:03 am

Parliament did not sit today because the twin dictators of Fiji so decided. It's as straight forward as that. It is a reminder that the parliament is just for show. The real power continues to rest with the twin dictators. And their chamchas like Haathiyaar Ashneel Sudhakar also strut about power drunk with the dictators patronage.

Reply
AliG
8/2/2016 11:57:19 am

Just Shut da House Down - who needs it anyway?

Reply
Vili
9/2/2016 12:14:33 pm

Yawn....!!!!

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    editor@fijileaks.com

    ARCHIVES

    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    Picture
    Picture