SOLOMON IS: Sogavare wants more ministers
Updated
Solomon Islands Prime Minister, Manasseh Sogavare is accused of further strengthening his control over the government. The parliament this week passed a government bill to increase the number of ministries by three.
Presenter: Sam Seke
Speakers: Edward Huniehu, Opposition spokesman for finance. Joses Tuhanuku, Executive Officer of Transparency Solomon Islands. Manasseh Sogavare, prime minister.
SEKE: With its numerical superiority, Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare's Grand Coalition for Change government easily whisked the legislation through parliament.
Mr Sogavare said the increase in the number of ministries is necessary to effectively carry out the government's development policies.
He dismissed opposition arguments that it would cost an extra one million Australian dollars - saying no additional expenses will be incurred.
The move effectively further limits the possibility of an incumbent prime minister in Solomon Islands being removed through a motion of no-confidence.
Mr Sogavare explains his reasons for the increase in ministries.
SOGAVARE: The proposed increase to the number of ministers is necessitated by the expansion of government's constitutional responsibility beyond the traditional domains of executive accountability, ensure proper, efficient and effective administration for the greater governance of the nation, consistent with the government's policy initiative, imperatives, priorities and direction.
More precisely Mr Speaker it is the intention of the government to separate the justice and legal affairs portfolio from the present ministry of police, national security, justice and legal affairs and to assign the same to the new ministry of justice and legal affairs to be headed by a new minister.
It is also the intention of the government Mr Speaker to create a new ministry of rural development and indigenous affairs to manage and drive the bottom up development approach.
SEKE: The Opposition spokesman for finance, M-P Edward Huniehu believes the legislation is just a government strategy to hold on to power.
HUNIEHU: I see this bill as a political strategy to build hedges around the government by using public funds to maintain their solidarity. I do not see this as a good democratic government.
SEKE: The civil society groups have also hit out at the increase in the number of ministries.
Executive Officer of Transparency Solomon Islands, Joses Tuhanuku says the legislation is self-serving and will not improve service delivery.
TUHANUKU: It is all self-serving, it's not something that should be a priority because it is not aimed at improving services to the people of Solomon Islands or doing anything better in the way we govern us.
It's about being in power.
Now in Solomon Islands the minimum numbers that anyone can have to form a government out of the 50 is 26.
Now if you have a minimum of 26 and out of that 26, 23 are going to be ministers, the size of the country and population and so on definitely is not because there's a need for a lot of ministers, it's a way of ensuring that whoever is in power is going to remain in power, has nothing to do with the performance of the government, has nothing to do with raising the standard of ensuring that services get to the people. It has nothing to do with that, it's all to do with maintaining political power.
