PM announces reform to procedures of MONC as he seeks political stability

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Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele has announced today that he is planning to bring to parliament reforms to the procedures for a Motion of No Confidence with the intention to bringing political stability.

Speaking in Parliament, Manele who has in the past 12 months faced two motions of no confidence, which were withdrawn before being debated, told parliament that: “I will bring a Cabinet Paper to appoint a taskforce to do these reforms.”

Reflecting on the MONC last week against his government, Manele said: “I fully support the individual right of each Member of Parliament to move a Motion of NoConfidence. But we must also consider the collective right of the House to respond to that Motion as soon as it matures.”

Mover of the motions, the MP for Central Honiara, Gordon Darcy Lilo, withdrew both motions in December and last week before they were debated. The first one on the floor of Parliament, whilst the one last week from the Order Paper.

Manele acknowledged that a Motion of No Confidence is an integral part of representative democracy adding it exists because it serves a fundamental purpose, which is to protect the democratic principle of ‘majority rule’.

“I think GNUT is the first government since independence to have two Motion of No Confidence put on notice against it within its first year in office and later withdrawn. We must balance the right to move a motion, and protecting parliamentary process from being abused,” Manele told Parliament.

He stated that reforms must be made to the procedures for Motion of No Confidence but more importantly political stability must be intentionally aided because political stability is a necessity for development.

Manele said reforms are needed including the amendment of the Political Parties Integrity Act to strengthen “our political party system.”

“I will bring a Cabinet Paper to appoint a taskforce to do these reforms. I understand that this reform is not new. It has been around for some time and was even brought to Parliament in 2010 but was withdrawn on the floor. It is time we re-visit these reforms,” said the Prime Minister.