Caretaker gov’t without Parliament is meaningless: Wale

LEADER of Opposition Hon Wale says it is meaningless for the country to be without a legitimate Parliament for any period of time.

Hon Wale made these comments when speaking on the Provincial Assemblies & Honiara City Council Elections Bill 2023 in Parliament today.

He said now that Parliament is heading towards its dissolution, it is absurd to have a caretaker executive government in place but without a Parliament to supervise it.

“The current caretaker provisions were fit for times gone by, but are no longer appropriate for our times,” Hon Wale said.

He said the Executive is derived from Parliament so without a Parliament, you cannot have an Executive with any legitimacy.

Hon Wale said this situation must be remedied.

“Executive government must be able to make decisions at all times and not be in a lame-duck mode at any time. And such decisions ought to be under the oversight of Parliament,” the Opposition Leader said.

Hon Wale said in many jurisdictions, this means that Parliaments dissolve at the eve of elections.

In this case, he said a caretaker or transition period is from the elections to the day a new government is formed.

“This is a much more preferable situation to our current situation,” he said.

Hon Wale said similarly this should also be the case for provinces and the Honiara City.

ENDS//