LEADER of Opposition Hon Matthew Wale says there are serious questions surrounding the legitimacy of the government when it goes into a ‘caretaker’ mode.
Speaking during the recent Honiara City Council (Amendment) Bill 2023, Hon Wale said in the current scheme, elections must be held within four months of parliament’s dissolution.
He said during the period between dissolution of parliament and the election of the Prime Minister in a new parliament, a caretaker government runs the affairs of the country.
“This is not an ideal situation. Although the caretaker government possesses all the powers of a substantive government during a term of parliament, its legitimacy is always under question, and therefore some actions or decisions it would otherwise take would normally be postponed till after formation of government after elections,” he said.
The Opposition Leader said this is not a good situation for the country’s governance.
Hon Wale said we must move from the situation of ‘caretaker’ mode for both executive government and parliament.
He said the executive government is derived from parliament.
“So you cannot have an executive government without the parliament from which it is derived. A dissolution of parliament should mean the dissolution of the executive government,” he said.
The Opposition Leader said the bottom line is that an executive government from a parliament that has been dissolved lacks legitimacy.
He said this is a serious policy consideration on the legitimacy of the mandate of executive government during caretaker mode.
ENDS//