Vanuatu Prime Minister, Charlot Salwai Tabimasmas has tabled a the Bill for the constitutional amendments at the Special Parliament sitting that was called for the enactment of this single bill.
However, the bill was later deferred for further review.
The special session this morning resumed after it was forced to adjourn last Thursday due to a protest by the Opposition to boycott the sitting.
There are about 10 points in the constitutional amendments that have in fact contained about 50 changes in the constitution.
Prime Minister Salwai Tabimasmas says the purpose of the constitutional amendments are to enable regulation of political parties and safeguard political stability and integrity of leaders in Vanuatu.
The bill proposes to change sub-article 4(3) to remove/delete the word "freely" which aims to allow Parliament to regulate matters in relation to the formation of political Parties; provide for regulation of the involvement of naturalised citizens in politics and enable regulation of cost effective election procedures; make changes to the procedure for the appointment of the Speaker of Parliament; extend the life of parliament from 4 to 5 years, regulate the powers of Parliament to dissolve parliament which will effectively provide for the parliament to dissolve parliament instead of the president; and regulate the occurrences of motions of no-confidence against the prime minister. It also propose to allow an elected government a grace period of 12 months before it could face a motion of no confidence, and also to prevent any motions within 12 months before the end of parliament.
The constitutional changes will also include a provision that enables regulations of reserved seats for women.
The bill is also to provide for the independence of the office of the Auditor General; regulate the powers of the Prime Minister and a Minister after the dissolution of Parliament and before a general election and to expand the definition of a leader to include leaders in private sectors working with the government.
The Opposition strongly expressed grave disappointment that the amendments were brought to parliament without the consent of the people and branding them as “not in the interest of the people”.
After the hard-hitting debate and name calling in this morning’s session, Prime Minister Salwai assured everyone he will keep his word to ensure people are consulted through a referendum before the changes become effective.
At the end, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade, Joe Natuman moved a motion to defer the bill for the Constitutional Amendment, to allow for an Adhoc Committee to be established by parliament to further review and report to the House in another special sitting.