Ousted Prime Minister (PM) Manasseh Sogavare shrugged off statement by Member of Parliament (MP) for Central Honiara John Fugui, who argued that the Anti-Corruption Bill (ACB) should be delayed until the Traditional Governance Bill is ready.
Fugui made his statement in parliament on Monday when the no confidence motion to remove the PM was debated.
Fugui strongly spoke against the call to have the Bill passed in parliament, as soon as possible.
He said this because the traditional governance Bill is not yet ready, which he suggests should come together with the ACB for passage, since they are complemented.
Fugui went on to explain that the Corruption Bill is a global governance agenda that has to be taken into account the demand of the people on the ground.
Therefore, he stressed that it should wait for the Traditional Governance Bill to be accommodated in the ACB so that they are complementary once passed.
He gave an example by stating that contribution to deaths is part of the traditional practices that needs to be accommodated in the ACB, so that money spent on such cultural practice are provided for in the Bill.
But Sogavare said Fugui’s explanation can be best described as a delay strategy to shelf the Bill forever.
The former PM spoke on the floor of parliament in response to Fugui by stating that this Anti Corruption Bill belongs to the people and they want it go for passage before the year ends.
“We seem to make contradictory statement here when the former leader of the Opposition Group Jeremiah says they fully support the Bill to go for its passage and MP for Central Honiara says a different thing.”
The MP for East Choiseul said all concerns on the matter to accommodate custom practices has been taken up in the Bill, so the idea to wait for Traditional Governance Bill is a delay tactic while corruption continue to happen in this country.”
Sogavare said the defectors of the Democratic Coalition for Change (DCC) government want the Bill pass after 17th December 2018, when parliament died its natural death.
“I see this as a way to shelf the ACB forever.”
By AATAI JOHN