Change PNG’s parliamentary system

THE PNG Parliament is like a pub with no beer.
The shortcomings of our parliament in not living up to the creed of the constitution and upholding democracy is like a pub with no beer.
I recall the Friday night sing-along on the patapata and a favourite number from Slim Dusty – A pub with no beer – in our endless playlist back in the days. Nostalgic!
In the Gettysburg address, Abraham Lincoln defined democracy as a government “of the people, by the people, for the people”.
He was, of course, referring to the democratic model of the United States.
However, the same words can be used to explain PNG’s parliamentary democracy – a government of the people through parliament; by the people, through parliament; and for the people through Parliament.
Our parliamentary democracy is founded upon certain principles and conventions of parliamentary government inherited from the English constitutional tradition.
With time, democracy is fast changing.
The strength and quality of our parliamentary democracy in a large measure depends on the functioning of the constitutional institutions – the Parliament, the executive and the judiciary.
In recent years, we have witnessed the decline in their effectiveness and prestige.
Parliament no longer enjoys the respect of the people, who in the initial years of independence, used to look to it with awe and reverence.
The greed of power and power coupled with the disregard of democratic norms have led a decay of parliament.
The executive is callous, distant from the people and indifferent to their problems.
The people now look to the court as the last hope but when it is overburdened with loads of cases and shortcomings, it is unable to dispense justice to the people in time and at affordable cost.
Occasionally, the judiciary and the executive arm of the government get into inter-institution confrontation and turf wars which further reduce each other’s effectiveness.
These turf wars are exploited by ambitious political leaders, who on coming to power with sizeable mandate, often misread it and try to consolidate their rule or expand their authority.
Sometimes they think that they are above the institutions that are supposed to serve the public interest.
We have slipped off track from what our founding fathers intended.
It is time to adopt a strong representative parliamentary government such as the federal system adopted by Australia. The Australian political system has demonstrated, over time, a remarkable faith in the ability of its parliamentary structures to adapt and deal with changing demands.
Their representative parliamentary government was established by the federation fathers as the hallmark of the political system and has continued to expand and stood the test of time.

David Lepi