Commonwealth team offers to help PNG Parliament

A SCOPING team from the Commonwealth Parliament Secretariat has offered to help Parliament better understand the Commonwealth Latimer House principles on the three branches of Government.
Clerk to Parliament Vela Konivaro acknowledged the value of the work that will be contributed through the meeting in the spirit of the guidelines of the Latimer House.
The Commonwealth (Latimer House) principles govern issues such as the harmonious balancing of power and the interaction between parliament, the executive and the judiciary in democratic societies.
They set out in detail the consensus arrived at by representatives of the three branches of government in the Commonwealth on how each of their national institutions should interrelate in the exercise of their institutional responsibility.
The principles specify restraint in the exercise of power within their respective constitutional spheres so that the legitimate discharge of constitutional functions by other institutions are not encroached on.
Konivaro commended the contributions made by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and the legal profession of the Commonwealth to further these principles.
He said the objective of these principles was to provide, in accordance with the laws and customs of each Commonwealth country, an effective framework for the implementation by the governments, parliaments and judiciaries of the Commonwealth’s fundamental values.
Albert Mariner who is the Head of the Asia, Europe, and Caribbean Pacific Political Division thanked the Parliament and expressed the Secretariat’s technical support in identifying and scoping a concept appropriate to PNG issues and context. He was accompanied by Elizabeth Bakibinga Gaswaga, the Legal Advisor on Rules of Law.