Pacific Islands Monthly

Solomons Want A Chief Minister

And Cabinet (Like Other People!)

From a Honiara correspondent

The Solomons’ experiment in gov nment by committee has proved isuccessful, and the protectorate [Quid move on to the more familiar stem of legislature with a Chief inister and cabinet. That’s the sence of a report by a special select mmittee on constitutional develop ent, which is to be debated in the Dverning Council in November.

The comittee was appointed by the averning Council last November to opose the next steps in the con tutional development of the British lomons, with its population of 1,000 (density of 13 per square le), and its 74 separate languages d diverse cultural conditions.

The committee in fact comprised members of the Governing ►uncil, under the Chief Secretary, r Tom Russell, as chairman, so the ■thcoming debate is unlikely to ange the basic proposals. The next )ve is to give wide publicity to the mmittee’s suggestions before the *t general elections, to be held ween April and May, 1973. The oming council, in July, would then invited to draft a new constitution >ed on its final decisions.

The committee visited all parts of ; Solomons, and took oral and itten submissions. Some members ited South Pacific territories, and ilaysia, the Seychelles and luritius.

Hie present committee system of has been in operation ce 1970. Under it the old Legisla ‘ Council was renamed the Cov ing Council, and comprises 17 :ted members and three ex officio, e council is divided into five corn tees Social Services, Internal airs, Natural Resources, Communi ions and Works, and Commerce I Industry and every council mber has a place on a committee, fhe chairman of each committee has a place on the Finance Corn tee, chaired by the Financial Secre y- Tie Governing Council has both

public and private meetings; in private the various committees are expected to act like ministries, as there is no cabinet system. The method was pro posed by the last council as a way of making practical use of the Islanders’ tradition of “talking towards a de cision”, with everybody involved.

In its report, the select committee says the committee system has not turned out to be particularly cheap or simple. The appointment of chairmen of committees has given invaluable experience in government, but the system is defective because it doesn’t provide for individual leader ship, or co-ordination. Neither the Governing Council sitting in private, nor the Finance Committee, have been “effective substitutes for a cabinet”.

The working of the system has not proved politically easy to explain or to be understood. Private meetings are regarded by the public with “some suspicion”.

The committee comments: “Al though three political parties are in existence it is still uncertain whether the 1973 elections will be conducted on a party basis. There is some feel ing that lack of political parties is an advantage in local circumstances and the opinion is sometimes voiced that they should not be allowed to de velop. Whether or not parties do evolve in the next few years, the next constitution should be such that it is workable with or without a party system.”

The committee still likes the idea of finding some system that will in volve traditional leaders in govern ment-something like Fiji’s Great Council of Chiefs—but it is not cer tain how this can be done. As there is soon to be an expert investigation into local government in the BSIP, the committee suggests there is little use in discussing central and local government relationships meanwhile.

These are the main points of the committee’s report: o The Western Pacific High Com

missioner (who is based in Honiara) should become the Governor of the British Solomon Islands—but also High Commissioner for the New Hebrides. • The Chief Secretary should be come Deputy Governor. • The Governing Council should become the Legislative Assembly, with 24 elected members and three ex officio, and its term of office be in creased from the present three years to four. • The Leader of Government Business should become Chief Minister and select his own cabinet (of not less than four or more than six), who would accept the principle of collective responsibility. • The Governor would appoint as Chief Minister the man who, in the opinion of the assembly, was most likely to have the support of the majority of the assembly. • In the first instance the Governor should preside over the cabinet, but at a time to be announced the Chief Minister should take responsibility. • The present committee system would be replaced by one Standing Advisory Committee of all members except the ministers. This committee would have access to all papers, and would meet before each assembly session and in between times by a rotating quorum of one-third of its members. It would be able to advise cabinet on any government business. • A Speaker should be appointed by the Governor from outside the assembly. • There should be a National Day decided on, and after the new consti tution is introduced there should be competition for a national flag and anthem.

The committee commented that the options open to the BSIP after the life of the next legislature “appeared to be full independence, associated status or federation”, but it said it had no wish to bind any successive constitutional committees as to the future.