Pacific Islands Monthly

Exercises In Parliamentary Chaos

From a Suva correspondent

After Hurricane Bebe came a Istorm of another kind—Fiji’s biggest ■ constitutional upset since indepen dence with, at the centre of the [controversy, industrial relations legis lation with which the government [hopes to curb wildcat strikes. The [crisis came when the Government [attempted to introduce the measure and the Opposition, the National [Federation Party, objected.

The crisis kicked off with a scene unprecedented in the 800 - year [tradition of Westminster-type parlia mentary practice that Fiji opted to [stick with at independence in 1970.

This was when the Speaker, Mr Raojibhai Patel, who holds one of the 19 Opposition seats, tried to have the 33 members of the ruling Alliance Party locked out of the chamber.

Then he told the parliament’s staff— the Clerk, Hansard reporters, Mace Bearer and Sergeant-at-Arms— to have nothing to do with a meeting convened in his absence.

He holed up tight in the Speaker’s chamber, along with the Mace, which he wouldn’t allow to be removed to its place in the chamber, and ignored [appeals to emerge made by the Deputy Prime Minister, Ratu Sir Edward Cakobau. The Mace is the traditional symbol of authority in British parliaments.

It was entertaining for the packed public and press galleries, but there were serious undertones.

The controversial legislation (the Trade Disputes Bill) was published in March as a solution to the wildcat strikes which began snowballing a year ago and which are now un doubtedly causing the Fiji economy serious harm.

The Trade Disputes Bill empowers the Minister of Labour to declare certain strikes illegal if they occur before all other means of settling disputes are exhausted. Union leaders inciting anyone to join such strikes could be gaoled, or fined, or both, and so could the strikers.

The Fiji Trades Unions Congress voiced loud objections. The Oppo sition NFP, which draws a lot of

support from some union circles, de cided on a crusade. The Opposition stand, cried its Whip, lawyer Karam Ramrakha, was to “use every consti tutional means in our power to oppose this bill”.

The first day, the government couldn’t get the bill to its first read ing because Mr Patel, on a motion by Mr Ramrakha, ruled that it would be out of order, as it hadn’t been distributed early enough.

The bill got its first reading next day, but the Speaker ruled, again on a motion of Mr Ramrakha’s, that it would still be out of order and would have to await its second reading until the following day.

Then, after the House and in furiated Government members had worked through the rest of the agenda for the day, Mr Ramrakha declared that, as a member of the House business committee, he had the right to move that the House adjourn sine die (indefinitely) on the ground that there was no more business for it to deal with! He maintained that because the second reading of the Trade Disputes Bill had been ruled out of order, it wasn’t now an item of business.

To the Government’s anger, Mr Patel agreed, and ruled out of order an attempt by the Deputy Prime Minister to amend Mr Ramrakha’s motion so that the House could adjourn only until 9.30 am next day.

But a vote was taken on Mr Ram rakha’s motion for adjournment sine die and was lost by 28 votes to 12.

The Government had refused to ad journ.

Mr Patel sat in his chair, ponder ing, and then pointed out that the House was sitting around with nothing to do. Mr John Falvey re plied that there were two messages from the Senate and the second read ing of the Trade Disputes Bill still pending. But the Speaker’s per functory response was to declare the House adjourned sine die, as Mr Ramrakha had wanted, and he cut short a howl of Government protests by striding out of the chamber be fore anyone could get another word in.

“He left his chair so fast I thought he had tripped and fallen,” Minister of Finance, Charles Stinson, said later. “He forgot to bow to the House.”

The Opposition yelled with joy over their third victory in stalling the bill.

Mr Ramrakha, and Mr Apisai Tora, a Fijian NFP member and secretary of the strike-happy Airport Workers’

Union—a union which the bill singles out for restrictions on striking— grabbed hands exclaiming: “We’ve won the first round!”

Unless a counter-strategy could be devised the Government now faced a delay of weeks in getting what it re garded as top priority legislation into the law books. Besides the Trade Disputes Bill, there was its prices and incomes freeze legislation to con sider, announced by Minister for Commerce and Industry Mr Moham med Khan a few days before. This was to freeze wages, prices, rents, and other cost increases for 90 days from April 1, followed by another 60 days if necessary.

The Government thumbed through the parliamentary rule book and an nounced over Radio Fiji that night

that the House would meet at 9 am the next day “in accordance with the provisions of the standing orders of the House and of the Constitution”.

But the Opposition wasn’t having any. Mr Ramrakha retorted the same night that the Speaker had adjourned the House sine die, and if the Gov ernment was dissatisfied with that ruling it had to impeach the Speaker or challenge his decision in court.

The Opposition, he said, wouldn’t be in parliament the next day.

Nor was it. And the chamber had been locked on the Speaker’s instruc tions, and the staff told not to attend.

Chaos reigned.

The chamber finally was unlocked, and the Deputy Speaker, Mr Vijay R.

Singh, took the chair, but soon ad journed the meeting in what he described as the “somewhat unusual circumstances”. But after lunch the Government at last responded with positive counter action and held a meeting of the House without Speaker, Mace or Opposition. It was then adjourned till 9.30 next day, Friday.

Mr Patel announced (outside the House, of course) that the meeting

was “a nullity”, and called what he described as an “emergency meeting” of the House for Friday.

On Friday, Mr Patel, the Oppo sition and the Government were all in their seats. But the crisis was still unresolved; the Speaker wouldn’t accept the legality of the previous day’s proceedings. Now followed a whole day of adjournments, private talks and fruitless shufflings about as the Government tried to break the procedural deadlock. Mr Patel finally stunned the Government by adjourning until the Monday.

Tempers ran high over the week end. Monday was another day of stalemate in the House over pro cedure. The Government announced that the country was “being held to ransom by the Opposition in seeking to defer important State matters”, and that Mr Patel had made “clearly illegal decisions” in adjourning.

The House was adjourned by Mr Patel, until Tuesday afternoon, by which time a deal had at last, some how, been arranged. Mr Patel was back in the Speaker’s chair and the minutes of the previous Wednesday and Thursday were approved.

At this point Mr Patel announcec that he had been “embarrassed” a having been accused by the Govern ment of partiality in the House; a: a result it was impossible for him tc stay in the chair “under a cloud o suspicion” and he would withdrav from the House for about a week.

Mr Speaker therefore rose, with drew, and was replaced by Depub Speaker Singh. And the House pro ceeded, to its own surprise, finally t< get to business.

As an anti-climax, the Trade Dis putes Bill then easily went throug] both the House of Representative and the Senate. The House mad some minor amendments, the Senat none.

Nevertheless, the Govemmen couldn’t even get through the Hous a motion of no confidence in th Speaker after the Opposition refuse to extend the sitting time, and debat on it was adjourned till May 1. A: Opposition member, Mr James Mad haven, has meanwhile issued a wri seeking a Supreme Court declaratio; that the Government acted illegall in convening the House after th Speaker adjourned it on April 5.