MALANGO and BAHOMEA House of Chiefs have opposed Democratic Coalition Government for Advancement’s (DCGA) call to defer the National General Election from 2023 to 2024.
The two Houses of Chiefs made the decision after deliberating on DCGA’s Constituency Awareness Information Pack 2022 from the Office of the Prime Minister on the deferment of the National General Election.
The chiefs’ meeting was held at the Holiday Resort on June 10th
In a joint statement, the Malango and Bahomea Houses of Chiefs said they totally rejected all six reasons put forward by the DCGA to extend parliament term from four to five years from 2023 to 2024.
The six reasons issued by the DCGA are;
- The main rationale behind the deferment of the 2023 National General Election is that we will be hosting the 2023 Pacific Games in the same year. This needs a lot of financial and logistics support.
- Registration of Voters have not started or updated yet, to include those who turned 18 years from the last National Election.
- The effect of the global pandemic has affected our economy as well including the riot.
- Political parties reform, looking at changing the process of electing the Prime Minister.
- The deferment will be a one off, it is not to extend the term of government, it’s the term of the 11th parliament that is extended not the government.
- The issue of permanently extending the term of parliament from four to five years is one that can be campaigned on in preparation for 2024 National General Election.
However, the Malango and Bahomea House of Chiefs said sports is not a constitutional requirement and the other five reasons are just mere political excuses.
“Sports is not a Constitutional requirement it’s a social requirement, reference to other sporting bodies in the world, reference to Olympic, Commonwealth, including others have moved due to global pandemic.
“Why not the SPG?
“The other five reasons are just a mere political excuse by DCGA’s without any supporting constitutional evidence,” the statement said.
The DCGA had held similar consultations with premiers, churches and Solomon Islands Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SICCI).
