SO the much anticipated Anti-Corruption Bill has been deferred.
This is a bill that holds much for the future progress of this nation.
At least that’s how ordinary Solomon Islanders see it.
And that’s why they were excited when the Sogavare government put this piece of legislation together and brought it before parliament to be blessed.
But some of our politicians see the bill differently.
These politicians are right inside the government.
Some of them are senior ministers.
They’re the ones who lobbied hard against the bill and threatened to pull the government down if Prime Minister Sogavare go ahead and table the bill in parliament.
In the end, Mr Sogavare was left with no option but to defer the bill.
The prime minister said he’ll bring the bill back to parliament after addressing a number of issues inside the bill.
He did not say whether this will happen in the current session or the next.
Whenever this will happen, Mr Sogavare needs to know this.
Solomon Islanders have taken you at yours words.
They’ll be keeping a closer eye on the Anti-Corruption Bill and will keep making noises about it until it is tabled in parliament.
The Anti-Corruption Bill is a huge step in the grand fight against corruption.
It may not be the magic bullet, but it sure will boost the fight against this scourge.
We all knew what corruption did to our nation over the last 30 years.
It has reduced us to what we are today – a poor and least developed country struggling to make ends meet.
Corruption undermines our democratic institutions, slows economic development and contributes to government instability.
It also steals away public funds and denied our people of better health and education facilities.
So the question is why do some of our politicians oppose the Anti-Corruption Bill?
Are they afraid of the bill?
MPs have nothing to fear unless they have other hidden agenda that the Anti-Corruption Bill will undo when it becomes law.
In fact our elected leaders are the ones who should be pushing hard for such legislations.
That is if they are concern about the welfare and future of this country.
This is a critical period for this country and we need leaders who are forward-looking and want to give their best for this nation.
The Anti-Corruption Bill should have been the best way to start off 2016.
But as we can see now, some of our so-called leaders are not up there to serve.
They are there for their own selfish interest. They should hang their heads in shame.
Solomon Islanders must not give up on this.
We need to keep pushing our leaders to bring the bill back to parliament and put it into law.
If we are to do it through a nation-wide strike or a street protest, so be it.
Let’s not allow the few who just came into power through our ballots to determine the future of our beloved nation.
This is our nation, not theirs!
