THERE is no law passed in parliament that criminalised the act of bribing Members of Parliament (MPs) with cash or valuable items during a lobbying period towards the election of a new Prime Minister.
An officer from the Public Solicitor’s Office, who asked not to be named, clarified this on Friday.
He said the only way Solomon Islands could criminalised this act of bribery in politics is to pass the Anti-Corruption Bill in parliament.
“Besides that, nothing,” the concerned officer said.
He said Vanuatu has a law that spelled out this crime, therefore the country’s court can depend on to lay charges against lobbyists.
“But in the case of Solomon Islands there is no specific law that criminalise bribing at the level of MPs during the course lobbying to form a government,” he said.
Therefore, he said Solomon Islanders must demand our 50 parliamentarians to pass the Anti-Corruption Bill to stop the bribing of leaders with cash to influence the outcome of a government.
Solomon Islands has been experiencing bribery in the past, where MPs were promised huge sums of money and expensive gifts under the pressure of wealthy people for political influence.
By AATAI JOHN
