The defeat of the Constituent Assembly Meeting Amendment Bill 2024 during the Parliament session recently, has sparked disagreement among Western Province leaders and citizens , with concerns raised over absenteeism and dissenting votes.
Two Members of Parliament (MPs) abstained, three voted against the bill, and a notable 14 MPs did not attend to vote.
The bill, which sought to extend the deadline for convening the Constituent Assembly from December 31, 2024, to December 31, 2026, also proposed increasing the assembly’s membership from 80 to 100 members.
The Constituent Assembly’s primary objective is to deliberate on transitioning the Solomon Islands from its current unitary system, inherited from Great Britain, to a federal system.
Six Western Province MPs from the Government for National Unity and Transformation (GNUT) have expressed disappointment over the bill’s defeat.
The MPs, representing Marovo, South Vella La Vella, North Vella La Vella, Shortland, Ranonga Simbo, and Gizo Kolombangara, criticized their colleagues for failing to back this critical legislation.
They argued that the absence and abstention of some Western Province MPs amounted to a betrayal of the collective aspirations of their constituents for greater self-determination and autonomy.
The MPs were particularly critical of the deliberate abstention of MPs from North New Georgia, South New Georgia Rendova Tetepare, and West New Georgia – Vona Vona.
This lack of support, they claimed, undermined the Western Province’s broader push for federalism, which many see as a pathway to addressing long-standing grievances and achieving equitable development.
“This is a disappointing moment for the Western Province. The defeat of this bill delays critical reforms that our people have long called for,” one prominent leader and Member of the Provincial Assembly Assembly (MPA) in Western province told this paper.
“The defeat of the bill highlights ongoing divisions among Solomon Islands MPs on the path towards federalism and raises questions about the unity of leadership within the Western Province.
“It remains to be seen how this setback will influence future discussions on constitutional reform and regional autonomy,” the concerned prominent leader who wants his identity remain anonymous said.
He said, now the voters and the good people in Western provinces can clearly see, which of their MPs support their province’s aspiration for Statehood, decentralization and greater autonomy and which MPs do not support it.
“People want to have more power, control and benefit from their resources.
“If your MP does not support the bill, or abstain from voting for the Bill, or worse still, is absent from parliament meeting, to avoid voting for the Bill, then at the next election vote them all out,” one of the concerned citizens of Western province said.
However, on the other hand, many people also criticized the move to federal state government.
Many stated that the Solomon Islands and its province are still premature to adopt the federal state government.
“We have many things to do and complete and consider to make this country great again, forget about the state government, legislators and the Government need to solve some dying issues affecting its people before focusing on the state thing,” a concerned Solomon Islander said.
Following the setback of the defeat of the Constituent Assembly Meeting Amendment Bill 2024, past Western Provincial Government (WPG) former and current Premier still stand firm and support the state government.
WP Premier Billy Veo cannot be reached for comments.
By ULUTAH GINA
Solomon Star , Gizo
