Around the globe, Parliament exist to represent the people in the highest sphere of decisionmaking. Some say it is the bedrock of representational democracies.
In Fiji our Parliament is the legislative branch of the State and it makes laws, represents the community in discussions about issues that affect them, investigates issues of importance to the community and scrutinises the actions of government.
Fiji has a unicameral Parliament made up of 51 members, who belong to three political parties.
To show the significance of Parliament in any country, including Fiji, we celebrate the International Day of Parliamentarism every year on June 30.
This year, the day fell on Thursday, with the theme ‘Public Engagement’, the day the Inter-Parliamentary Union was founded. “Strong parliaments are a cornerstone of democracy. They represent the voice of the people, pass laws, allocate funds to implement laws and policies, and hold governments to account.
They work to make sure that policies benefit all people, especially the most vulnerable,” the United Nations says. International Day of Parliamentarism is vital because it is now commemorated against a background where people are losing trust and confidence in democratic institutions.
This is happening as democracy itself encounters challenges and resistance from authoritarian actors.
In 2021, the US non-government organisation, Freedom House, confirmed this, saying there had been a general decline in political rights and civil liberties from 2006 to 2020.
It added that the COVID-19 crisis, in particular governments’ responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, exacerbated the global democratic decline.
“Repressive regimes and populist leaders worked to reduce transparency, promote false or misleading information, and crack down on the sharing of unfavourable data or critical views,” Freedom House said.
It added that many of those who voiced objections to their government’s handling of the pandemic faced ‘harassment or criminal charges’.
“Lockdowns were sometimes excessive, politicised, or brutally enforced by security agencies. And antidemocratic leaders worldwide used the pandemic as cover to weaken the political opposition and consolidate power.”
Post-pandemic, if democracy is to grow and prosper, then parliaments need to be ‘strong, transparent, accountable and representative’.
The International Day of Parliamentarism therefore is an opportune time to review the progress our Parliament has made in ensuring that it is more representative, engaging and peoplefriendly.
This year the celebrations by the Inter-Parliamentary Union and its member Parliaments come after the recent launch of the Global Parliamentary Report (GPR) on Public engagement in the work of Parliament.
The report contends there are various ways in which public engagement can sustain parliaments and democracy overall.
“By helping to build trust, ensuring parliaments are relevant, maintaining civic space for public discourse and ensuring all voices in a community can be heard, public engagement reinforces the principles of effectiveness, inclusion, accountability and transparency that underpin democratic governance,” notes the report.
The report also adds that to effectively engage the public, “civic space for public debate” must be guaranteed and rights should be respected.
“It is a direct responsibility of a democratic state to ensure that people’s fundamental rights – to freely express their views, to create associations and to assemble peacefully – are upheld and respected.”
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) defines “civic space” as “the environment that enables civil society to play a role in the political, economic and social life of our societies”.
The OHCHR further states that this civic space is slowly shrinking globally. Which means that the responsibility and burden falls on government to ensure that people’s fundamental rights to freely express their views, to create associations and to assemble peacefully are upheld and respected.
“Repressive laws are spreading, with increased restrictions on freedoms to express, participate, assemble and associate,” OHCHR says.
“New technologies have helped civil society networks to grow, but they’ve also given governments excuses to control civil society movements and media freedoms, often under security pretexts.”
Parliament also has a crucial role in enabling effective public participation, free debate and consensus on toughly held views. On this, the GPR report says many initiatives that are proactive and initiated at the grassroots level reflect the genuine voices of groups trying to change their circumstances.
Therefore, it says, a Parliament that is responsive to the concerns of community members can help to resolve, or at least better understand, the issues that matter to the community and, in doing so, build trust.
On the other hand, a Parliament that consistently ignores public demands risks worsening the democratic deficit even further.
In Fiji, there have been many concerns raised in the past, especially by opposition parties and civil society, over moves that curtail free and fair debate in Parliament and other forms of public participation such as petitions.
In April for instance, during the National Federation Party annual convention, concerns were raised on the frustrations NFP politicians faced in Parliament when trying to raise issues.
“Their questions are ruled out of order, their motions are denied for the silliest of reasons,” Suva lawyer, Richard Naidu pointed out.
“The Government does what it wants in Parliament. It brings laws to Parliament today and votes them into law tomorrow.
In fact, it does not even bother to count the votes in Parliament anymore.”
But despite the dealings of in the legislature that may be concerning, the Fijian Parliament believes it continued to improve the lives of the people it represents and has achieved representation, transparency, accesiblity, accountability, inclusiveness and effectiveness.
In his message on International Day of Parliamentarism, Fiji’s Speaker of Parliament, Ratu Epeli Nailatikau highlighted that the Fijian Parliament had invested heavily in a community engagement program since the restoration of Parliament on October 6, 2014.
“The aim of the Fijian Parliament is to enhance public engagement and to improve Fijian’s access to and the understanding of Parliament, its processes, practices and the opportunities available for participatory and representative decision-making,” Ratu Epeli said.
Ratu Epeli said the Fijian Parliament would continue to look for ways to innovate and boost public participation in the years ahead.
“The Fijian Parliament will engage in actions that will increase public understanding of its functions, processes and practices. It will also continue to make Parliament, its offices, processes and events, accessible to the public as provided for under the Fijian Constitution.”
The bottom line is our parliament’s functions and roles: like providing a forum for public debate; facilitating public participation, scrutinising and holding government accountable; making and changing laws, among others, are imperative to the proper functioning of the democracy which we are governed under.
As we look forward to the 2022 General Election, it should be our hope that the next Parliament genuinely espouses democratic values, demonstrates leadership, instils trust and aspires to be inclusive and just in decision-making.
There’s a lot to learn from International Day of Parliamentarism. Until we meet on this same page same time next week, stay blessed, stay healthy and stay safe!
