Three major governance-related Bills are set to be withdrawn from Parliament following a motion by the Minister for Justice and Acting Attorney-General, Siromi Turaga.
According to the parliamentary schedule, the minister will move a motion under Standing Order 90 for the withdrawal of the Code of Conduct Bill 2025, the Access to Information Bill 2025, and the Accountability and Transparency Commission Bill 2025.
The motion was listed under Schedule 2 — Motions for which notice has been given — in Parliament today.
If approved by Parliament, the withdrawal would remove the three bills from the legislative agenda.
The Code of Conduct Bill 2025 was intended to establish standards of conduct for public office holders, while the Access to Information Bill 2025 sought to provide the public with a legal framework to access government-held information.
Meanwhile, the Accountability and Transparency Commission Bill 2025 proposed the establishment of a commission aimed at strengthening oversight and accountability in public office.
The motion to withdraw the bills will be moved pursuant to Standing Order 90, which allows the government to formally withdraw proposed legislation that has already been introduced to Parliament.
Meanwhile, earlier this week Opposition MP Premila Kumar had questioned the Government over the fate of the Code of Conduct Bill 2025 and the Accountability and Transparency Commission Bill 2025.
“Last year, we were told that the Code of Conduct Bill 2025 and the Accountability and Transparency Commission Bill 2025 would be progressed. They were even referred to the Standing Committee,” Kumar said.
“People believed that finally we were going to see real progress in accountability.”
However, she said both bills were later sent back to the Office of the Solicitor-General for amendments and have not returned to Parliament since.
“But what happened? Both Bills were sent back to the Office of the Solicitor-General for amendments and since then, they have simply disappeared,” she said.
Kumar questioned why the Government had not brought the legislation back for debate.
“So the question must be asked — why? What is in these Bills that makes this Government so uncomfortable?” she asked.
“Is it because a proper Code of Conduct would expose conflicts of interest? Is it because an Accountability and Transparency Commission would finally impose real consequences for abuse of office?”
Kumar also suggested that stronger laws could have implications for some members of Parliament.
“Or is it because some honourable Members sitting across the aisle may suddenly discover that they are no longer qualified to sit in this very Parliament if those laws come into force?” she said.
The opposition MP argued that the delay raises concerns about the Government’s commitment to its own legislative agenda.
“When a government repeatedly fails to deliver the very legislative agenda announced by His Excellency the President, then how can it be trusted to deliver anything else?” Kumar said.
She added that the situation reflects a government that is increasingly disconnected from both the public and its own stated commitments.
“What we are increasingly seeing is a Government that is not listening — not to the people, not even to the commitments it makes through His Excellency the President’s Speech,” she said.
