SSIG DEMONSTRATION MARCH NOT IN VAIN
By: Asenati Taugasolo Semu
The motorcade and demonstration march last Friday by the Samoa Solidarity International Group (S.S.I.G.) to register their opposition to three legislative bills related to the Lands and Titles Court is long overdue but nonetheless appreciated by Government.
But with the same note, it also demonstrated the Group’s weaknesses and demeanor, says Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi.
The Group met with the Select Parliamentary Committee tasked by the Legislative Branch to review the three legislations which includes constitutional amendments to the Lands and Titles laws.
And the Prime Minister is ecstatic.
“I’m happy because they finally took the right path by meeting with the Parliamentary Committee,” Tuilaepa revealed in his Special Live Stream Program with Radio 2AP Friday evening.
However he was quick to note, that the SSIG’s march is a cunning tactic to misled people that their position against the legislative reforms will be ignored and rejected.
“What the SSIG didn’t know and had led to their failure to garner supporting public opinion is their lack of research which if they did, they would have known that it is compulsory for public reviews for all constitutional amendment or legislative reform before its tabled in Parliament for its review and recommendations,” said Tuilaepa.
“And the Select Parliamentary Committee has 90 days to garner the opinions and viewpoints from the people during their public hearings,” he continued.
“In layman terms, Government is not bulldozing the amendments through allowing due process by inviting the public to register their say.”
And what transpired last Friday, may have proven Tuilaepa’s fears that Samoans are being misled to suit the political agendas of a few.
On that note, he is appealing the people to “read, read and re-read the Constitution.”
“Everything that anyone needs to know and learn on the parliamentary and law process when it comes to legislative reforms is written in our Constitution. It seems that some lawyers talk about the rights in the Constitution but do not read what is written in the Constitution,” he elaborated.
“Lawyers and Judges should read the Constitution. That’s where the work of the Legislative Assembly is measured from.
“A Bill cannot be approved by Parliament without going through the public consultation process of 90 days or three months.
“That’s why I’m firm on this issue.”
