2011 vanuatu daily post - westminster system versus presidential system

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Westminster Sy

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Created 08/04/2011 - 14:46

Celebrating 31 years

By

Johnety Jerety

While Vanuatu is celebrating its

issue of the continuous instability

five changes in the government.

two illegal governments followin

as the result of political instabilit

Prime Minister Sato Kilman addJuly 18 2010. He emphasised the

(http://dailypost.vu)

us Presidential System

tem versus Presiden

31st anniversary there are major concerns

in the government. After the 2008 general e

For the first time in the history of Vanuatu

g a Supreme Court ruling that also declared

.

ressed the nation live on Television Blongneed to address the issue of instability. “I

ial System

over how to tackle the

lection there have been

we were governed by

caretaker government

Vanuatu, on Monday,elieve this is the right



time to address seriously the issue of instability”, he said on TBV. He also called for a review of the

constitution and the current democratic form of government. “As the prime minister I believe it is

important for us to fully review our constitution and the Parliamentary Westminster’s System of

Government to see whether it is still suitable for us”, explained PM Kilman.

The Electoral Office has confirmed that a referendum would be cheaper compared to a generalelection as the printing cost would be cheaper. “This will only mean that we will have to print only

two different papers and that is yes or no, agree or disagree depending on which one we want to

use”; said the Electoral Office. In a referendum voting can be done at any polling booths not like the

general election where the eligible voters must vote at their registered polling station.

While a new movement known as the National Presidential System has continued to change the

Parliamentary Westminster System to the Presidential System, PM Kilman said the only solution

would be through a referendum.”If we wanted to change from the Parliamentary Westminster

System to the Presidential System then I believe that the best option is to allow the citizens of this

country to decide through a referendum”, suggested PM Kilman. But PM Kilman believes that the

best form of government will be a system that also adopts our culture. “As the Prime Minister Iwould like to see that any new changes of government, it must be the one that recognises our cultural

heritage and based on our tradition and values”, said PM Kilman.

However, PM Kilman’s suggestion of the new government system may be similar to a hybrid

Westminster form of government that Polynesian countries are currently enjoying compared to the

four Melanesian countries. Vanuatu, Solomon Island and Papua New Guinea are those countries in

the region that have experienced quiet a number of changes of government during a single term,

while Fiji is currently governed under the military leadership of Commodore Frank Bainimarama.

Yet in the Pacific Region, Australia and New Zealand have enjoyed the Parliamentary Westminster

System of Government similar to the presidential form of government that also provides stability for

the Micronesian countries. This has raised the question of whether the Parliamentary Westminster

System is still suitable for Vanuatu and other MSG member countries.

The Pacific Institution of Public Policy, Youth Quake, Discussion Paper No. 17 quoted PNG’s Prime

Minister, Sir Michael Somare as saying that “nothing is wrong with the democratic principles and

that they are not incompatible with the Melanesian Values”. “The issue is that parliamentary

democracy has to be adapted to the local situation. It’s a bit like a brand new four wheel drive

coming off the ship for sale here. The basic model is good, but if it is to work here in PNG then you

need to change the tyres, boost the suspension and modify a few things. You can’t expect one model

is going to suit every condition, especially with the roads we have here”, Prime Minister Somare

said. PNG achieved its independence before Vanuatu and is now exploring other mechanisms in theWestminster form of government to address its political instability.

One US president late Abraham Lincoln had defined democracy as a government of the people, for

the people and by the people. Despite the problems of instability, democracy is still regarded as a

better form of government compared to say authoritarianism under communism, fascism or

monarchism. The Parliamentary Westminster System is still known as the best form of government

compared to Presidential System. The Westminster System encourages unity amongst members of

parliament as the cabinet members are directly responsible for their backbenchers whereas in the

Presidential System, the President has less control over the members of the legislatives. In the

Presidential System the president is the Head of the Executive and may veto any decision or law

approved by the legislatives and may turn down the two third majority of the legislatives. But in theWestminster System it allows for an open forum and debate of the laws in parliament. The



Presidential form of democratic government can speed up economic development, so long as the

political party of the President has a good control over the legislature, but it can also lead to

dictatorial tendencies (Dr Nanau. G, 2010, Lecture note).

Therefore, none of the democratic forms of government are immune to political instability except for

the leaders and the citizens to modify the systems to suit their environment through the legislation oflaws. A study by Dr Michael G. Morgan, Louise Baker and Luke Hambly states, “Political Parties,

Parliamentary Governance and Party strengthening in Melanesia from the Center for Democratic

Institutions, Australian National University have identified few causes of political instabilities and

make several recommendations to the leaders of the MSG countries”.

The four main causes of political instability as identified are weak political organizations, political

party roots in societies are weak and individual personality dominates parties and campaign,

programmatic and ideological cleavages and the electoral volatility is high in the Melanesian

countries. The findings have recommended a need for all political parties to be reformed, create a

law that encourages 2 two party system, review of the electoral system and act that will compliment

all those political parties.

However, while those findings do not call for a change of the government system it is important for

the people of the nation concerned to critically analyse the current Westminster System adopted in

Vanuatu and whether the Presidential System would be the best solution for our political instability.

Political instability is the main issue that is of great concern for every citizen. But have we identified

the main causes of this political instability? The finding does not identify members of parliaments as

the main cause of political instability and does not recommend any change of the system.

Although the PM Kilman maybe right in calling for a full review of the constitution but the leaders

cannot turn a blind eye on the organisations of all the political parties. With out the political parties

there is hardly any government. The findings from the Center for Democratic Institutions have

recommended for Vanuatu as one of the Melanesian countries to strengthen all political party

organisational structures and legislate an Act that will compliment those political party

organisational structures. This will also mean that any formation of a political party must meet a

certain criteria which will be determined under the electoral Act. It means those political parties

approved under the Act will receive funds from the government to support their development.

There are two systems under the democratic system of government which political ideologists have

labeled as the “best system of government” compared to monarchy, communist, socialist and others.

In the Pacific region, the numbers of countries that are governed under the Parliamentary

Westminster System are more compared to Presidential System which is a system of governmentadopted by the Micronesian countries. If the Parliamentary Westminster System is acceptable and

works well for countries like Australia, New Zealand and the Polynesian countries then why can that

system be unsuitable for the Melanesian countries?

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2011 vanuatu daily post - westminster system versus presidential system

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