Striking A Balance: The Role of Parliament in Managing Development
The 10th Annual Centre for Democratic Institutions Pacific Parliamentary Dialogue
Port Vila, Vanuatu | 9 - 11 December 2008
The 10th Annual CDI Pacific Parliamentary Dialogue was held at Le Lagon Resort in Port Vila, Vanuatu from 9 to 11 December 2008. This was the first time the Dialogue was held in Vanuatu and the fifth time it has been held outside Australia. This Dialogue was organised in conjunction with the National Parliament of Vanuatu with the support of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and AusAID.
Parliamentarians from Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, Kiribati, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Australia, as well representatives from the suspended parliament of Fiji, met to discuss the role that parliamentarians can have in addressing political, economic and social development issues. The purpose of the meeting was to open a dialogue on some of the key challenges facing democratic governance in the Pacific region in order to strengthen it. It also provided an opportunity to look at aspects of parliamentary practice in other parliaments in our region. Whilst all share a common parliamentary heritage – that of Westminster – parliamentary practice and procedure has been modified and adapted to suit local conditions in each of our countries.
Parliamentarians can and ought to have a critical role in scrutinising and contributing to the development agendas, resource allocations, and policy making of their countries. The meeting reviewed trends in sustainable development in the region and examined the interaction of Parliamentarians with constituents, local communities, local government, and other stakeholders in effecting a shift towards more sustainable approaches to development.
This year the Dialogue had a special focus on Vanuatu. This gave parliamentarians from elsewhere in the region the opportunity to learn about the way parliamentary democracy works in Vanuatu and of some of the development challenges it faces. Vanuatu held national elections in September 2008 and since the inauguration of the ninth parliament, the new government of Prime Minister Natapei has faced four motions of no confidence. There was much discussion among the participants about the effect this approach to politics has on the political stability and economic development of Vanuatu.
Like all of CDI’s activities, the Dialogue provided the basis for the continued strengthening of links between parliaments in our region, and between individual parliamentarians. An important benefit of this get-together of Pacific Island and Australian parliamentarians was the informal interchange and fostering of relationships that occur between and after the formal sessions and at the social functions. The contacts, and often the firm friendships, that can be established on such occasions are something to be valued highly in the development of connections between our parliaments and our countries.
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