Pacific Island Parliaments: Developmental Aspirations and Political Realities

Abstract

A concept paper on ‘legislatures and good governance’ prepared for UNDP by Johnson and Nakamura articulated four fundamental goals of legislative development (build internal support for legislative strengthening, strengthen representation, strengthen lawmaking, and strengthen legislative organization and facilities), and distinguished between the roles of two types of external agencies (funding, and legislative/parliamentary associations). A subsequent practice note by UNDP on Parliamentary Development set out that organization’s concept of ‘what parliamenttary institutions do’ and identified eight ‘principal entry points’ for its ‘role and niche’ in parliamentary development (United Nations Development Programme 2003). This article draws such development agency literature to identify the current issues facing Pacific Island parliaments and the efforts underway (or not) to address them. It includes a review the Pacific Islands context, consideration of recent parliamentary dynamics, and a review of parliamentary development activities. The context of Pacific Island parliaments The first important characteristic of the context of Pacific Island parliaments is their unique geographic location: they are established by societies which are small and strongly influenced by their archipelagic setting. Whereas this geographic feature may seem obvious, its impact on social, political and economic development — and therefore on constitutional and legal structure and operation, is equally inexorable. Development agencies therefore recognise the special needs of ‘small island developing states’ (SIDS). Most significantly, these include a lack of human and financial resources, and such constraints inhibit the operation of parliaments in the