议会制度的比较

议会制度的比较

Comparison Of Parliament System Between
 

介绍
 

许多发展中国家主要起源于欧洲列强的殖民扩张时代，也就是18,19世纪和20世纪的前半部分。 世界各地的大片领土吞并过程中,殖民列强对创建边界和外部系统的治理很少,如果有的话,相当于现有的政治和其他形式的土著社会组织(Dinnen,2008年,p . 6)。这是真实的，可以举例说明，比如英国统治的所罗门群岛,斐济有参与和促进民主议会制度的成型。 本文将首先定义议会制度和治理。 其次,它将简要讨论议会制度和治理。 第三,它将讨论在所罗门岛和斐济使用1997年宪法中的议会系统的目的。 最后,它将比较所罗门群岛,斐济的议会制度及其治理的含义。 根据维基百科全书所说，议会制度是在世界上某些国家使用的一种政府制度。 这个系统的政府部长们挑选立法机关,对他们负责(维基百科全书,2010)。 维基百科全书也指出,治理是管理的过程和系统。 它是管理的活动达到预期时,权力的使用和结果的验证和输出(维基百科,2010)。

 

今天，在全球范围内，有2种民主制度的政府正在实行。他们是议会和总统制。在议会制中，行政机关是由立法机关选定的，而不是直接选举产生的。他或她可以删除从议会通过的，受到当时的政府最初的宣言的影响的不信任投票党员。这削弱了在他的领导下,一直受到党得票或利益冲突。 如果有投首相或总理不信任票，行政办公室的条款将不固定和并且会发生早期选举。
 

介绍-Introduction

 

Dinnen (2008) states that, many developing states have their origins in the era of the colonial expansion by major European powers during the eighteenth, nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth centuries. In the process of annexing large swathes of territory around the world, colonial powers created arbitrary borders and imposed external systems of governance with little, if any, consideration as to their fit with existing polities and other forms of indigenous social organization (Dinnen, 2008, p. 6). This is truth and evident in the case of the Solomons Islands and Fiji where the British rule had participated and facilitated in the moulding of their democratic parliamentary system. This paper will firstly define parliament system and governance. Secondly, it will briefly discuss parliament system and governance. Thirdly, it will discuss parliament system in the Solomon Island and Fiji using the 1997 Constitution for the purpose of this paper. Lastly, it will compare the parliament system in the Solomon Islands and Fiji and its governance implication. According to the Wikipedia Encyclopedia [1] , a parliamentary system is a type of government system used in some countries around the globe. In this system of government the ministers are chosen from the legislature and are answerable to them (Wikipedia Encyclopedia, 2010). The Wikipedia Encyclopedia also states that governance [2] is the process and system of governing. It is the activity of governing to meet expectations, the usage of power and verification of outcomes and outputs ( Wikipedia, 2010).#p#分页标题#e#

 

Globally today there are two kinds of democratic systems of government that are practiced. They are the parliamentary and the presidential system. In the parliamentary system the executive is chosen by the legislative body and not directly elected. He or she can be removed from parliament by vote of no confidence by party members if one has diverted from the government of the day's original manifesto, has weakened in his leadership, had been influenced by the oppostion or had conflict of interest. The terms of office of the executive are not fixed and early elections can be called if there is a vote of no confidence on the prime minister or premier.

 

One of the well known characteristics of the parliamentary system is that there is no clear demarcation in the separation of power between the legislative and executive branch. However, there are checks and balances used in the three branches of the state namely, executive, legislature and judiciary. I believe one of the aims of this institutional process of the separation of power is for the three arms of the state to fulfil their responsibilities as stipulated in the constitution without exceeding their powers. In a parliamentary system there is always a clear difference in leadership regarding the country. For example, the head of the state is the president. He is either elected by parliament or because of his popularity or is a hereditary monarch often in constitutional monarchy. The head of the state is often a figurehead whereas the head of the government is the prime minister or premier. He or she is chosen by the elected members of parliament to lead them during their term of running the country.

 

Mostly in parliamentary systems there are two types of bodies that work hand in hand in the running of the state as a whole. One is the lower house and the other is the upper house. The lower house is the more powerful of the two while the upper house is merely a chamber for review and advice.In a parliamentary system, the parliaments are either made up of one (unicameral)or two (bicameral) chamber or house although more complex model exist or have existed in the past (tricameralism) [3] . China is an example of a country that has only one chamber while Fiji had two houses and South Africa in 1983 had three chambers under the apartheid government and which was race based (Wikipedia,2010).

 

According to Hirst (1994), governance [4] is a relativey new concept that had attained wide usage and acceptance in the past decade at the expense of the concept of government. He further stated that governance is generally perceived to be an alternative to government, to control by the state. Hirst also stated that the use of the word governance is alsmost exclusively confined to technocratic and elite discourse. He further said that the usage of governance could either signal a sign of threat to democratic government or wanting to evade democracy (Hirst, 1994). In my view, a classical example of the usage of the governance or good governance concept conditioned to Fiji by the World Bank was when it borrowed financial assistance for the running of the country. Assistance was provided by the World but there were conditionalities that came with it like focussing on the ideas of accountability, tranparency, productivity, effectiveness and efficiency of service, the rule of law and so on. Governance is also used in different fields, disciplines and institutions. It is used in management, leadership, business or non government organisation.#p#分页标题#e#

 

Parliamentary System in the Solomon Islands

According to Lamour (1983) [5] , the Constitutional Committee of the Solomon Islands recommended the Westminister type parliamentary system as they want to maintain connections with the British crown which the people had wanted. The system of government [6] that the Solomon Island practices is known as constitutional monarchy. The Queen of England, Elizabeth the Second is the Head of the State and is a hereditary monarch. However, the head of the state is represented by the Governor General. The Solomon Islands uses its 1978 Constitution or which is also known as the Solomon Islands Independence Order 1978 [7] . The Constitution establishes its legislature (law making) called the National Parliament of the Solomon Islands. It has the power to make laws and approves public expenditure.

 

The Parliament of the Solomon Islands is the supreme legislative power. The parliamentary system of the Solomon Islands is based on Westminster model that follows the British system. The Solomon Islands has a unicameral legislature that is made up of 50 elected members from the constituencies but changes every four years after elections. The Prime Minister is elected by the members of Parliament. The Ministers of the crown as their ministers are known are appointed by the Governor General after the recommendation of the Prime Minster.

 

One of the characteristics of a parliamentary system is that the legislators make the law. For instance, in the Solomon Islands the bills are introduced, debated, and assented by the Governor General to become an act of parliament and gazetted for enforcement of the law. Select committees are also part of a parliamentary system. In this process the members of parliament examine issues in more detailed manner and enable the public to participate in parliamentary processes. In a parliamentary ystem there are officials and a few members of parliament that are known as officers of the house.They have formal duties to perform. This includes the speaker, deputy speaker, clerk of the house and sergeant-in-arms.

 

Parliamentary System in Fiji with the 1997 Constitution

Fiji's system of government is based on a written constitution.The 1997 Constitution of the Sovereign Democratic Republic of Fiji is the supreme law of Fiji. The Constitution states that Fiji is a democratic state in which all people may, to the full extent of their capacity, take part in the institutions of national life and thereby develop and maintain due deference and respect for each other and the rule of law. The Constitution also states that governance will be based on the democratic principles of equality, social justice, human dignity and communal solidarity.

 

The parliamentary system practiced in Fiji was derived from the Westminister model. The British colonisers used the Westminister model when they first administered the colony of Fiji in 1874 to suit their preference of leadership style. The Queen of England, Elizabeth the Second was the Head of the state before Fiji severed its traditional ties with the British Monarch during Rabuka's forced period of early leadership.#p#分页标题#e#

 

The parliament of Fiji consists of the president, house of representatives and the senate. Fiji has a bicameral legislature (71 elected members house of representatives and 32 appointed members senate) that changes every five years after election. The president is the head of the state. He appoints the prime minsister from the confidence or endorsement of the house of representatives. The prime minister must keep the president informed on the performance of the government and is also the head of the ministers of cabinet.

 

Comparison of the Parliamentary System in the Solomons and Fiji and its Governance implication

 

Both of the parliamentary system of the Solomon Islands and Fiji had been influenced by Great Britain because it had colonised both of these islands states. Because of this factor one can be confident enough to state that the parliamentary system in the Solomon Islands and Fiji will have similarities but also differences because of their natural context.

 

One of their major similarities found is that both of these two countries wanted to maintain their relationship with their coloniser Britain by using the Westminster model of parliamentary system. The Westminster model was practised by both of these two Pacific Island States.Another similarity is that both of the constitutions try to base their governance on the democractic principle of equality, human dignity, social justice and communial solidarity. One can also state that both countries follow the same system and channelof making laws that is the bills are introduced, debated and assented to the head for the state to became an act of prliament and gazetted for enforcement. Another notable similarity is that the citizens of both countries elect their representatives in parliament compared to Tonga where the King appoints the members of parliament and the noble choose thei own representatives. In the case of Samoa the seats are contested only by the Matai's who are the traditional heads of families. The Solomon Island officers of the house are also similar to Fiji where they both have the speakers, deputy speakers, clerk of the house and sergeant- in- arms. The procedures of convening a parliamentary session are more or less the same because they are based from the same model with same origin.

 

Since, these two island states have features in common they also have unique differences. One of their major opposite feature is that the Solomon Islands have a unicameral legilature (one chamber-50 seats) while Fiji has a bicameral legislature (two houses-71 seats and 32 seats). Another major diffrence between the two states are their voting system that they use in choosing their parliamentary representatives. According to Fraenkel (2006), Fiji was the first in the world to use the alternative vote system for nationwide legislative election. He further stated that it was a deliberate instrument for holding the ethnic differences and mitigating them. Fiji has a history of frictions after independence between the politicians who represented the major ethnicity group of Indians and Fijian. An example of this friction is the military coup of 1987 that was conducted by Commander Sitiveni Rabuka. It gave power to a Fijian dominated regime which promulgated the 1990 new constitution that gave rights to Fijians to be presidents and prime ministers and also with more seats in parliament (Fraenkel, 2006). Sometimes this voting system led to crossing over of parliamentarians which trigerred voting of no confidence.#p#分页标题#e#

 

The Solomon Islands uses the first-past-the-post systems of voting in choosing their representative. In their example, candidates regularly secure office with less than 50 per cent of the vote owing to highly localised allegiances and split votes. Incumbents often fail to secure re-election. Inside parliament, MPs frequently shift allegiances and bring down governments in no confidence votes. For example, in 1995, companies are reported to have bribed ministers to cross the floor in the hope of dislodging the Solomon Islands government after it tried to regulate the country's logging industry. That is one of the reasons why the Solomon Islands had ten different governments and seven different prime ministers between independence (1978) and 2002. Another difference in their parliamentary system is that in Fiji the elected members are known to serve for a period of five years. However, in the Solomons they are to serve for a period of four years. History has shown in the Solomon Islands that most of the elected governments did not complete their term due to reasons to what some term as elite capture and so on.

 

The elected representatives of the two island states have a great responsibility to the people or voters who chose them to parliament and are answerable to them. They should always have the people's interest while in parliament and fight for their political cause. They should run the affairs of the state with ethics, transparency and accountability. They are to be responsible to the people and serve them with efficiency and effectiveness, be productive and follow the rule of law.

 

结论-Conclusion

 

In conclusion, it is evident that the two island states of Fiji and the Solomon Islands had common origins of their parliamentary system because both were colonised by Great Britain. Their subjucation to Britain made them hung on to its parliamentary system and not shifting to the presidential system of government. This is because of familiarity, linkage and the unsureness of the unknown democratic system that they had to shift to in accordance to Britain's convenience. The parliamentary system of governance that Fiji and the Solomons used were based on democratic principles.

 

In a parliamentary system, there is no clear cut boundary between the legislature and executive. However, there are checks and balances in place to fulfil their duties and avoid illegal usage of power and authority. The heads of government of both island states are known as prime ministers. They lead the other cabinet ministers but informs the head of the state all matters regarding country.

 

The parliamentary system in Fiji and the Solomons have things that are similar in nature because of their single origin of colonisation. They both follow the Westminster model of parliamentary system and have the same type of officers of the house. The members of both countries elect their representatives to parliament and are accountable to them in comparison to other Pacific Island countries like Samoa and Tonga. There are differences too between them in their voting system, the number of elected members for seats in parliament and the duration of rule.#p#分页标题#e#

 

One variable that stood out in the parliamentary system of both countries is the constant change because of their polarised based on ethnicity, religion or of the same background. However, it can be stated that there is a link between parliamentary system and govermanece between the Solomons and Fiji. The parlimentary system is to be used with transparency, accoutability, productivity and follow the rule of law to avoid incidents of unrest that had been experienced in both countries.