By JOE GURINA
A SUNSET clause will be set to determine the duration of a Prime Minister’s term to avoid continuous occupation of the Chair.
Prime Minister James Marape stressed this yesterday at the official launch of the inquiry into the Review of the Form and Systems of Government while supporting the election of Prime Minister by the people.
“There must be sunset clause, not unlimited, one term or two term, so there is no prime minister living for ever in this chair. It’s just like the US President where he serves only two terms,’’ he explained.
He said in this manner, there is a fairer representation, “not just from one space but all parts of our country and an equal voice to the election of a prime minister.’’
“I support people to elect Prime Minister, but there must be few conditions, one person, one vote, so that we don’t have rush of voting,’’ he said.
He said candidates contesting the prime minister’s seat must be advocators of voter registration.
“You must be an advocate of voter registration, one person, one vote, so that it gives a platform to move towards that space,’’ he said.
He added that the parliament will still have a bit of powers for the functionality of the office of the prime minister in the space of approving budgets, while he stressed that the provision of the vote of no confidence will still remain, where the people will have the powers to decide in electing the prime minister.
“So, these are some of my views that I hold in my heart that I will put in writing,’’ he said.
“As we elect a prime minster, accountability on prime minister’s work, good governance, functionality must be stepped up and most of you know already my government has established ICAC, looked deeper into process of crime act for those of us who are responsible for offices and we must work in the space of law,” he said.
The Review of the Form and Systems of Government -Election of the Prime Minister By The People is a major constitutional review that the Constitutional and Law Reform Commission (CLRC) will undertake this year.
The Head of State by virtue of his powers under section 12 (1) of the CLRC Act 2002 issued this Review, which is the fourth Constitutional Directive received so far.
The Review emanated from the National Executive Council Decision No.395 of 2021, dated 20th December 2021, which amongst other things advised the Head of State to issue this Constitutional Directive to CLRC to review the Constitution, the Organic Law on Provincial and Local Level Government and other related laws around the form and systems of government, and with a focus on the election of the prime minister.
A nationwide consultation will begin in March spearheaded by the CLRC.
