Solomon Islands government’s move to amend the constitution which proposed an extended timeframe to allow for the establishment of the Constituent Assembly was defeated Thursday after only 31 MPs voted for it and 14 MPs, mostly from the Opposition, were absent when the roll was called.
The amendment needed three quarter or 38 of the 50 MPs to support before it was passed, however, only 36 were present in the house, of which 31 voted in favour, two abstained and three voted no whilst 14 MPs were absent.
The defeat of the proposed amendment means there will be no extension of the timeframe to allow for the establishment of the Constituent Assembly. The Assembly is scheduled to have its first sitting on the 26 December 2024.
Speaker of Parliament Patteson Oti reminded Parliament that, as per Section 61 of the Constitution, the amendment required the support of three-quarters of all the Members of Parliament (MPs) to be carried through.
Following the call for division, Clerk to Parliament Jefferson Hallu conducted a roll-call vote, calling MPs’ names in alphabetical order. The results of the headcount voting showed that 31 MPs voted in support, 2 MPs wished to abstain, 3 MPs opposed the Bill, and 14 MPs were absent. This resulted in a total of only 31 MPs voting in favour, which falls short of the 38 votes required for the Bill to pass.
A statement from the National Parliament states that as the Bill did not meet the threshold of support, it has been defeated at the second reading stage.
However, the government can reintroduce the Bill in the next parliamentary session, following recommendations from the Bill and Legislation Committee (BLC), and addressing concerns raised during the debate.
“It is important to note that a bill that fails to pass in Parliament, such as this one, is not repealed. A bill is only repealed if it has already been passed into law and later requires undoing. In this case, as the Bill did not progress beyond the second reading, it has not become law and does not require repeal,” the National Parliament states.
