Cultures of Dominance: Institutional and Cultural Influences on Parliamentary Politics in Melanesia

This paper explores the institutional and cultural aspects of parliamentary politics in the Melanesian states Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Fiji, and in so doing seeks to provide a baseline of information about Melanesian parliamentary politics.1 The paper argues that executive dominance has become entrenched and normalised because of the interplay between parliamentary institutional design and the particular political cultures that have arisen in the Melanesian states. Much of the scepticism about the operation of Melanesian parliaments is derived from a set of basic premises. First, they are weak institutionally. The classical liberal philosophy that provides the basis for institutional expectations of parliaments’ and parliamentarians’ roles assumes that members of parliament shall take part in activities such as lawmaking, oversight and representation, and these technical aspects of parliamentary governance are poorly executed in Melanesia.2 Grassroots Melanesians often appear ambivalent about the roles of the parliament and parliamentarians. Similarly, they may be antagonistic or sceptical about the role of parliamentary politics, seeing in them frameworks for patronage rather than participation.3 National MPs are simultaneously characterised as profligate, opportunistic and corrupt. Parliaments and parliamentarians operate in conditions of worsening law and order, societal conflict and stalled development. In Vanuatu, endemic parliamentary instability brought policymaking and oversight virtually to a halt in the mid-to-late 1990s.4 In Solomon Islands, the inscrutability and instability of the national parliament precipitated the breakdown of social order, notably contributing to the bloody ethnic conflict that erupted in 1999, although clearly other factors were at play.5 These events have prompted the fear that the breakdown of effective and stable legislative functions will provide the preconditions for other, possibly worse, human tragedies. From the vantage point of Australia, and The contribution of AusAID to this series is acknowledged with appreciation. Discussion Paper 2005/2 State, Society and Governance in Melanesia THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY