By Mataeliga Pio Sioa
If and when Parliament vote on the three bills to change the Constitution on the Lands and Titles Court (LTC), doubt if it will be enough consolation for the mess left behind.
Public opinions across the whole country are divided. The timing close to the general elections has heavily politicized the debate.
If there is a problem to be fixed in the LTC the unyielding nature of true law will struggle under partisan politics.
A deputy Prime Minister has walked out of the comforts of her lofty status in protest against the bills.
Whether she is genuinely concerned or has had a personal falling out with the party leadership as her critics claim is another matter.
The Samoa Law Society has ‘gone as far as they can with their protest’. This is after uncovering so many legal loopholes left to cause public misery if the Constitution is changed.
The society cautioned also that it may take generations to tidy up the loose ends if possible.
But after opting to sit on the sideline the best they can do is to urge the public to pressure the Members of Parliament to reject the bills when the vote comes up.
So where are we now?
Whatever the final outcome newer doors of worry and discontent are opening up and we have to deal with them.
This whole mess-up goes back to the passage of these bills right from the start.
The Samoa Law Society claims Government did not follow the standard practice of consultations before the drafting of the legislations.
They only found out when the judges rang the warning bells on the bills.
Government pointed to a follow through on the recommendations from an earlier Commission of Inquiry into the LTC the Society were aware of and also contributed to.
Whoever is telling the truth or trying to cover up in this exchange is not worth the bother of finding out.
The priority if we want to stop this kind of ridiculous nonsense from again disrupting our future peace and quiet, is to look at what we must do or preventative measures to be put in place.
The best way forward to take from this unnecessary chaos is ‘PRIOR consultations of all parties with key roles to play.
We the public would all be spared the Samoa Law Society legal worries if they were allowed to take up their concerns BEFORE not AFTER the bills were drafted.
The Government boasted of having ‘laui’a’ fish to draft the bills but look at the fine mess we are in now.
When the Samoa Law Society ‘laui’a’ fish banged the war drums for the masses to rise against the bills and then abandoned them in the heat of battle that is unforgivable.
The mess deepens.
For now we have to set all that aside and look at what lies in store for us in the future if we keep to this path with other equally important bills.
There will be more division of opinions as we have now.
The Law Society as a voluntary body of experts could just switch off for better things to do than waste it on a lopsided battle with politicians.
When that happens it will literally be the ditch for us the public as far as an independent viewpoint on legal matters are concerned.
The blind usually ends face down in the ditch when they hazard the darkness without a guiding hand.
Talk is always going to lead to talk and more hot air wasting valuable oxygen and accelerating the damages of climate change.
What we need to do going forward is to make the talk count. The best way to make sure every one walks the talk is to make it legal.
From here onwards no new legislation is to be drafted until the bodies legally named to be involved in prior consultations are duly informed before the process starts.
If Government tries to sneak in new legislation without adhering to legal requirements they are liable for prosecution.
If the Samoa Law Society tries to evade their legal responsibilities to the process of consultations they too are liable in the same way as Government.
As long as all is legal we the public can sleep and walk around better knowing that the Government of the day will be held responsible.
We can be assured as well that the Samoa Law Society will not throw us under the bus, as they appear to have done, by washing their hands of the bills.
Lord we need to fix our LTC. A guiding light from your end will go a long way for us.
Today is of course your rest day. No rush. We can wait.
