{"id":7217,"date":"2020-05-05T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-05-05T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/?p=7217"},"modified":"2023-03-10T10:49:28","modified_gmt":"2023-03-10T00:49:28","slug":"covid-19-governance-and-the-role-of-the-opposition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/covid-19-governance-and-the-role-of-the-opposition\/","title":{"rendered":"Covid-19, Governance and the Role of the Opposition"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The health and\neconomic crises unleashed by the spread of the Covid-19 have required\nextraordinary measures by governments and political leaders to address the\nsituation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In democratic\ncountries, the leaders in government and opposition usually team up and work\ntogether to address any major crisis, including to enact laws and policies to\ndeal with it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nextraordinary circumstances, the reasons for working as a team are many, and so\nare the benefits. There is one goal, some of the country\u2019s best minds are pulling\ntogether, rather than sitting on opposite sides and pulling in different\ndirections. Working together not only ensures best outcomes, but it also gives\nhope and encouragement to the electorate who witness their politicians leading\nby example. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At times of\ncrisis, we need to band, not to bicker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In democratic countries,\nthere is recognition that even in these extraordinary times, accountability and\ntransparency in the conduct of government are paramount in giving confidence to\nthe people. Some countries have put both the opposition and government together\nto discuss and agree on funding packages. In New Zealand, the Leader of the Opposition\nis the chair of the committee to oversee and hold government to account as to\nhow it is dealing with the crisis. It is a fine example of a country recognising\nthe importance of accountability, not to mention the opposition\u2019s important\nrole, and the benefit to the nation as a whole. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Benjamin Disraeli\nonce said that \u201cNo government can long be secure without a formidable\nopposition\u201d. This indicates very aptly why the role of opposition, especially\nin a democracy, is important, and arguably more so in extraordinary\ncircumstances, such as those we face today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The uncertainty\nabout COVID-19 and its impact on our economies makes it even more important\nthat governments do the right thing in terms of their policies. This crisis has\nalready been a turning point for many countries. It has imposed new imperatives\nfor policies, governance and accountability to ensure that scarce resources are\nutilised in a transparent and efficient manner so that the adverse impact on\nthe quality of lives of our people can be cushioned. If we make mistakes in our\nresponse, in our preparedness for the post covid-19 scenario, then those\nmistakes would not be ones which can be corrected easily. They would be serious\nmistakes with potentially irreversible consequences. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For instance,\nwe can no longer withstand any wastage or extravagance by the state. It has\ncost us dearly before. In a time of crisis, more specifically, the cost to the\ntaxpayer multiplies in the long term. That is why scrutiny of government\npolicies at this extraordinary time is even more important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We note that around the world<\/a>, there are\ngovernments which are using the extraordinary circumstances to supress human\nrights and using other repressive measures purely to silence their critics and\nopponents. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Fiji, we\nhave already seen excessive use of power that is unreasonably harsh, to enforce\nmeasures both related and unrelated to the pandemic. This includes the arrests<\/a> of opposition politicians<\/a>. The\nsecurity forces and especially the police have not always acted with common\nsense and compassion in many situations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recently, in a\npro-government newspaper, a senior Fiji military officer has actually articulated the view<\/a> that COVID-19\nis a good enough reason to justify stifling of the freedom of expression and\nthe press. This is a dangerous proposition<\/a>\nand no one in Fiji is surprised with these kinds of suggestions coming from the\nsecurity forces, which has a long history of being part of the subjugation of\ndemocratic and human rights and freedom of the press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The media laws\nin Fiji are already draconian. The media has largely been very supportive of\ngovernment efforts to deal with the pandemic but out of fear, has shied away from\nhighlighting the excesses<\/a> of the security\nforces. In addition, the two pro-government media organisations in Fiji have\ncontinued their vilification of government critics<\/a>, including the opposition even in the midst of the coronavirus crisis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have seen generally\nover the years the muzzling of the press, especially the critics of government,\nin other Pacific Island countries. In a democracy the role of the opposition is\nto hold government to account, including when they attempt to supress freedom\nof speech or the rights of the media. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is therefore\nabsolutely vital that opposition parties in the Pacific take a more active role\nin holding governments to account, especially during these extraordinary times.\nSometimes, it suits the opposition to be quiet because some would like to behave\nin the same way as government when they take power. However, if we want to\naddress the weakening of democracy in the Pacific, we need to hold dictatorial\npowers that provide support to Pacific governments to account, and ensure that\nthe rights of our people are respected.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This means that\nopposition parties have to become more vigilant, more vocal and more articulate\non some of these fundamental issues. Only then we can ensure that whoever is in\ngovernment, will respect these universal values of liberty, democracy and media\nfreedom in the Pacific. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps it is time to have a Pacific Islands Opposition Party Leaders Forum so that there is a collective regional voice to hold governments to account on some fundamental issues such as human rights, media freedom, climate change, economic integration and provision of regional public goods. Such a forum is now overdue given some of the trends in our region. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

AUTHOR<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biman Prasad is a former Professor of Economics and Dean of the Faculty of Business and Economics at the University of the South Pacific. Adjunct Professor at the James Cook University and Punjabi University. Currently Member of Parliament and Leader of the National Federation Party in Fiji.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The uncertainty about COVID-19 and its impact on our economies makes it even more important that governments do the right thing in terms of their policies. This crisis has already been a turning point for many countries. It has imposed new imperatives for policies, governance and accountability to ensure that scarce resources are utilised in a transparent and efficient manner so that the adverse impact on the quality of lives of our people can be cushioned. If we make mistakes in our response, in our preparedness for the post covid-19 scenario, then those mistakes would not be ones which can be corrected easily. They would be serious mistakes with potentially irreversible consequences. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":7219,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1105,1755,1021,248,1056],"tags":[1137,1052,1093,323,806,934,739,1138,969,1050],"class_list":["post-7217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-coronavirus-in-the-pacific","category-governance-democracy","category-pacific-outlook","category-png-and-the-pacific","category-politics","tag-biman-prasad","tag-coronavirus","tag-covid19","tag-fiji","tag-governance","tag-griffith-asia-institute","tag-human-rights","tag-national-federation-party","tag-pacific-islands","tag-pacific-outlook"],"acf":[],"modified_by":"Kelsey O'Brien","yoast_head":"\nCovid-19, Governance and the Role of the Opposition | Griffith Asia Insights<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The uncertainty about COVID-19 and its impact on our economies makes it even more important that governments do the right thing in terms of their policies. 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