Speaker of Parliament, Dr Jiko Luveni, has reminded Members of Parliament, Parliament secretariat and caucus staff that the Constitution requires Parliament to establish a Code of Conduct.

The workshop on Ethics, Leadership and Codes of Conduct ended yesterday on a high note at the Grand Pacific Hotel in Suva.

The workshop is being facilitated by former Australian MP John Hyde, who has previously worked with the parliamentarians at the Regional UN Pacific Anti-Corruption Project and GOPAC workshop as well as workshops on population and development priorities.

Also presenting are Keyan MP Shakeel Shabbir Ahmed, who also chairs the Global Organisation of Parliamentarians Against Corruption (GOPAC’s) regional African Network and the head the Legislative and Procedural Division of the National Council Secretariat from the National Council, the Upper House of Bhutan’s Parliament, Kinley Tenzin.

“Our Fiji Constitution compels us as Parliamentarians to establish a Code of Conduct applicable to a range of Fijian leadership positions including the President, Prime Minister, Ministers, Parliamentarians and officials within our State bureaucracy,” Dr Luveni said.

“It also compels us to establish rules, processes and procedures for the implementation of the code of conduct by the new Accountability and Transparency Commission.”

Given the clear intent of the Constitution, Dr Luveni said it was an opportune time for parliamentarians to be exposed to international best practices in Codes of Conduct as well as ethics and leadership.

MP Jilila Kumar said the workshop was thorough, comprehensive and educational.

“Being a civil servant before, we know our Code of Conduct and this is just another way of re-emphasising it to us.

“As parliamentarians, there are certain procedures we need to follow and some little things we took advantage of, has been made very clear us,” Mrs Kumar said.

MP Prem Singh was thankful that assistance has been provided in understanding the Code of Conduct Bill.

“This workshop is timely for members as we identify a lot of gaps and it’s also a prelude to the Standing Committee meetings in deliberating on the Bill,” Mr Singh said.

Source: Fiji Parliament News

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