The government's proposed amendments to the Facilitation Act may come about much sooner than anticipated.
SIBC reports that the government's proposed amendment of the International Facilitation Act will be made this year but not in the July sitting of Parliament.It has been reported that Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare intends to first look at the report of the second phase of the Pacific Islands Forum review of the Australian-led mission before resuming parliament to amend the legislation.
Sogavare stated that the Terms of Reference for the review taskforce is based on a six point initiative he presented to the Pacific Forum leaders at their meeting last year. He said the six point initiatives are amendments which government wants to see happen to the International Facilitation Act.
Mr. Sogavare said whilst his government accepts the presence of RAMSI in the country in the interest of peace and stability, it wants the mission to respect and acknowledge its authority and fully comply with the laws of Solomon Islands.
He said whilst government is concerned over the way the RAMSI contingent conduct themselves and how the whole RAMSI setup is managed, it must follow the right process to make amendments.