Veke echoes Guale’s wishes in parl
By EDDIE OSIFELO
Minister of Police, National Security and Correctional Services, Anthony Veke has reiterated Guadalcanal Province’s desire for State Government system.
Veke, also Member of Parliament for West Guadalcanal and Former Premier of Guadalcanal, stated this during his contribution on the sine die motion in Parliament on Friday December 16.
He said for Guadalcanal, the State Government system is the closest option that they have at the moment to realise a democracy that stands from their way of life.
“Whether we truly understand what constitutes the state government system or draft federation system, it doesn’t matter,” he said.
Furthermore, Veke said the democracy Solomon Islands adopted some 40 years ago is the reason for what the country is today.
“It is a way of life of some racist somewhere built into a government system that did not match our way of living.
“This is a hard fact. Look around the world or just sit in front of the TV, and you can see man marrying man, woman marrying woman and human marrying animals,” he said.
Veke said it makes him wonder.
“Are we going to be able to keep Solomon Islands to its values and principles?
Further to that, Veke said today, leaders that found themselves in leading in the government system are sometimes to some extents are not termed as leaders but as slaves.
“I don’t want to create an academic debate in these areas.
“But this are some of the perceptions that some people hold that create a situation we are facing in the Solomon Islands,” he said.
“To me, to be slave to the people, is different from listening to the people.
“And leading people is different to slaving,” he said.
“But that’s the way some advocacy going around and doing in Solomon Islands that leaders don’t look like leaders but slaves.
“I wonder where those values and principles come from. If you look around in our society, it’s obvious that the society is bit confused,” he added.
Veke said the abnormal becomes the normal for the day.
“Things we say abnormal is what people are doing.
“And we allow and believe that those abnormalities should become the normal way of living and become parts of our lives,” he added.
“In my view, venturing into a government system that born out of our living and not someone’s way of living is not a bad undertaking
“This is the way we can describe ourselves as truly attaining democracy in our context,” he added.
Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare has assured Parliament of given a State Government to Guadalcanal in 2026 as promised to them.
The State Government will give more autonomy to the province to get more revenues from their resources.
