Fijian Parliament sitting impressive – Cook Islands Speaker
Cook Islands Speaker Hon. Nikki Rattle is presently in the country to observe the Fijian Parliament sitting as part of efforts to review and improve their own Parliamentary Standing Orders, among other important things.
Through the South-South exchange supported by the UNDP, Hon. Nikki Rattle is observing the live Parliament session from the Parliament gallery for the third day now.
Hon. Rattle, in an interview, said she was very impressed with the operations of the Fijian Parliament particularly, the sitting sessions.
“We are currently reviewing our Standing Orders and as such, it is only important that I come to Fiji because its Parliament is practising what we see in most Standing Orders in other Pacific Parliaments,” Hon. Rattle said.
“This has been a worthwhile visit as I have really learnt a lot of new things from the live sessions to the secretariat support. I am indeed pleased at how things are handled here in the Fijian Parliament and I am certain that we will be able to benchmark our way forward and implement similar strategies for our own benefit back home.”
“In the Cooks, our Parliament is slowly progressing and one of the things we aim to improve on is planning and also to have a business committee. We hope to pre-plan our Parliament businesses and include it in our Standing Orders to avoid unexpected disruptions and other problems.”
Hon. Rattle added while the Cooks had a small Parliament, it was crucial for them to improve their services for the best interest of their citizens.
“We only have 24 Members of Parliament with about 13 staff but we continue to work towards achieving our goals for the purpose of improving the lives of the citizens and being here, is one way of learning and further improving our move towards progress.”
Meanwhile, Hon. Nikki Rattle met with some Fijian Members of Parliament, mainly women MPs where they exchanged ideas of national interest and development issues.
Fijian Parliament Speaker Hon. Dr Jiko Luveni welcomed Hon. Rattle’s visit, saying they were happy to have her presence in Parliament throughout the three days.
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