MP calls
for Head Of State not to sign RHD Warrant
MP
calls for Head Of State not to sign RHD Warrant
by Pio Sioa
Samoalive/Newsline)
The fight against
the road switch policy is being revived with a call from Falealupo
Member of Parliament, Aeau Peniamina, for the Head of State,
His Highness Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese Efi, not to sign the legal
warrant.
The formality
of the Head of State's signature is all that is left for the
road switch to become law.
"His Highness
should hold off signing the RHD legislation until after the general
elections," MP Aeau contends when he spoke exclusively to
Newsline this week.
"It's up
to him," the MP responded when asked about the pressure
that is being put on the Head of State by calling on him to withhold
his signature.
"The general
elections should be the RHD referendum that Government refused
to call on the issue."
MP Aeau argued
that the RHD legislation passed in Parliament last week left
the date open for the switch to become official and it leaves
room for the deadline to be extended.
"All they
said was for the road switch to become effective sometime in
the second half of 2009, so why not extend it to the general
elections?"
"This will
be the ideal opportunity to let the country decide on the issue
with their vote.
"I can pledge
right now that we will return to left hand drive cars if we win
the general elections."
MP Aeau hammered
out once again the contention by protesters of the RHD switch
that the country is against the Government initiative.
He believes that
the RHD law has left the country depressed and dangerously volatile.
"We are
a country founded on traditional respect, and the RHD protest
was carried out with all due regards to traditional deference
reserved for Parliament, where the leaders or fathers of this
country make decisions for the good of the people."
"The depressed
state the people are in now is a worry because there is a limit
to everything, and how far can they hold on to the 'ava fatafata'
(respect)?"
MP Aeau called
on the people to remain calm ( mau pea le to'ovae) and to continue
their protest to the election booths in 2011.
He was incensed,
however, with the response by the police to the protesters during
the second march, where representatives of the organizers, People
Against Switching Sides, PASS, were manhandled.
He was particularly
worried at seeing riot gear hid behind the Parliament building
by police while the protesters were massing on the grounds in
front of the House.
"Samoa prides
itself on its tradition of respect and the powers of oratory.
The mouth is a Samoans 'weapon' and for the police to have these
things around (riot gear) is an insult to the integrity of our
culture.
"Parliament
is where the heart of our tradition beats, these are the fathers
of the nation, and the action by the police is a disrespect to
the dignity of the members and our culture of respect."
MP Aeau rejected
the new changes starting to appear, where the police are 'resorting
to foreign methods' of policing and their introduction into the
country.
"Maybe riot
gears are better suited to countries where there is no cultural
respect, not in Samoa where culture is the best form of policing
we can ever hope for."
"We don't
have enough police around to control the people if the culture
fails."
MP went on to
applaud the peaceful manner in which the protesters carried out
their protest, and placed most of the credit on the Chairman
of PASS and his executive committee.
© Osini Faleatasi Inc. dba
Samoa News reserves all rights.
|