Municipal councils – door to participatory democracy
5-Dec-2008
Source: http://fijidailypost.com/editorial.php?date=20081205
MUNICIPAL councils have lately come under the close scrutiny of the government. Apart from a state-sponsored review, the councils have been regularly advised by the government to clean up their halls and initiate changes.
Municipal councils are aptly categorised as ‘local government’. They operate much like a national government and with similar rules and procedures as practised by a parliament.
So, councils behave like a mini-government, responsible for their own specific municipalities of local area of jurisdiction.
Women’s rights advocate and coordinator of femLINPACIFIC, Sharon Bhagwan-Rolls says municipal councils “provide a critical entry point” for local participatory-based decision-making and “a tangible entry point for women’s involvement in politics.”
She is spot on. Councils do offer at the local community level a door to participatory democracy and politics, both for municipal citizens and leaders who regularly vie for councillorship.
These local governments also offer aspiring politicians the ideal training ground and experience for participation in the larger, ex-local, arena of politics.
In fact, in many countries including Fiji, local government representatives have gone on to become successful politicians at the national level.
The Local Government Review initiative should consider improve this gate to national politics and representative democracy.
It would be good to encourage more youths and women into local government. Municipal councils need to be refreshed with these groups.
Our municipal councils are always dominated by older men. Some have spent umpteen years holding on to power. They appear not interested in relinquishing their positions to a younger generation or stepping aside to ease the congestion in the corridors of power.
No disrespect to our aging leaders, but the world is changing so fast and we need to catch up. It’s time to pass on the baton of leadership to a younger and dynamic generation that would be better in-tuned to the demands of the 21st century.
Moreover, local government provides opportunity for people to participate in the democratic process.
Eligible voters in municipal elections are better tuned to democratic representation through the experience of regularly voting for their local area politicians.
An interim cabinet decision this week will see a pause in the democratic process in local government. The term of all municipals councils will cease on January 31, 2009 to allow an earlier cabinet decision to extend the Local Government Review initiative.
The interim government will then appoint transitional municipal councils and administrators which will see the adoption of the recommendations of the review.
This is good initiative, all in the name of improving local governance and ensuring that the interests of all stakeholders are met.
It would be ideal if the transitional councils and administrators are appointed through the consensus of all these stakeholders. Even if the interim government is reluctant to do this, it should at least be transparent about the appointment process they will undertake.
Hopefully, the interim government and the review committee consider the significance of local government being a breeding ground for participatory democracy and politics.
Source: http://fijidailypost.com/editorial.php?date=20081205
MUNICIPAL councils have lately come under the close scrutiny of the government. Apart from a state-sponsored review, the councils have been regularly advised by the government to clean up their halls and initiate changes.
Municipal councils are aptly categorised as ‘local government’. They operate much like a national government and with similar rules and procedures as practised by a parliament.
So, councils behave like a mini-government, responsible for their own specific municipalities of local area of jurisdiction.
Women’s rights advocate and coordinator of femLINPACIFIC, Sharon Bhagwan-Rolls says municipal councils “provide a critical entry point” for local participatory-based decision-making and “a tangible entry point for women’s involvement in politics.”
She is spot on. Councils do offer at the local community level a door to participatory democracy and politics, both for municipal citizens and leaders who regularly vie for councillorship.
These local governments also offer aspiring politicians the ideal training ground and experience for participation in the larger, ex-local, arena of politics.
In fact, in many countries including Fiji, local government representatives have gone on to become successful politicians at the national level.
The Local Government Review initiative should consider improve this gate to national politics and representative democracy.
It would be good to encourage more youths and women into local government. Municipal councils need to be refreshed with these groups.
Our municipal councils are always dominated by older men. Some have spent umpteen years holding on to power. They appear not interested in relinquishing their positions to a younger generation or stepping aside to ease the congestion in the corridors of power.
No disrespect to our aging leaders, but the world is changing so fast and we need to catch up. It’s time to pass on the baton of leadership to a younger and dynamic generation that would be better in-tuned to the demands of the 21st century.
Moreover, local government provides opportunity for people to participate in the democratic process.
Eligible voters in municipal elections are better tuned to democratic representation through the experience of regularly voting for their local area politicians.
An interim cabinet decision this week will see a pause in the democratic process in local government. The term of all municipals councils will cease on January 31, 2009 to allow an earlier cabinet decision to extend the Local Government Review initiative.
The interim government will then appoint transitional municipal councils and administrators which will see the adoption of the recommendations of the review.
This is good initiative, all in the name of improving local governance and ensuring that the interests of all stakeholders are met.
It would be ideal if the transitional councils and administrators are appointed through the consensus of all these stakeholders. Even if the interim government is reluctant to do this, it should at least be transparent about the appointment process they will undertake.
Hopefully, the interim government and the review committee consider the significance of local government being a breeding ground for participatory democracy and politics.
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