By MATTHEW VARI
Wednesday, July 30, 2014 (Midweek Chronicle, PNG)
UNITED States Ambassador Walter North has called on the
registry and government to think carefully and have a wider consultation
exercise before making changes to the Organic Law on the Integrity of Political
Parties and Candidates (OLIPPAC).
The comment were made in response by some that attended on
the experience of the US system of politics, at a consultative question and
answer session hosted by the Registry of Political Parties and Candidates on
the proposed amendment to the OLIPPAC.
“Some may think or look to us and ask how we got it right- I
wish it was true, and we have come a long way when we began as a democracy,”
Ambassador North said.
“It took us a longtime to get to where we are at, and there
issues affecting our democracy and we know that there is not one path that
takes you to the Promised Land.”
“One of the most important things is that you have a free and
informed discussion and I would say that when you are making important changes
it is important you think carefully for wider consultation with real respect
for the rule of law.”
He made reference to very rare amendments to the US have
occurred over its entire existence because of the respect for the constitution
and its symbolic representation of freedom.
“That is something that is sometimes hard to do in the United
States where it is very hard to change our constitution,” North said.
“We’ve only had a handful of amendments in our entire history
of 246 years as a nation- it is such an important part of what makes us who we
are.”
“Different countries do it differently and we don’t pretend
to have the solution to everyone’s questions nut is our perspective on issues
of constitutional amendments.”
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