Caption: EU Ambassador for the Pacific, Mr Andrew Jacobs; Parliament Secretary General, Ms Viniana Namosimalua; Leader of the Opposition, Honourable Ro Teimumu Kepa; Parliament Speaker, Honourable Dr Jiko Luveni, UK Acting High Commissioner, Mr Daniel Salter; and UNDP Pacific Centre Manager, Mr Peter Batchelor.Photo:SUPPLIED.
16 January 2015 (Suva, Fiji) – The Fiji Parliament Speaker, Honourable Dr Jiko Luveni, will next week lead a delegation from the Fiji Parliament to the UK. In addition to the Speaker, the delegation will include the Honourable Pio Tikoduadua (Leader of the Government in Parliament), Honourable Ro Teimumu Kepa (Leader of the Opposition) andParliament Secretary General, Ms Viniana Namosimalua. During the visit, meetings will be held in the Westminster Parliament as well as in the Scottish Parliament and National Assembly for Wales.
The visit to the three Parliaments in the UK is being facilitated by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), through funding from the European Union.
In the UK, the delegation will study the way that the different Parliaments operate. In addition to meetings with senior Members of Parliament (MPs) and Parliament officials, the delegation will observe proceedings in the Chamber, study the way Parliament committees operate, discuss the mechanisms used to organize Parliament’s work and study the way in which Government and Opposition MPs function.
Honourable Dr Jiko Luveni, Speaker of the Parliament of Fiji stated “I am delighted that a delegation from the Fiji Parliament will be undertaking this visit. As a new Parliament, we in Fiji appreciate the opportunity to see how other Parliaments work. Many of our rules and procedures in the Fiji Parliament are based on practice in Westminster and this will be an excellent opportunity to study in-depth the way in which the Parliament operates. It will also be interesting to study proceedings in the Scottish Parliament and the National Assembly for Wales. As small modern Parliaments, they have much in common with the Fiji Parliament including their size and their use of electronic voting in the Chamber.”
“The strengthening of democracy and of the institutions that ensure its effectiveness is a priority for the European Union around the world. We were proud to support the successful electoral process in Fiji and are pleased to be able to follow up with a financial contribution of around FJ$2 million targeting capacity-building for the Parliament. I am convinced that the visit to the UK will be invaluable to the participating Fijian Parliamentarians and to the Parliament as whole,” said EU Ambassador for the Pacific, Andrew Jacobs.
Since January 2014, UNDP has been working to provide support to the Parliament of Fiji through a project funded by the European Union and the Governments of New Zealand, Australia and Japan.