11 Oct 2002

Cooks conference planned to discuss political reform

12:37 pm on 11 October 2002

In the Cook Islands, a conference is being planned for next month to review recommendations made by the 1998 Political Review Commission to reform the country's political system.

It's being organised by private sector individuals concerned at the failure of successive governments to undertake the reforms.

Prior to the 1999 elections all political parties backed the Commission's recommendations, but all have failed to carry out their promises.

Florence Syme Buchanan reports

"In 1996 when the country was plunged into an economic crisis, an economic and political reform programme was seen as the solution. While the eceonomic reform programme got underway, political reform, which includes redusing the number of politicians in parliament, has never happened. Public concerns are being expressed that the current three-party coalition government is also departing from the economic reforms through excessive spending and inflating the public service again. Over the last few months the Cook Islands public service is reported to have grown from 1350 to 1500, with many saying it's a jobs-for-vote scheme by the government."