| Abstrakt: |
This paper analyses the legislative activity conducted by the Parliament of the Republic of Fiji during the COVID-19 pandemic from 2020 to 2021. Exemplified by the characteristics of Pacific Island Countries, like small populations, remoteness, infrastructure challenges, cultural norms, and a susceptibility to natural disasters, the Parliament of Fiji has faced specific challenges to its administration and legislative activities. The paper describes the impact of the crisis on parliamentary operations like parliamentary sessions and committee meetings, resulting in an expedited rollout and usage of digital tools for online participation and communication. Moreover, it highlights the decreased influence of parliament on policymaking throughout the crisis, diminished executive oversight, and reduced public engagement. Although no state of emergency was declared in Fiji to deal with the crisis, the declaration of a natural disaster during the early stage of the pandemic allowed the government to impose several restrictive measures with little parliament debate and scrutiny. Subsequent law-making in non-pandemicrelated policy areas occurred in an expedited fashion, resulting in a reduced consultation and deliberation. Similarly, the frequency and intensity of oversight instruments by parliament declined. With debate of pandemic measures and assistance mainly relegated to the annual budget discussion, no specific parliamentary investigating committee was set up to scrutinize the national response to COVID-19. Although an improvement of public outreach by parliament could be witnessed in the use of multiple new communication channels, like live streaming of sessions and committee meetings, the personal interaction of members with their constituents declined and the frequency of public consultations suffered a setback. Almost two years since the onset of the pandemic, standing committees have returned to in-person meetings and conducting public consultations. It is hoped that with an end of the COVID-19 crisis in sight, the negative trends will be reversed and that the Parliament of Fiji will resume strengthening its core functions with reimagined opportunities for its democratic role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
