IN A VILLAGE in rural Vanuatu an elder walks to a small home store and buys two new batteries for his small Panasonic red radio. Back at home he places the batteries into the battery slots, at the end of his radio antenna he ties the end of a copper wire, and the other end of the copper is firmly tightened around a long bamboo pole nailed onto the side of a mango tree by his son. The bamboo pole reaches high into the air to capture radio transmissions.
He turns on his faithful old radio that has been informing him for the past several years, and begins to tune in to the national radio station. But he is not the only one tuning in, across the country hundreds, or if not thousands of radios, are turned on and tuned into the same station.
They are all listening to another Ordinary Session of the Vanuatu Parliament, in a democratic state like Vanuatu everyone has to right to be informed of the laws that are discussed, passed, and to be aware of other issues that are f national interests. It is also provides the incentive for voters to check on the participatory efforts of their parliamentary representatives: Are they speaking up? Are they representing our views? Or are they doing otherwise?
Listen to the radio, listen to how your representatives participate, but most importantly take the initiative to inform yourself and others about the laws that govern, or that will govern us.
Bills to be looked at in Parliament First Ordinary Session
Link to LiveStream – Parliament Chamber:
Link to Parliament Archives – downloadable audio and video files
English