Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Nauru President ready to compromise to get reform legislation through

Posted at 07:03 on 12 June, 2012 UTC

The President of Nauru says a part of the constitutional reforms he wants passed could be put aside to allow the rest of the legislation through.

On Monday, Sprent Dabwido replaced his cabinet with the expressed hope of pushing through legislative changes he says are critical for the country.

They include one more MP to take numbers to 19 to try and avoid the voting deadlocks that dominate the island’s politics; the Speaker chosen from outside Parliament; a code of ethics for MPs; an Ombudsman Commission and a stronger Audit Department.

He says selecting a non-MP Speaker could be dropped if this is more acceptable to some MPs.

“Those four or five issues that I wanted to pass in the bill can be broken down and one of them will taken out and maybe the four remaining ones put back in again and maybe the Speaker coming from outside the MPs could be put in another time.”