MP Face to Face

The Pacific Institute of Public Policy has successfully run 10 MP Face to Face events across the country as a means of bridging the gap between politicians and their constituents by facilitating issues based dialogues. PiPP Executive Director Derek Brien said, “These one-hour face to face question and answer sessions are just the start of what we hope will become a regular process of dialogue between Vanuatu’s leaders and its people.”

Continuing their civic engagement programme, PiPP organised these public forums in 2012 in the run up to elections this year. PiPP hosted MP Fes to Fes in every constituency starting with Pentecost in early March and concluded in May with Epi island.

Many voters and rural communities have long complained that after an election, their MP disappears to Port Vila for the next 3 years and they are rarely seen until just before the next election. Another issue is that when MPs do come back to their constituency, they do not co-ordinate with their fellow MPs from the province, making the decentralisation process less effective.

MP Fes to Fes proposes to strengthen MPs’ accountability to their constituents, increase public participation through ideas, aspirations and civic awareness. It also helps manage voter expectations about what their MP can and should do.

This pioneering initiative has the potential to be rolled out across the Pacific region following its success in Vanuatu. Several of the meetings were broadcast live or rebroadcast on national radio and television.