Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 13, Number 11, 1 Nowemapa 1996 — Nationhood: Elect two branches [ARTICLE]

Nationhood: Elect two branches

Congratulations to the Hawaiian people for carrying out a successful and victorious vote! Now that a mandate exists for the eleehon of delegates to a convention, there are a number of issues that are becoming more pressing. One of the biggest issues seems to be the problem of who would be admitted into the new nation, and how the government would be constituted. I prefer a dual government where both branches are elected. This could take the form of an executive branch, that wou!d be elected into office and restricted to those of Hawaiian ancestry, and that would handle matters relating to ownership of land, the presence of military bases, the signing of treaties, maintaining law and order, etc. The other branch could be a parliamentary form, or something similar, that would also be elected but where everyone would be eligible to run. This branch would deal with the practical matters of a bureacracy including making eeonomie policy, providing public services, etc. This type of dual organization is already present in a number of countries although only rarely is one branch limited to a particular group. However, in instances where this occurs, it is always tied to the effects of emigration that was encouraged or forced upon the land by colonizers. Paul Kekai Manansala Antelope, California