ROLE OF THE OPPOSITION
James Cook when the Cook Islands appeared for the first time on naval charts after 1813. This was the year of the first official European sighting of Rarotonga, the capital of the group of islands, from the Endeavour, one of Captain Cook’s ships. This resulted in the Cook Islands being a “British protectorate” until 1900 when it was annexed by New Zealand.
Constitutional structure The constitutional structure of the Cook Islands is as would be found in many Commonwealth
parliamentary systems with an executive, a judiciary and Parliament as set out by the Constitution Act of 1964. This Act empowers the Cook Islands Parliament as the only authority to enact, amend and repeal laws in the Cook Islands, including the constitution itself, in respect of which the Cook Islands Parliament must follow special procedures set out in the constitution such as having a two-thirds majority to amend the constitution. The executive consists of the
Prime Minister and his/her cabinet
of Ministers. The judiciary includes a High Court and an Appeal Court. The Parliament of the Cook Islands is modelled on the Westminster system with elections held every four years. It has a Speaker who is either an MP or a member of the public. Royal Assent to Bills is given by the Queen’s Representative who is the Head of State, a local eminent person appointed and vested with duties pertaining to the Crown. The country also has a House of
Ariki (House of Traditional Chiefs) whose role is mainly ceremonial but
it can discuss matters of national importance. There are also local authorities in the form of Mayors and councillors all throughout the islands except Rarotonga. In 1965, the Cook Islands
became a self-governing country in free association with New Zealand – a choice made by earlier leaders of the Cook Islands when asked by the United Nations in 1964 to forge its direction of self-determination and to be decolonized. This “special relationship” with New Zealand meant that Cook Islanders are New Zealand
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