Fiji Political and Constitutional Forum
This is a new and totally independent blog that invites readers to comment on some 30-odd issues relating to the Constitution and Election dialogues. While there is is provision for general comments covering several issues, the main part of the blog is devoted to one-issue questions. For example, what readers think about the Constitution Assembly, its membership, role and powers; what relationship Fiji should have with the Queen; who should appoint or elect the President, and what his roles and powers should be should be. And so on.
Keeping readers' comments to one-issue questions is expected to produce more targeted discussion, make for easier references, and hopefully make the blog more useful to all those involved in the dialogue processes.
The blog is published by Croz Walsh who publishes Fiji As It Was, Is and Can Be. His sole role in the new blog will be to block inappropriate comments and keep the blog functioning.
All reasonable and politely worded comments in English will be published.
Please support the blog and tell your friends about it.
The site address is www.fijipcforum.blogspot.com
Why not check it out over the weekend?
Why not check it out over the weekend?
6 comments:
I think you have put the wrong URL. www.fpcf.blogspot.com seems to be linking to a photo site
Many thanks. Please check out what I think/hope is the correct address www.fijipcforum.blogspot.com and let me know if it's okay. Croz
Compulsory Voting - fines for those who opt out.
This was always a misjudgement and we ought never to have entertained the concept of obliging citizens to vote and penalizing them financially if they chose not to.
The fact that the penalties were often not imposed or were actually found to have been imposed on the wrong person (how and why it has never been deduced)only serve to reinforce the view that compulsory voting is simply wrong in both principle and in practice. It is wasteful of taxpayers' money and civil servants' time. Both have better uses to which they may be made. Being obliged to vote for any one 'nincompoop' on a list of nincompoops is not 'Freedom in Action'. It is simply the opposite of liberty: it is compulsion to no obvious benefit. We must always be permitted to dissent for good reason. Even in wartime, conscientious objectors are permitted to dissent though they must often serve time for it.
In the 2006 election, registration to vote was denied to numerous citizens. This is not anecdotal, it is verifiable. Others were registered twice. Why was that permitted? To ensure that they would be fined on the second line of registration? In the event, that never happened: through negligence, incompetence, disinterest or...worse?
nice work
Great work on new blog, I will add some comments shortly. I suggest you create a link on this site to help people get there.
Protect judicial independence, but strengthen judicial accountability through an independent process controlled by the judges. Make gender competence a requirement of judicial appointments. Prohibit appointments on ethnicity and religion. Make judicial decisions immediatly available on the net. Give judges powers to quash laws which are unconstitutional.
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