HIS
EXCELLENCY RATU EPELI NAILATIKAU
CF, LVO, OBE
(Mil), OStJ, CSM, MSD
President
of the Republic of Fiji
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ADDRESS TO NATION ON FIJI CONSTITUTION
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State
Room
10th
January, 2013
Government
House
The
Honourable Prime Minister,
My
fellow Fijians
Bula
Vinaka and Good Evening to you all.
As
you are all aware, the Constitution Commission chaired by Professor
Yash Ghai presented the Draft Constitution to me on Friday 21st
December 2012. This Draft Constitution is what I shall refer to as
the Ghai Draft in my address to you tonight.
You
are also aware that the Ghai Draft was handed to me immediately after
the onslaught of Cyclone Evan in Fiji.
After
the Cyclone, it was evident that all Fijians from all walks of life,
irrespective of their geographical location or religious or cultural
background, were affected by this natural disaster. It was also
evident that all Fijians rallied together to help each other and with
the assistance of Government are rebuilding their lives and
rebuilding our beautiful country.
In
my travels throughout Fiji both before and after the Cyclone, it is
apparent that ordinary Fijians simply want to get on with their
lives. They want to see improved standards of living. They want jobs.
They want development. They need access to good infrastructure. They
want prosperity and they want a bright future both for themselves and
their children.
Whilst
the Prime Minister's Government is addressing these issues and with
success, this development agenda needs to continue and be given
primacy under the new parliamentary system of Government. We cannot
lose the momentum.
Therefore
under the new Constitution, we need structures of governance and
institutions that will address these needs and desires of our people.
The overwhelming submissions on everyday issues made to the Ghai
Commission are a testimony of this concern.
My
fellow Fijians, we need a constitution that is not only drafted for
tomorrow, or next year or even 10 years. We need a constitution that
is enduring and that will sustain the tide of time.
The
Australian constitution which was drafted over 110 years ago has only
had 8 amendments to it since its inception. It has endured the test
of time.
It
is also critical that the constitution that we adopt must have the
fundamental principles of democracy, good governance, accountability,
human rights and transparency enshrined in it.
We
need a small non-corrupt but efficient and responsive Government that
is accountable.
Our
Constitution must focus on the development of the individual. It must
recognise our rights as individuals, and preserve our individual
identity regardless of our ethnic, linguistic, religious and
geographical makeup. By giving civil and political and also
socio-economic rights, we will not only protect individuals but
nurture them.
Therefore,
we cannot allow elitism to take place. We cannot as in the past allow
unelected people to make decisions for the rest of the general public
in the new parliamentary system. As we have seen in other countries,
we need common and equal citizenry. We need a merit based society. We
need to remove discrimination. We need to remove extremist politics.
We
can no longer pander to the old school of thought that one ethnic
group is always under threat from another. Let us call a spade a
spade. Politicians of old perpetuated the myth that the iTaukei were
under threat from Fijians of Indian descent. This created a
confrontational approach to our political and social landscape and
had a disastrous impact on developing nationhood and growing our
economy.
Even the Ghai Commission in its explanatory report recognises this. It also notes that the so called protective mechanisms through the creation of what were called native institutions in fact extenuated differences and prevented the growth of our people and our country to cope with the rapidly changing world.
Accordingly, in order for us to forge ahead, we as a people, we as a country must break away from the shackles of the past or any remnants of them.
Unfortunately
many of the provisions of the Ghai Draft positions us in the past. It
has unfortunately perhaps succumbed to the whims of the few who have
an interest in perpetuating divisions within our society.
A
Constitution cannot be drafted simply with the view to negotiate
between different political interests. It would appear that the Ghai
Draft is such. It would appear that it was prepared to be seen as an
appeasement. Rather, it should be positive, future-based and
enduring.
It
also neglected many of the fundamental principles of true democratic
representation as presented through the Peoples Charter which I have
endorsed. The Peoples Charter, as you will recall, was endorsed by
over 60% of the Fijian population.
It
is therefore very disheartening and indeed it is an anathema to
democratic representation that the Ghai Draft allows for, at the very
least, a 144 member body of unelected people deciding on key issues
pertaining to the people of Fiji. These 144 unelected people would be
on top of the proposed 71 seat Parliament. A total of 215. By way of
comparison, New Zealand with a population base of 4.5 million people
has only one house of 121 members.
The
Ghai Draft also purports to undo many of the changes brought about by
the current Government. For example, it includes the undoing of the
Natadola projects and the Momi projects which have in fact protected
the investment of all FNPF members of Fiji. The Ghai Draft can lead
to financial and economic catastrophe and ruin.
The
Ghai Draft also proposes a transitional cabinet following the
issuance of a writ for elections which will allow former senior civil
servants to become ministers of Cabinet. How is this possible when
some of these former senior civil servants were corrupt and possible
criminal charges are pending against them? Indeed some of them have
been convicted or are being investigated. Many of them were simply
incompetent.
The
Ghai Draft is also very bureaucratic and creates many institutions
that would create inefficiency and require an oversized bureaucratic
structure.
There
are however a number of positive aspects to the Ghai Draft. For
example, the provisions on fundamental rights including
socio-economic rights, good governance and accountability,
independence of the judiciary are most appropriate. There are also
many positive aspects of the Ghai Draft that should be incorporated
into specific law, rather than in a Constitution itself.
Taking
into consideration the key observations of the Ghai Draft and the
need to ensure that our transition to parliamentary democracy is
smooth, focussed on development and enshrines actual representation
and is not marred by extremism or disruptions, I have had discussions
with the Honourable Prime Minister on the way forward.
I
have asked the Honourable Prime Minister to extract the positive
elements of the Ghai Draft that will create true democracy,
accountability and transparency and infuse into it, the key elements
of the Peoples Charter and internationally accepted practices and
standards and formulate a new Draft Constitution for me to present to
the Constituent Assembly.
Today
I have assented to the amendment of the Decree on the Constituent
Assembly to allow for this process to take place.
My
fellow Fijians, the new Draft Constitution must be based on the
principles and values that I have highlighted.
I
will now ask the Honourable Prime Minister to outline the process
that is to be followed.
2 comments:
Croz
Well at least Fiji's dictatorship is now formalised. The so called constituent assembly will be a total sham and those in it a disgrace to the nation.
We don't like it so we will change the process again. Unbelievable ! I thought they where going to announce the assembly and let them debate it. I was looking forward to robust debate and for the first time the military entering debate....but alas no.
What a complete farce this whole process has been.
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