Looking Back and Forwards

By Rodney Cole

I like to  think that Fiji entered the computer age in 1969 when, as Secretary for Finance, I signed a contract with ICL for the installation of a 10902A computer programmed to process both trade data and eventually the civil service payroll.  A giant of a machine taking up about half the ground floor of the former Suva Boys Grammar School.

Certainly Fiji has come along way since then having joined the cyber based communication revolution with enthusiasm. Nothing demonstrates more clearly this commitment to enjoying the benefits of  the world wide web than the growth of blog sites associated with Fiji’s current political situation. Sadly all but a few of these sites, offering as they do the opportunity for anonymity, have failed to encourage a level of debate which might have had a bearing on policy issues confronting the incumbent Fiji Government as it seeks to achieve a national constitution that offers a democratic solution as an alternative to the current military regime.

There is no doubt that those responsible for these particular blogs are intelligent and innovative but at the same time fail to exercise any degree of control over, or perhaps even encourage, blatant untruths, vicious innuendo or pure ‘tripe’, all of which is written by individuals who haven’t the courage to use their own name.

In the development of such a nationally critical political instrument as a constitution it would be hoped that those responsible would seek to benefit from serious, well argued comments be they offered in writing, verbally or via the internet. However given the standard of internet posts on Fijian political matters generally I would hazard a guess that those responsible for such matters would waste little, or no time, viewing the offerings of Fiji oriented blogs.  I am disappointed at having to express this view as I intend to comment briefly on the published draft Constitution of Fiji.

I make no pretension to having skills in constitutional law but common sense suggests that basic principle of a constitution seeking to establish a democratic state should envisage a society in which there is a formal equality of rights and privileges. In addition it could be expected to include provisions which allow for a range of acts and declarations directed at both fair and effective national governance.

The draft, now open for comment, contains these elements, indeed it appears to seek to be ‘All things to all men’. Such an instrument avoids the need for a plethora of legislation on individual topics, each open to endless debate. It would also obviate problems associated with transition from the current form of government by decree to one which enshrines the principles of true democracy.

While the approach chosen by the present Government has a deal to commend it, it does offer the opportunity for endless comment, both sane and unproductive. An alternative might have been to consider the type of constitution adopted by two quite different countries, the United States of America and Iceland. These are succinct but at the same time enshrine the principles of democracy and provide sufficient enabling provisions as to allow the legislature to provide the necessary mechanisms for a broad based administration and the conduct of government business in the national interests. A constitution for Fiji on similar lines might have generated less debate initially and been easier to gain general acceptance but to flesh out the machinery of government could have been complex and protracted.

There is no argument that the people of Fiji deserve the best possible constitution, one that enshrines the broad principles of democracy and allows for the establishment of an efficient and committed government that holds the interests of all citizens as paramount. The proposed constitution will undoubtedly reveal flaws over time, flaws that can be quickly put to rights by a progressive and caring administration but the important thing as of now, is that it represents the first important step towards a government elected by the people, for the people.

Of course it will generate unproductive criticism through the intransigent attitudes of those who can have little influence on the present government but whose interest and ambitions remain cloaked in anonymity.

It is to be hoped once a new constitution has been formally adopted it will offer a clear signal of the intentions of the present regime and encourage those whose bitter and unproductive criticisms have had so little influence to date to adopt more positive attitudes and use their undoubted internet skills to the benefit and well being of the country they claim to hold in deep affection.