SUVA (Daily Post/PINA) — Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase says his government will consider putting Fiji’s proposed new constitution to the people in a referendum “to give it the ultimate democratic endorsement.”
Qarase told a meeting of the National Advisory Council of Indo-Fijians and Minorities: “Fiji needs a constitution that truly reflects the will of the people as the framework for good governance, for promoting unity, tolerance and stability, and for sustainable growth and equitable development in Fiji.”
The review follows the 2000 Fiji coup crisis, and indigenous Fijian unhappiness with a constitution adopted in 1997 in the wake of the 1987 coups.
Qarase said: “There will be no pushing and rushing to meet constitutionally imposed deadlines as was the case with the review under the 1990 Constitution.”
There would be wide consultation with all sectors of Fiji society, including the indigenous Fijian Great Council of Chiefs and provincial councils and the Council of Rotuma.
He said putting the proposed constitution to the people would ensure the constitution that comes into existence “will be one that truly belongs to the people of Fiji.
“The acceptance of the new people’s constitution will provide the strongest guarantee against any illegal attempts to change or abrogate it,” he said.
