Fiji’s Constitution Review Commission wants a new governance system for the country and the coup immunity provisions of the 2013 Constitution repealed.
Its also recommending giving the Great Council of Chiefs constitutional recognition, scrapping the current electoral system, replacing the current parliamentary system, and pushing the military to focus on external defence.
These are among the recommendations contained in a review report which was tabled in the Fiji Parliament and made public on Tuesday.
The Constitution Review Commission’s 236-page report, which includes a new draft constitution, was endorsed by Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka’s cabinet last week.
The report rolls back many of the defining features of the Fiji’s 2013 Constitution.
Since gaining independence from Britain on 10 October 1970, Fiji has had four constitutions.
Hinted at Christmas Eve
The cabinet maintains that tabling the commission’s report in Parliament does not mean government had accepted or adopted all of its mission’s recommendations.
However, the Fiji government has already hinted the country could have a new constitution in place by Christmas Eve.
The Constitution Review Commission was set up in March and, after conducting nationwide consultations on Fiji’s 2013 Constitution, it delivered its report to the president on August 30.
Among the most notable features in the report, the commission is recommending the removal of broad immunity protecting people involved in past coups.
The report also sets out the commission’s recommendation of a new constitution and sweeping changes designed to overhaul Fiji’s governance.
Different political system
It has recommended replacing the country’s current single-chamber 55-seat Parliament with a two-house legislature.
The proposal would see the creation of a 60-member bicameral legislature made up of a 41-member House of Representatives and a 19-member Senate.
The commission recommends a Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) electoral system.
This would be a hybrid model featuring constituency-based, or first-past-the-post, along with proportional party-list seats, enabling both local accountability and national proportionality.
The commission also recommends establishing an independent Constituency Boundaries Commission and abolishing the single national constituency.
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