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A CONSTITUTION IS A BIRTH CERTIFICATE OF A NATION: There are flaws in the 2013 Constitution of Fiji but at least children born out of wedlock are not called 'B' - BASTARDS - as they are in Vola ni Kawa Bula

5/10/2017

5 Comments

 

or KAISI BOKOLA BOTOBOTOS

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There is no denying that since its inception, I have been a persistent critic of the 1997 Constitution of Fiji, and we will reproduce more on our ongoing series on the rise and fall of the Chaudhry government under the 1997 Constitution. Over the past thirty years I had been urging the Great Council of Chiefs to evolve to survive or remain stagnant and die. The abolition of the GCC was a writing on the wall. SODELPA is batting for the GCC and its re-introduction so that the chiefs could hold back the native Fijian commoners and continue to blackmail whatever government is in power and the nation at large. The Ghai Constitution, despite me warning Professor Yash Ghai, wanted the Great Council of Chiefs to be retained (the late Ratu Jone Madraiwiwi's influence and input), and that led to the introduction of 2013 Constitution of Fiji.

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A HOUSE WITHOUT CHIEFS
The Interim Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama on the abolition of the Great Council of Chiefs:

13 March 2012

"Good morning to you all.


The President Ratu Epeli Nailatikau has approved decrees that formally de-establish the Great Council of the Chiefs an institution created by the British during colonialism, and one that in modern times has become politicized to the detriment of Fiji’s pursuit of a common and equal citizenry.

The Great Council of the Chiefs is a product of our colonial past and Fiji must now focus on a future in which all Fijians are represented on the same basis.

In 1875, the British under colonialism created an elite body of iTaukei Chiefs known as the “Native Council” to directly and indirectly implement its rule over Fiji. The members of this body, which later came to be called the Great Council of Chiefs, held certain privileges.

Over the last 20 years the GCC, including its secretariat, became highly politicised, with its members having political affiliations and membership in political parties.

Unfortunately, this resulted in the GCC and its members unduly involving themselves in national politics and/or taking advantage of the GCC’s traditional role to assert personal or political agenda.

Fiji’s iTaukei heritage is a distinct and fundamental aspect of Fiji—this cannot be denied.

However, as an institution the Great Council of Chiefs perpetuated elitism and fed into the divisive politics which plagued our country. We must now look to our commonalities as citizens of the same nation, not to what separates us as individuals or groups.

In recent years, my government has done much to ensure that many of the challenges facing the iTaukei have been addressed—including equal distribution of land lease monies."
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5 Comments
Ratu
5/10/2017 11:49:11 am

Before even engaging in the mindless pursuit of arguing the pros and cons of Fiji's previous Constitutions, Victor I believe we should first question the relevance of the nation state model for Fiji. Invariably the nation state model has failed us. Irrespective of the Constitution we have power within the nation state will always be captured and manipulated in favour of certain groups. No Govt in our history has been without fault. Soon after his coup Bainimarama announced that his Constitution would end all coups. But the monopolisation of power in the hands of one man, the Minister for Everything is in itself a contradiction of that principle and the principle of democracy. It's more a reflection of what I a driving at -- the reigns of power will always be captured by the few. The ordinary people of Fiji have suffered from all these coups. It's a futile exercise to debate who will come to power in the next election. People have suffered under Khaiyum and Bainimarama and will also suffer if Nawaikula and Rabuka get their way. We should be exercising our brain power to think of ways to reduce our risk from the inevitable damage that will be caused after the next election, including the possibility of yet another military takeover if it disapproves of the people who form the new government. We should be looking at promoting cryptocurrencies, for example, such a bitcoin to quarantine the people's hard earned wealth from manipulation by Govt and its stooges like the grossly inefficient and highly politicised Reserve Bank, Property and all buying and selling should be in non state controlled cryptocurrenciecies so that these transactions are not subject to VAT and other taxes. The cryptocurrencies will become the new store of vakue and means of exchange free of the influence of the greasy palms of those who have captured the reins of power of the nation state.

Reply
Victor Lal
5/10/2017 12:57:10 pm

Agreed
Except on bitcoins (:-)
But we can toss a coin about it
Vinaka

Reply
Rajend Naidu
5/10/2017 01:29:19 pm

Editor,
Righting Past Wrongs
We read in the Fiji Times article ' Dark days are over, says PM ' ( 5/10) that PM Voreqe Bainimarama told Fijians in Vancouver, Canada at their Fiji Day function there that he was " prepared to do whatever was necessary to right the wrongs done to so many Fijians who were victims of the two events[ the Fiji coups of 1987 and 2000]".
As the Honourable Prime Minister of Fiji I hope Voreqe Bainimarama will also consider righting the wrongs done to victims of the 2006 coup - his coup.
For victims like historian Professor Brij Lal and newspaper publisher Russel Hunter and many others the dark days are not yet over.
Justice is still to be done by them.
And that remains a stain on Fiji.
Sincerely,
Rajend Naidu

Reply
Bahuki
5/10/2017 06:28:48 pm

Disappointing that Frankie decided to become another smart nut like his two tavales Georgie and Steven by keeping up the coup-coup land dynasty.

Though he once mentioned his coup being the one to end all coups, it still has a whole lot of injustice with Frankie himself being the center of it.

In my opinion, the Ghai draft was quite genuine with most if not all of the people's inputs and demands until Frankie and AK-47 had other ideas. Made me realize that no coup meant that Fiji wouldn't be having this unnecessary "constitutional conflict" and instead stayed with only one constitution but thats just my two cents.

Reply
Refugee
5/10/2017 08:44:45 pm

...and arbitrary and wanton abrogation of a constitution means the Death Certificate of a Nation...

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