The Ghai Draft Constitution

POLITICAL PARTIES FURY: BEDDOES says its COUP FIVE; FLP: The Ghai Draft Trashed to Retain Power

UPP President Mick Beddoes says the announcement by the President and Regime leader was not only a monumental reversal of the constitutional process currently underway, but their announced plans to effectively ‘alter’ the draft constitution ahead of it being debated in the CA was effectively Coup 5

UPP President Mick Beddoes said today the announcement last night by the President and Regime leader was not only a monumental reversal of the constitutional process currently underway, but their announced plans to effectively ‘alter’ the draft constitution ahead of it being debated in the CA was effectively Coup 5

Beddoes said the President’s ‘role’ in this process as contained in the Regimes Decree 58 of 2012 Sec 6 is quote ‘The President shall, upon receipt of the draft Constitution and Explanatory Report from the Commission, refer the draft and Explanatory Report to the Assembly for debate and adoption’ unquote. That’s it, that’s what Decree 58 says he’s to do with the draft he was handed? There are no provisions for him to do otherwise!

By commenting as he did and effectively ‘trashing’ the work of the Commission which he as President accented to by decree, the President went beyond his authority and in so doing displayed his utter contempt for the people of Fiji and their wishes & aspirations which they spelt out in the many thousands of submissions they made to the Commission during the Constitutional Submission process.

Beddoes said he hoped that the citizens of Fiji, especially those who were ‘partially blind’ to what has been going will now see from last night’s performance the extent of the insincerity and contempt that the President and the Regime leader have for the people through their joint condemnation of the original draft which contains much of the hopes and aspirations of the people.

Beddoes said, the announcement last night was not a surprise, because the Regime started its move with the introduction of Decree 64 on October 31st which effectively removed the people from the process and now their joint announcement last night was made to pave the way for ‘wholesale’ changes [as I have previously commented on] to the draft before it reaches the Constituent Assembly for debate.

This is where the military’s demands and other changes will find their way onto the new draft for the CA to debate. No doubt the emergence of a ‘Presidential system’ of governance to secure the Regime’s rule in Fiji, could even find its way on to the draft in some form.

It is a day of shame for Fiji. A widely accepted draft constitution that addressed many of the problems of governance plaguing our nation for the past three decades, is to be trashed to preserve power and status quo for those who rule by the force of guns, says Labour Leader Mahendra Chaudhry.

The entire move is a travesty and a fraud on the people of our nation. Most regrettable of all is the fact that the President has allowed himself to be drawn into this subterfuge. He has become a proponent of the regime’s agenda, leaving the fight for return to genuine democracy to the people themselves.

Under Decree 58, he is required upon receipt of the draft constitution and related documents to refer it to the Constituent Assembly for debate and adoption. But he chose not to do so, presumably under pressure from the regime. Instead, he has decided to issue another decree trashing the (Ghai) draft constitution and substituting it with a document under preparation by the regime’s legal team.

What is being trashed is, in fact, the will of the people. The people of Fiji are being side-lined to retain power for a few. However, Mr Chaudhry said the announcement by the regime last night that a legal team of government officials will be changing the Ghai draft comes as no surprise … it was to be expected. The FLP had warned from day one that the entire process lacked integrity and credibility. Indeed, our preliminary submission to the Constitution Commission questioned the legitimacy and integrity of the process under Decrees 57 and 58,” Mr Chaudhry said. Since then, the regime has continued to change the rules through subsequent decrees to suit its own agenda and vested interests.

The Ghai draft is, in fact, a forward looking document that aims at stamping out Fiji’s coup culture, the destabilizing role of the military in Fijian politics, lack of accountability and transparency in governance as well rising levels of official corruption among other problems.

There is absolutely no doubt that it is being changed to protect and preserve those in power. There are several recommendations in the Ghai draft that do not suit the agenda of the powers that be:

• the tenure of office of the President and the Army Commander to be
restricted to one term only • the position of the attorney general to be scrapped • a transitional government to replace the current military regime to oversee the return to democracy and constitutional rule via general elections • parliamentary oversight of the military • salaries of top government officials including the prime minister and his Cabinet to be transparent and determined by a Parliamentary emoluments committee. Under this regime, Cabinet salaries are top secret, paid out by a private accounting firm with close links to the AG. • the authority and jurisdiction of the Courts to be restored and its independence from the executive guaranteed • the right of people to access the courts • transparency and accountability in governance

The President’s justification for not appointing a transitional government ahead of the elections is bereft of any substance as is the rest of his address putting the blame for Fiji’s political, social and economic disintegration on everybody except the real culprits.

The President says that such a government could include corrupt former civil servants. He very conveniently, or perhaps deliberately, ignores the fact that the draft constitution specifically defines former senior public officer as “… a person who has served Fiji with honour and integrity at any time at the level of Permanent Secretary…”

As for corruption… it is public perception that the current regime is the most corrupt administration Fiji has ever known... it is utterly lacking in accountability and transparency, to say the least. Apart from the scam surrounding the secret Cabinet salaries, government accounts and finances have not been published for public scrutiny since 2008, Auditor General’s reports are no longer published; major public contracts and consultancies are reportedly handed out to cronies, relatives and favoured companies without proper procedures being followed.

The role of the National Assembly is being deliberately misrepresented. The aim here is at more inclusive governance but one can understand that this won’t be acceptable to the current dictatorship. Regrettably, there never was a sincere attempt to return Fiji to true democracy. The entire process was simply a ruse to prolong the rule of those in power under the guise of restoring democracy and constitutionality.