2026 Constitution Amendment Bill Tabled in Parliament

The Constitution Amendment Bill proposes the establishment of a 23-member Senate, which will be responsible for reviewing Bills passed by the House of Representatives.

The Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption will no longer exist if the Constitution Amendment Bill is passed.

FICAC is not included in the proposed Constitution tabled by Prime Minister, Sitiveni Rabuka.

The repeal of the FICAC 2007 is also stated in the Bill.

The Constitution Amendment Bill will be debated on Friday and the third reading of the Bill is expected to take place in 30 days.

The Constitution Amendment Bill tabled in Parliament proposes every person has the right to freedom of speech, expression, thought, opinion and publication under Section 20.

This include freedom to seek, receive and impart information, knowledge and ideas, freedom of the press, including print, electronic and other media, freedom of imagination and creativity and academic freedom and freedom of scientific research.

The Bill says freedom of speech, expression, thought, opinion and publication does not protect— propaganda for war, incitement to violence or insurrection against this Constitution; or 24 Constitution (Amendment) of 2026  advocacy of hatred that is based on any prohibited ground of discrimination listed or prescribed under section 29 and  constitutes incitement to cause harm.

It stresses that a law may limit, or may authorise the limitation of the rights and freedoms in the interests of national security, public safety, public order, public morality, public health or the orderly conduct of elections, the protection or maintenance of the reputation, privacy, dignity, rights or freedoms of other persons, including the right to be free from hate speech, whether directed against individuals or groups and the rights of persons injured by inaccurate or offensive media reports to have a correction published on reasonable conditions established by law, preventing the disclosure, as appropriate, of information received in confidence, preventing attacks on the dignity of individuals, groups of individuals or respected offices or institutions in a manner likely to promote ill will between ethnic or religious groups or the oppression of, or discrimination against, any person or group of persons,  maintaining the authority and independence of the courts; imposing reasonable restrictions on the holders of public offices in order to secure their impartial and confidential service, and regulating the technical administration of telecommunications.

The Bill states that in this section, “hate speech” means an expression in whatever form that encourages, or has the effect of encouraging discrimination on a ground listed or prescribed under section 29.

Meanwhile, the Bill states every person has the right of access to information held by any public office.

The Bill says every person has the right to the correction or deletion of untrue or misleading information that affects that person.

It states to the extent that is necessary, a law may limit, or may authorise the limitation of, the rights set out in subsection and may regulate the procedure under which information held by a public office may be made available.

The Centre for Democracy and Dialogue says its preliminary analysis of the Fiji Government's Constitution Amendment Bill shows significant changes from the Constitution Review Commission’s draft, including the removal or weakening of several democratic and accountability safeguards.

Centre for Democracy and Dialogue Chief Executive Officer Nilesh Lal says while the Constitution Amendment Bill retains some of the broad structure of the Constitution Review Commission's Draft Bill, it does not meaningfully address what the Centre for Democracy and Dialogue considers the excessive concentration of power in the Executive under the 2013 Constitution.

Lal says the Government's Constitution Amendment Bill removes the proposed limit on the Prime Minister’s tenure and the limit on the size of Cabinet as proposed by the Review Commission.

The CRC Amendment Bill proposed that Cabinet consist of the Prime Minister and up to 14 Ministers and that a person could not serve as Prime Minister more than twice.

However, under Section 110 of the Constitution Amendment Bill, the Prime Minister would determine the number of Ministers.

Lal says another significant change concerns the Constitutional Offices Commission.

He says the CRC Amendment Bill proposed a five-member COC appointed through an independent appointments committee, while the Government draft makes the serving Prime Minister the chair of the commission alongside the Attorney-General.

Lal says the Government would also have influence over the appointment of two further members, which he says would give it a four-to-two majority over the Opposition.

They say the COC is responsible for appointments to several key constitutional offices, including the Electoral Commission, Supervisor of Elections, Public Service Commission, Police Commissioner, Corrections Commissioner, RFMF Commander, Auditor-General, Reserve Bank Governor and Ombudsman.

The Centre also says provisions proposed by the CRC on political parties, political finance and campaigning have been removed from the Government draft.

The CRC Amendment Bill included constitutional provisions covering political party conduct, donations, disclosure requirements and access to State-owned media.

Lal says leaving these matters to ordinary law could allow future parliamentary majorities to change the rules.

The Centre says the Bill of Rights in the Constitution Amendment Bill generally provides stronger protections than the current Constitution but has raised concern over Section 40, which expressly permits lawful and moderate chastisement of children for correction.

Lal describes this as a regression from both the CRC draft and the 2013 Constitution.

Centre says other reforms proposed by the CRC that have been removed include stronger measures for women’s representation, a National Planning Commission, a National Infrastructure Council, a constitutionally mandated Opposition chair of the Public Accounts Committee, an independent Constitution Implementation Commission and a pluralistic Presidential Appointment Commission.

Lal says these changes raise questions about how the Constitution Amendment Bill was prepared and why it differs significantly from the CRC Amendment Bill submitted on 31st August.

He is questioning who wrote the Government's Constitution Amendment Bill, what was the basis for the changes from the CRC Amendment Bill and how the substantially different constitutional text was produced within a short period.

The Centre says its assessment is preliminary and argues that the changes substantially dilute safeguards proposed by the CRC against the concentration and abuse of State power.

Opposition Leader, Inia Seruiratu says any new constitutional framework must serve Fiji fairly and democratically for generations and should not be shaped around the interests of the government, opposition or institutions of today.

During the second reading of the Bill, the Opposition Leader did not state whether he supports or does not support the Constitution Amendment Bill.

Seruiratu says constitutional reviews provide an opportunity to change the direction of the country, but there must be a clear understanding of why change is necessary, what needs to change and the implications and benefits of those changes.

He says the process must be guided by good governance, including public participation, consensus, inclusivity, accountability and transparency.

Seruiratu stresses that the Bill is not an ordinary piece of legislation, as it proposes to repeal provisions of the 2013 Constitution, with the exception of Chapter 10, and replace them with a new constitutional framework contained in the schedule to the Bill.

He says this places an enormous responsibility on Parliament.

Seruiratu says governments come and go, Prime Ministers and Opposition Leaders change, political parties rise and fall, and every Member of Parliament will eventually leave public office, but a constitution is intended to endure beyond the political circumstances of the day.

He says Parliament must therefore consider whether the proposed constitutional system will serve Fiji fairly and democratically for generations to come.

The Opposition Leader also says constitutional legitimacy cannot simply be measured by whether consultations were held or submissions received.

He says there is an important distinction between consultation and genuine public ownership, and the key question is whether the final document sufficiently reflects the aspirations, concerns and expectations of the wider population.

Seruiratu says constitutional recognition must also go beyond words in a preamble, with institutions established under the Constitution giving every community confidence that they have a place, a voice and an equal stake in Fiji’s future.

He says constitutional reform should never become a contest where recognition of one community is perceived as coming at the expense of another.

Seruiratu also stressed the importance of retaining a common national identity.

He says the strength of a constitution cannot be measured only by the promises contained in its text, but also by whether the institutions it establishes are capable of upholding those promises when they come under pressure.

Debate on the Constitution Amendment Bill continues.