Unity Fiji has acknowledged the Government's decision to extend the timeframe for amending the Constitution but is calling on the Parliamentary Special Committee on the Constitution (Amendment) Bill not to rush the process, as many people still do not understand the contents of the Bill and the proposed amendments.
While making submissions before the Committee, Unity Fiji representative Naomi Matanitobua Raikaci says their concern is not the reform itself but the process, and they are worried about how quickly it is being carried out and how little time ordinary Fijians have been given to understand it.
She says we have one chance to get this right because a constitution is meant to unite us for generations.
Raikaci says if we rush it, we risk building a new house on the same weak foundation as the old one.
The Unity Fiji representative says the consultations conducted by the Constitution Review Commission cannot substitute for adequate consultation on this Bill.
She adds that the consultations conducted by the Committee are also insufficient, reminding the Committee that its consultations and those of the Commission have reached less than two percent of the population.
She further adds that the new constitution must be taken to the grassroots.
She also raises concerns that not a single formal submission has been received from the diaspora.
Unity Fiji is also asking the Committee not to put the full Constitution on the same ballot as the election, as this will not solve the problem but will make it worse.
Raikaci says election campaigning should not be suspended for the sake of the referendum, as people have the right to hear from those who want to govern them.
She says a constitution adopted in a rush will carry the same doubts about its legitimacy as the 2013 Constitution.
She adds that whatever is good in it will be overshadowed by how it was made.
Raikaci also highlights a proposal for a two-tier referendum.
She says Tier 1 involves a short, simple referendum on Election Day, where voters are asked a handful of basic questions, no more than five.
She further says these questions are not about the detailed wording of the Bill but about the major issues on which the nation needs to express its views.
Raikaci adds that Tier 2 involves a full referendum after the election, where the new Parliament, with a fresh mandate from the people, uses the answers from Tier 1 to revise the Bill.
She says the revised Bill is then taken to the grassroots in all three languages during 2027, and only then is the full Constitution put to a referendum on a separate day, with proper voter education.
She also highlights that some have suggested the next government may not take this Bill forward, but says this is pure speculation.
Raikaci says Unity Fiji promises to take forward the amendments agreed upon by the people.
