Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama said it makes sense for the Prime Minister to be the Commander-in-Chief of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces.
However, he stresses that this does not mean that the Prime Minister will be the Army Commander.
According to the draft constitution, the Prime Minister is the head of government and the Commander-in-Chief of the RFMF.
The President is currently the Commander-in-Chief of the military.
The draft prepared by the government legal team states that the President is the Head of State and the executive authority of the
State is vested in the President.
It proposes that in the exercise of his or her powers and executive authority, the President acts only on the advice of cabinet or a minister or of some other body or authority prescribed by the constitution.
The draft proposes that the President should be appointed by parliament.
Whenever a vacancy arises in the office of the President, the Prime Minister and the Leader of Opposition should nominate one name each to the Speaker who shall put both the names to the floor of parliament for voting by the members of parliament.
Candidates for the office of President must be persons who have had a distinguished career in any aspect of national or international life, hold only a Fijian citizenship, not be a member of or hold any office in any political party, not hold any public office, not be a candidate for election to any other office in the state and not have been subject to a sentence of imprisonment for an offence at any time during the 5 years immediately before being nominated.
Story by: Vijay Narayan
Feature
Bainimarama says it makes sense for PM to be Commander-in-Chief
