There will be no more Constituent Assembly and the government has now decided to take the draft constitution straight to the people of the country for their views.
Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama while addressing the nation this evening announced that people of Fiji will act as the constituent assembly.
Commodore Bainimarama said the draft constitution is ready and people will have till April 5th to give their feedback.
Commodore Bainimarama said the elections will be no later than September 2014.
He said this new phase has been taken due to the lack of commitment by the proposed parties to register on time.
He also highlighted that some proposed parties are under investigation for impersonation and fraud.
Looking at the draft:
The draft constitution prepared by the government legal team has proposed a proportional representation system for the next general elections.
For the first elections under the draft constitution, members of the parliament will consist of 45 members and they will be elected under a multi-member open list system under which each voter has one vote with each vote being of equal value.
The Electoral Commission will review the composition of parliament at least one year before any such election and increase or decrease the total number of members if it is necessary.
The total number of members of parliament will be divided into four electoral divisions.
The Central Division will have 18 members, the Western Division will have 16 members, the Northern Division will have 7 members while the Eastern Division will have 4 members.
Under the draft, a person can contest a parliamentary seat if the person is a citizen of Fiji only and does not hold citizenship of any other country, is registered on the Register of Voters, is not an undischarged bankrupt, is not a member of the Electoral Commission, is not subject to a sentence of imprisonment of at least 12 months when nominated and has not been subject to a sentence of imprisonment for an offence involving dishonesty, abuse of office, corruption, or sexual offences at any time during the 5 years immediately before being nominated and has not been found guilty of any offence under a law relating to elections, registration of political parties or registration of voters.
The term of parliament will be four years.
There will be no senate under the draft constitution.
According to the draft constitution, the President will be appointed by parliament.
Whenever a vacancy arises in the office of the President, the Prime Minister and the Leader of Opposition will nominate one name each and a vote will be taken.
It is proposed that the President should hold office for 3 years and can only be reappointed for another 3 years.
There will be no Vice President according to the draft.
The functions of the President will be performed by the Chief Justice if the President is absent from duty or is unable to perform the functions of the President.
It has also been stated 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 some other body or authority prescribed by the constitution.
Another change in the draft is that the Prime Minister who will be the head of government will also be the Commander-in-Chief of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces.
Story by: Vijay Narayan, Dhanjay Deo & Aliki Bia
