A member of the National Council for Building a Better Fiji said it is now time to put racial differences aside and move together as a nation through the People's Charter.
As only hours remain for the draft charter to be made public, Fiji Girmit Council's Dijendra Singh said a lot of damage has been done to the country and its people over the years.
He said Fiji has already lost a lot since the first coup in 1987.
"It did a lot of damage, to me, personally as well as to thousands of people. Eighty percent of my public life has gone to community service. I can’t stay happily with my children. They have left Fiji because they could not tolerate the discrimination that was put on Indian people and them. So they left Fiji. And today in our retirement days we, perhaps, have to leave Fiji and stay with them. I was completely fed up with the things that were going on in Fiji and therefore this is a breath of fresh air. It is an excellent thing which would be good for thousands and thousands of people in Fiji."
Singh who has been involved in politics and community service for years said people should not forget how our previous constitutions came about and there is still time for those opposing the Charter initiative to step forward.
"I have been involved in politics from a young age. I vividly remember how the 1970 Constitution was formulated. 22 of our elected representatives went to London, discussed among themselves and then came back with the 1970 Constitution. And after the 1987 coup, the 1990 Constitution was shoved down to the people of Fiji through the power of the gun. That did not work for Fiji and in 1997 again negotiated document was given to the people of Fiji. For some reason that did not work and we had the fourth coup. The military, interim government have said their for exit strategy they want to have a better Fiji. And to have a better Fiji they wanted to have necessary amendments to the constitution and to the electoral system and to introduce good governance. There were many defects in our society."
The draft Charter will be made public late this afternoon. Stay with us for that.
