As the draft People's Charter is expected to be made public to the people of Fiji today, Interim Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said the National Council for Building a Better Fiji's (NCBBF) mandate is to ensure that the best electoral reform is implemented for Fiji and the timing of the election is not the council's job.
Although the NCBBF has expressed concern over the strict timeline of March 2009 for elections by the Forum Working Group, Sayed-Khaiyum said at the end of the day, the National Council’s role just has to ensure that a truly democratic electoral system is in place.
"The NCBBF is concentrating on reforms and putting in packages in place for a stable Fiji, for a prosperous Fiji. For a Fiji that has changes that will be beneficial to the people of Fiji at large. The issue of time frames that, in fact, ignores, the reforms that need to take place and what is being seen by the military is that we need sustainable democracy and that is what is being conveyed here. And that is what we need our neighbours to understand."
Sayed-Khaiyum said it is now for the people of Fiji and the political parties to discuss the changes to the electoral system which will be contained in the draft Charter.
"In respect of the reforms that have been adopted and suggested by the NCBBF – it will be taken to the people of Fiji. The President has already written to Secretary Generals of the Commonwealth, the UN and the whole auspices will be holding a forum and all registered political parties will be asked to participate in the process. It will be open to talk about and discuss the reform packages that have been suggested by the NCBBF."
Draft Charter Recommends Enhanced Military Role Publish date/time: 06/08/2008 [07:37]
One of the recommendations in the draft People's Charter is to enhance the role of the military in national development through legislative reform to redefine its role.
Co-Chair of the National Council for Building a Better Fiji Archbishop Petero Mataca said no one can deny the fact that the military needs to be involved in national development.
"Development – all of us are interested in development. If we are to go forward then we need to develop: develop ourselves, develop our resources. We need all the people to be involved in development. The army is one group they have discipline and they could be an agent of change … of development."
Interim Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said the military's role in national development will be a positive step.
"Once you receive a copy of the draft of the People’s Charter you’ll see the finer detail on what is being proposed in terms of the role of the military. They can also play a very positive role in terms of the development of our country because they have a lot of the necessary skills that could be used for development purposes. Obviously, the working group leveled tremendous participation by the RFMF and other security agencies in terms of redefining the role of the nation state and the way forward. I think it is a very positive outcome. And you will see in fuller detail what is being proposed. Of course all security agencies of the country will also be for the security in the country."
