A Naqara villager from Naitasiri has told the Constitution Commission that the name “Fijian” cannot be used by everyone in the country.
Nabuka Koroi said the itaukei community has customs, tradition and culture which are closely linked to the name "Fijian" and the name should be reserved for the itaukei.
Koroi also said the Great Council of Chiefs should be brought back.
Another submission made by Ratu Jese Rinakama called for the commission to include provisions in the new constitution that would ensure that the military must be subservient to the democratically elected government.
He said the constitution should also state that military officers who make political comments should be sacked.
Rinakama said going forward the maximum sentence for staging a coup should be life imprisonment or death.
He also told the commission that military officers who want to be politicians should tender their resignation.
Rinakama said there should be no immunity provisions in the constitution unless it is approved by an elected parliament.
He said the current leaders should stand in the elections, get elected and file a motion for immunity in the new parliament.
He then questioned the legitimacy of the Constitution Commission and that a caretaker government should be in place to prepare for elections.
In her submission, Korovatu villager, Losana Sauturaga said none of the laws should promote same sex marriage.
She said marriage is between a man and woman and even if she had a child who may be showing signs that he is gay, then she would remind him that it is wrong under the principles of the bible.
Sauturaga said there should be some laws in the villages to control the use of kava. She said kava is sacred and should not be abused.
Sauturaga said the government should also assist women in villages to start small businesses.
The Constitution Commission said other issues that emerged from the submissions in Naitasiri are rural development, Fiji to be declared a Christian state, the government to provide free education in schools from class one to secondary education which includes no extra fee or levy to be charged by the schools, proper health care for all and access to free medical care by all above the age of 65, social welfare allowances for the elderly and corporal punishment to be re-introduced in schools.
The commission is taking constitution submissions in Rewa today.
