New constitution to be made public today

Fiji’s fourth constitution will be unveiled to the public today. 

While some amendments have been made based on the public submissions made on the draft version, Fijivillage understands that there will be no changes in relation to some key issues as they were part of the government’s non negotiable principles.

These include a common and equal citizenry, a secular state which means that the state will not favour one religion over another, elimination of discrimination, social justice, one person-one vote-one value, the elimination of ethnic voting, proportional representation and the voting age to be 18 years.

Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama has also said in an earlier interview that he will not compromise these principles and stressed that Fiji will have free and fair elections before September 2014.

He said in the interview that while some people criticize the government’s plans, he will not be deterred.