Relook at Constitution as it includes regressive limitations on human rights – Rabuka

Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka says a relook at the 2013 Constitution is necessary as unlike the 1997 Constitution with the progressive Bill of Rights that promoted fundamental rights and freedoms, the 2013 Constitution includes regressive limitations on human rights.

In a historic address during the National Federation Party’s Annual General Meeting in Sigatoka, Rabuka says as a Coalition Government, they could be selfish and leave all the clauses that give them unfair advantages and complete power, but they know that would be unfair, unreal and undemocratic.

He says limiting the fundamental rights of our people is not the legacy that his leadership of the Coalition Government wants to leave behind.

Rabuka says the 1997 Constitution entrenched group rights, including land and protective legislations like the Native Land Trust Act for iTaukei landowners and the Agricultural Landlord and Tenant Act for the predominantly Indo-Fijian tenants.

He says more importantly, the independent and constitutional offices were depoliticized under the 1997 Constitution.

The Prime Minister says in the pursuit of a just and fair constitution, he is personally committed to the process of the establishment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

He says truth and reconciliation as a nation is necessary for healing and release for Fiji by permanently ending the dark chapters of political upheavals, the culture of fear and mistrust that plagued our nation.

Rabuka says for far too long, we have internalized the hurt and trauma from all our political upheavals, and failed to acknowledge the inter-generational burdens we have carried and could pass on.

He says it is time to really listen to each other's recollections of those ugly ordeals and deal with them collectively as a nation and this is a national Talanoa session that we must have with each other.

The Prime Minister says this is the healing that we must embrace and the generations after us, who will take Fiji through to the next 50 and even 100 years, need us to plant the seeds of healing now which they can then harvest even greater unity when they sit where we sit today as national leaders.

He says from peace, prosperity flows and for him, peace is the absence of fear.

Rabuka further says peace has always been available to us to embrace and be led by but unfortunately for a long time politics has been used to shatter peace by using fear of each other, spurred on by stereotyping and instigated by vicious lies and fear being whipped up in the relentless pursuit of power but this is ending.

The Prime Minister says the use of the race card and fear factor was prevalent during the campaign leading up to the 2022 General Elections.

He says he was demonised and accused of many things even called a snake but says personally, he is immune to personal insults.

Rabuka says in 2022 both Professor Biman Prasad and he were subjected to the same kind of gutter-level political verbal abuse and while neither of them were personally bothered it instilled fear into the minds of the electorates and he could sense this among the Indo-Fijian electorates.

Rabuka says they were told that Rabuka and Professor Prasad were a threat to their freedom and security.

He says Professor Biman Prasad would not have signed the Memorandum of Understanding on a post-election coalition in government if both he and the National Federation Party did not trust him.

Rabuka adds by the time the People's Coalition Government heads to the next elections, we will have a very different electoral landscape compared to the one we endured in the past.

Meanwhile, the Opposition Bloc of 9 leader Ioane Naivalurua and member Naisa Tuinaceva are also taking part in the NFP AGM which continues in Sigatoka.