Political sociologist Professor Steven Ratuva says there should be no immunity in the Constitution and there must be legal sanctions or punishment for treason.
While making a submission to the Constitution Review Commission from New Zealand, Professor Ratuva says immunity has emboldened the military to stage coups.
He says the new provision needs to be explicit because Fiji has experienced too many coups.
Professor Ratuva says this is one way of ensuring that the cycle of coups and their long-lasting effects eventually comes to an end.
He says it is encouraging that the Commander of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces has publicly raised the issue, adding that it is something many people have been thinking about but have been reluctant to say out of fear of upsetting the military.
The political sociologist says the Constitution should also include explicit conflict resolution measures.
Professor Ratuva also submits that Fiji’s single nationwide constituency under the proportional representation system creates a coattail effect, allowing popular political leaders to attract enough votes for other candidates from the same party to be elected despite receiving few personal votes.
He says the system also weakens accountability because MPs elected from a national constituency often do not know who they are directly accountable to, and recommends introducing multiple constituencies while retaining proportional representation.
Professor Ratuva further says the word ‘Taukei’ is a term that the iTaukei use to define themselves and is filled with ‘mana’ and a connection to the land.
He says, on the other hand, ‘Fiji’ is an introduced European framing.
The Professor says that if people want a connection to land, culture and history, then ‘Taukei’ is a term they must use, while allowing other ethnic groups to define themselves.
