The Chair of the Constitution Review Commission, Sevuloni Valenitabua says they have received very comprehensive submissions on the drawbacks and deficiencies of the 2013 Constitution which Dialogue Fiji Executive Director Nilesh Lal seems to champion, however Lal stresses that is very inappropriate to say that as he has done a very objective review of the constitution and listed the key structural flaws.
This comes as Lal made submissions to the Commission this afternoon, however, he also pointed out that the process is not truly participatory, lacks transparency, and does not have the trust of the people across the political and ethnic divide.
In his submission, Lal says if the review is to have legitimacy, the Commission must immediately improve the process.
Lal says the Commission should publish all submissions, release participation statistics, which they can still do, livestream future hearings if they continue, issue thematic consultation papers, allow public comment on draft recommendations, and explain how competing views will be assessed.
The Executive Director says without transparency, the final report will struggle to command public trust.
He stresses that 5 months is not enough time to review the constitution, highlighting that the Reeves Commission as well as the Ghai Commission had taken 12 to 24 months.
He stresses that Fiji does not need another Constitution where one side celebrates and another side rejects, which will be the case if we proceed through a process that is not truly participatory and does not have the trust of people across the political and ethnic divide, which unfortunately has been the case until now.
Lal says we need a constitutional settlement that is democratic, inclusive, rights-protecting, and institutionally balanced.
He says we need a Constitution that limits power, not one that merely transfers power from one political group to another and above all, we need a Constitution that belongs to the people of Fiji.
While acknowledging Lal’s concerns, Valenitabua says they have not yet written their report or assessed all submissions as they are still receiving submissions.
He says they cannot release statistics yet because they have not been fully collated.
Valenitabua stresses the directions governing this Commission require that evidence, including submissions, not be released except where authorised.
He highlights that they are acting in accordance with the Terms of Reference and the gazetted directions, not according to their own preferences.
The Chair noted that Lal had identified key weaknesses in the 2013 Constitution, including excessive executive power, vulnerability of independent institutions to political capture, broad limitations on rights, inadequate parliamentary scrutiny, and executive influence over independent appointments, saying these were among the reasons for the constitutional review.
The Chair says the Commission had heard from government ministries, including ministers, as well as NGOs, major associations, the Fiji Women’s Rights Movement and the Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission, which had provided comprehensive submissions highlighting the drawbacks and deficiencies of the Constitution, which Lal champions.
In response, Lal rejected any suggestion that he was championing the 2013 Constitution, saying his submission objectively outlined both its strengths and structural weaknesses.
He stressed that his main concern was whether the objectives of the constitutional review had been clearly defined from the outset, stressing that establishing those objectives is fundamental to any constitution-making process, particularly in divided societies.
When questioned by Valenitabua if all the recommendations in Lal’s submission were accepted, would he still object to the process, Lal said he would.
Meanwhile, Lal recommends that the progressive features of the 2013 Constitution, including equal citizenship, secularism, the single national electoral roll, the proportional representation electoral system, and the Bill of Rights, should be retained, while addressing what he described as the excessive concentration of executive power.
He says reforming the Constitutional Offices Commission to make it more independent and balanced by reducing government dominance.
Lal proposed equal nominees from the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader, representation from civil society and universities, and an independent chairperson instead of the Prime Minister.
Lal also called for greater independence of the public service, saying the Prime Minister’s role in approving the appointment and removal of permanent secretaries should be removed, as permanent secretaries should serve the state rather than the government of the day.
On the electoral system, Lal recommends retaining the open-list proportional representation system and the single national constituency but reducing the electoral threshold from 5 percent to 2 percent to encourage a genuine multi-party system.
However, he says any changes should not apply to the next election due to the proximity of the polls.
He submits that constitutional incentives to promote gender balance in politics, including requiring political parties to have at least 40 percent representation of either gender among candidates to qualify for public funding.
Lal also recommends limiting the size of Cabinet to 15 ministers, including the Prime Minister and Attorney-General, to prevent excessive expansion of executive power.
He also says that Cabinet should reflect Fiji’s gender, cultural, ethnic and regional diversity, with limited appointments from outside Parliament subject to parliamentary confirmation.
He further recommends introducing a two-term limit for Prime Ministers to prevent excessive concentration of political power.
Lal also says the Bill of Rights should be strengthened through a strict proportionality test before any rights are limited.
He also recommended recognising access to information as a directly enforceable constitutional right.
Lal called for stronger judicial independence, including ensuring appointments of senior judicial officers are made through an independent process with transparent criteria, and introducing safeguards against indefinite suspension of the Chief Justice.
He says Fiji should retain a single-chamber Parliament and rejected any return to an unelected Senate, saying law-making should remain the responsibility of elected representatives.
He is calling for stronger parliamentary committees and oversight mechanisms.
Lal recommends that the Public Accounts Committee be chaired by an Opposition MP and that the Speaker of Parliament be constitutionally protected as an independent and neutral office holder.
He also called for stricter safeguards on expedited legislation and the use of Parliament Standing Order 51, proposing that urgent parliamentary procedures should require a two-thirds majority, except in narrowly defined emergencies.
Lal proposed introducing a citizens’ petition mechanism that would require Parliament to consider issues of national importance raised by citizens after meeting a prescribed threshold.
He says Fiji should remain a secular state and retain equal citizenship, with the national identity of “Fijian” applying to all citizens while recognising indigenous rights and cultural identity.
Lal also opposed replacing the country’s name with “Fiji Islands”, saying the name Fiji reflects the nation’s identity, dignity and independence.
