The Vanua ko Lau has expressed its support for the Constitution Amendment Bill, while also proposing two changes to the Constitution during its submission to the Parliamentary Joint Special Committee on the Constitution at Kshatriya Hall in Suva.
Speaking on behalf of the Gone Turaga Bale na Tui Nayau, Sau ni Vanua ko Lau, Tui Lau Ratu Tevita Uluilakeba, Nukuyasi Maca Tulakepa, of the Yavusa Devobalavu on the island of Nayau, says they support the Bill for one reason above all others.
She says, for the first time in Fiji's modern history, the Bill returns to the people the authority to approve the constitutional order under which they live.
Tulakepa says regardless of one's views on individual clauses, that principle alone is worthy of support.
She highlighted two areas they want changed: the common name for all citizens and the people's role in amending the Constitution.
On the first issue, she says the Fijian name was unilaterally removed in 2010 as the ethnic identity of the indigenous people, the first people of this land, through a decree.
She says in 2013, the name was then conferred upon all citizens as their common name or nationality, also without their consent.
Tulakepa says a matter determined without consent is not settled and will remain unresolved until it is addressed.
She is asking the Committee to amend Clause 6 to restore Fijian as the ethnic name of the indigenous people of Fiji, while adopting Fiji Islander as the common name for all citizens.
She says the request is based on a principle that applies to every community in Fiji, not just the indigenous people.
She adds that Indo-Fijians, Rotumans, Banabans, Chinese, part-Europeans and other Pacific communities each have their own ethnic identities.
The Yavusa Devobalavu representative says
what distinguishes this issue is not that indigenous Fijians have an ethnic identity, as every community does, but that theirs alone was removed from the statute book by decree and conferred upon others without the consent of either group.
She says nationality should unite every citizen, while ethnicity should remain with each community that holds it.
Tulakepa says they would not object if Parliament preferred another common name, stressing that this issue is not a reason for them to oppose the Bill.
She says they support the Bill and its passage, but are placing the matter before the Committee because it remains the one significant constitutional issue left unresolved from the changes made by decree in 2010 and carried into the 2013 Constitution.
Turning to their second request, Tulakepa says they also want greater recognition of the people's role in amending the Constitution.
She says the Bill provides for constitutional amendments through a special majority of both Houses of Parliament, which they accept.
However, she says a constitution that cannot be changed through lawful means invites change through unlawful means.
She stresses that there is a difference between amending a constitution and replacing one.
Tulakepa says a Constitution approved by the people may be amended by their Parliament, but it should not be replaced without the approval of the people who originally endorsed it.
She says they are therefore asking that any replacement of the Constitution also requires approval through a referendum.
They are also proposing that the Constitution be reviewed every ten years.
She says the review should be consultative, conducted by an independently constituted body, with its report tabled and considered.
Tulakepa says the purpose of these proposals is not to make constitutional change more difficult, but to ensure the people of Fiji remain the
ultimate authors of their constitutional order.
