The Constitution Review Commission Report will be tabled in Parliament at 11.30am today which also makes the report accessible to the people of Fiji on what is recommended by the Commission in the new Constitution.
Cabinet has said that the tabling of the report does not constitute the acceptance or adoption of all the Commission’s recommendations.
The proposed changes will be proposed by the Cabinet Sub-Committee looking into the report.
fijivillage News has been informed that the first and second readings of the Constitution Amendment Bill will be done at the end of this month after the report is tabled today.
As earlier reported by fijivillage News, the Constitution Review Commission has recommended a 41 seat House of Representatives or Parliament with 26 constituencies.
26 MPs are to be elected under the first past the post system and 15 through the proportional representation system.
The Commission confirmed that it has not recommended any reserved seats for women or ethnic groups.
All will be Open seats.
The Review Commission is also recommending a 19 seat Senate.
The Commission is also recommending that the election of the country's President be done by a 6 member Presidential Appointment Committee.
The nominees for the President can be made by the Boselevu Vakaturaga, the Prime Minister, the Leader of Opposition, the Council of Churches and the inter-faith group.
Religious freedom is also guaranteed in the Draft Constitution.
The Commission has also recommended that FICAC should be an investigative body and the prosecution of the cases to be handled by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Some of the other recommendations arising from the 2013 Constitution review are the reinstatement of the Boselevu Vakaturaga; the reinstatement of the Public Service Commission to oversee the Public Service and personal matters of public servants; the continued use of “Fijian” as the national identity with a caveat that a consultative process is to be utilised so that people of Fiji can decide what their common or national identity should be, among other things.
The Supreme Court has already advised that the 2013 Fijian Constitution can be amended by the support of two thirds of Members of Parliament and a majority of those registered voters who vote for the change in a referendum after the parliamentary vote.
The National Referendum Bill is yet to be passed by Parliament.
Fiji has never had a referendum, and the Fijian Elections Office will need the Referendum Bill passed to move towards holding a referendum with the relevant questions to the voters if two thirds of MPs vote for the Constitution Amendment Bill.
According to the Constitution and the new threshold set by the Supreme Court, the Bill is read 3 times in Parliament; at the second and third readings, it is supported by the votes of at least two thirds of the Members of Parliament; an interval of at least 30 days elapses between the second and third readings and each of those readings is preceded by full opportunity for debate; and the third reading of the Bill in Parliament does not take place until after the relevant committee of Parliament has reported on the Bill to Parliament.
If a Bill for the amendment of the Constitution is passed by Parliament, then the Speaker shall notify the President accordingly, who shall then refer the Bill to the Electoral Commission, for the Commission to conduct a referendum for all registered voters in Fiji to vote on the Bill.
The referendum shall be conducted by the Electoral Commission in such manner as prescribed by written law.
The Electoral Commission shall, immediately after the referendum, notify the President of the outcome and shall publish the outcome of the referendum in the media.
If the outcome of the referendum is that majority of the voters have voted in favour of the Bill, then the President must assent to the Bill, which shall come into force on the date of the
Presidential assent or on such other date as prescribed in the Bill.
The leader of the National Federation Party, Professor Biman Prasad has said the constitution review process must not be rushed and the Review Commission request the President as the appointing authority and who issued the Terms of Reference, for more time instead of the current unrealistic timeline.
Stay with us for developments.
