grubsheet

It's a stark sign of the sorry state of Fijian democracy that we sent a whole lot of people to parliament at the last election in 2022 who haven't reflected our choice at all when it comes to constitutional change. More Fijians voted for Frank Bainimarama's FijiFirst than any other party, whose core foundation was the 2013 Constitution. Others … [Read more...] about # THOSE WE SENT TO PARLIAMENT TO KEEP THE BASTARDS HONEST. NEXT TO FRIGGING USELESS

Grubsheet predicted that the new draft constitution would clear the parliament by 37 votes and in the end, Sitiveni Rabuka got an extra one to give him victory. He needed 35 votes - according to the Speaker, Filimone Jitoko, or 36 votes according to Nilesh Lal at the Centre for Democracy and Dialogue (see below) - and in the end, got 38, which … [Read more...] about # THE NEW DRAFT CONSTITUTION BILL PASSES THE PARLIAMENT BY 38 VOTES, WITH ONLY FIVE “NOES”

It was the former US President, Lyndon Johnson, who coined the celebrated line that "it is always better to have your colleagues inside the tent pissing out than outside the tent pissing in". And Biman Prasad seems to have embraced that notion - that instead of a showdown with his own rebellious colleagues in the NFP, it is now better to go … [Read more...] about # BREAKING NEWS: BIMAN PRASAD HAS REVERSED HIS POSITION AND WILL VOTE FOR THE DRAFT CONSTITUTION

As Grubsheet flagged four days ago, two NFP ministers in the government - the Defence Minister, Pio Tikoduadua and the Minister for Women, Children and Social Protection, Sashi Kiran - have ratted on the party and will vote "yes" in Friday's parliamentary vote on the new draft constitution. Both have rejected appeals from the NFP leader, Biman … [Read more...] about #…NOW THE BAD NEWS. THE TURNCOATS* PIO AND SASHI ARE VOTING WITH SITIVENI RABUKA TODAY TO PASS THE 2026 CONSTITUTION

Any iTaukei nationalist/supremacist who was looking to Sitiveni Rabuka and his government to abolish the common and equal citizenry, the common identity and the secular state is going to be bitterly disappointed. And it remains to be seen how they will respond. So guess what, Fiji. Rabuka and his gang have been forced to embrace the core … [Read more...] about # THE NEW DRAFT CONSTITUTION. FIRST THE GOOD NEWS…

The following is the proposed replacement for the 2013 Constitution that the parliament will vote on on Friday (Oct 2). If it is passed by at least two-thirds of the parliament, it will go to another reading in a month's time. And if it is passed again then, it will go to a referendum of all voters. If more than 50 per cent of them approve, … [Read more...] about # THE NEW DRAFT CONSTITUTION IN FULL