Just as Frank Bainimarama and Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum rejected the Yash Ghai draft for the 2013 Constitution, Sitiveni Rabuka has indicated that the Coalition may also reject portions of the draft constitution suggested by the Constitution Review Commission.
He’s made it clear that it will be what the government wants – or more particularly what the People’s Alliance wants because the NFP has already said it doesn’t want a new constitution by Christmas – that will make its way to a vote in parliament. And if that is passed, to a referendum of the nation’s voters.
This is going to be a shock to sections of the community – including some leading members of civil society – who have naively believed that the government is committed to delivering what was tabled in the parliament yesterday.
It’s going to be no different from the Ghai draft a decade ago. If the Prime Minister and his colleagues in the PAP don’t like any provision, they are already in the process of changing it. And when it comes to a vote in parliament, they are already crowing that they have the numbers to get their version passed, whatever it might contain.
How? Because they’ve bought off enough of Frank’s boys – and they are all boys – to deliver what they want by enticing them from the opposition with lucrative cabinet positions. And they’ll do what Rolex Rambo tells them.
And assuming Rabuka is right and achieves the two-thirds vote needed to pass their constitution, that’s what will then go to a referendum of the people. Not what the Constitutional Review Commission has recommended but what they want. All of which makes Siti and Siromi no different to Frank and Aiyaz when it comes to taking any notice of what they were presented with.
Here it all is from the mouth of the Prime Minister himself. “We’ve got the numbers and we’re already making changes to the CRC draft”. And that’s what will be going to parliament and the people whether they like it or not.
Will they burn the draft like Frank and Aiyaz? No, because there’s enough in there they already like to work on. But stripped to the essentials, Siti and Siromi will be calling the shots. Which is going to be a huge wake-up call for anyone who thought that this was going to be anything else.
What Rolex Rambo isn’t telling us is that the NFP is no longer on the same page as him at all. Because it has specifically rejected his timetable for change – a quick vote in the parliament to get the required two thirds majority, a quick referendum of voters and a new constitution (what the PAP wants) before Christmas.
Does the Prime Minister really care anymore what Biman Prasad wants? We shall soon see.
Unfortunately for the NFP, they won’t be “playing a very important role” this time. Because it is all about numbers. And the total number of NFP MPs since the death of Agni Deo Singh has fallen to four. Then there’s Inia Seruiratu‘s opposition. But the Prime Minister is counting on his own MPs and those of SODELPA to get the two thirds required.
It isn’t just Rabuka who is confident. So is his newly-empowered deputy – good old Goldfinger, Manoa “Leave FICAC to me” Kamikamica.
What he’s told FBC News is notable more for what he doesn’t say than for what he does. But again it’s “we will be calling the shots here”, including the date of the election.
As we’ve observed before, Mr Sweet is anxious for a new electoral system to come into force as soon as humanly possible.
Why? Just a quick look at the last election results gives us the answer. Because if the next election is held under the current d’Hondt “big man” system, he is bound to be shown again for the little man he is.
There he is at 3,874 votes when the man whose job Kamikamica covets got 77,748 votes . (And raica. Look what Frank Bainimarama got – almost twice as many votes as Rabuka).
Which proves our repeated point that if the d’Hondt system stays for the coming election, Rolex Rambo will be just fine and it’s Mr Sweet who is desperate for d’Hondt to go.
But we digress.
The Fiji Times this morning calls this “The Big Reset” as if that reset is what the Constitutional Review Commission has proposed. But the real reset is what the government can get through the parliament and the people AFTER it has tampered with the CRC draft to really get what it wants.
Which is why all Fijians, and especially the minorities, need to remain extremely alert and keep up the pressure. Because history, for one, tells us that The Snake and his colleagues can never be trusted. And the evidence for that stretches back 38 years to Rabuka’s first coups of 1987.
Remember? (if you’re old enough). “Fiji for the Fijians” – the iTaukei? “The Indians can go back to India”? And “we want a Christian state”?
It’s in the DNA of many of these people. And anyone who thinks very much has changed in terms of the hardcore nationalist agenda is kidding themselves.
Stripped to the essentials, it will be what Rolex Rambo and his supporters can get away with. And unless the multiracial, multi-religious agenda is upheld, they must be stopped.
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Will all these provisions survive? That remains to be seen.
NOTE TO READERS:
A link to the rest of the new Draft Constitution – first published in our previous article – with the document itself beginning on page 97.
With only about 3k submissions to the CRC should not the whole book be thrown out. It shows most people were not interested. Any changes should be challenged in court.
Of course, the Rabuka government will change the recommendations of the Constitutional Commission. As GD has stated they are no better than Frank Bainimarama and Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum when it comes to Constitutional reform.
They were never going to accept recommendations that don’t comply with the stated objects of the PAP. This is despite the report identifying that the majority of the people wish to keep the identity of the people as Fijian, religion to remain a personal freedom and the State not impose a particular religion, among other things.
Rabuka seems certain that Parliament will pass whatever his Cabinet sub-committee recommends and a Referendum will follow. That can only happen when there is a Referendum Act, which currently does not exist. So not only will Parliament be ‘considering’ the proposed Constitution it will also be ‘considering’ a Referendum bill. We shall see how much of a spine the Opposition, the NFP and SODELPA have when confronted the proposed ‘new Constitution’ and in all probability with no time to consider or amend what has been put up.
And this will all happen next week when Parliament sits for a week! Rabuka will no doubt use the Government numbers to prevent any attempt to debate, question or amend whatever they have put together, regardless of what the Commission recommended and why it did so.
Assuming the proposed Constitution is passed by the parliament the real issue will be the transitional arrangements contained in the proposal. They will set out how and when.
What was the point of appointing the CRC if government was going to discard the CRC recommendations and shove its own version of the Draft Constitution for Biman, Aseri and the 11 former FFP MPs to rubber stamp? This is another case of wasting taxpayer money.
The people didn’t ask for this…You know, the people that these guys are supposed to represent and work for…… Bollocks that all this is because of one vote….. Why isnt there a special sitting to go over the HIV response? Or how we will beat the Meth problem? Or how we will help those being smacked by big price increases in the shops?
The existing constitution is fine and if it needs tweaking then let the next Govt do it IF THE PEOPLE WANT THAT. Run for parliament on a policy of changing the constitution and see how many votes you get…….. The cost of all this????? We don’t live in a democracy, we live in a quasi kingdom that is fast becoming run by sycophants that suck up to whoever is in charge…….. No future in that……
Where is the biggest sycophant, dog whistle, crackhead, Mr. racial tension’ CRC chair in all of this?
What happened to all his vaunted “recommendations”? Including blaming Indos for all that ails the itaukei?
Just another enabler. Crackhead too. How much was he paid for his “work”?
Hardly surprising to most of us who recognise Rabuka’s racist agenda.
He skipped UNGA and the collective efforts of the rest of the Pacific Islands Forum member states to make a case for Pacific priorities, including the ‘Ocean of Peace’ to the global audience. Is it surprising that most world leaders have rebuffed his apparent invitation to the pre COP? Or maybe he does not want to show his face at the august body given Fiji’s unashamed support for the Israeli genocide.
Instead he is opening the media conference, lecturing about freedom of information and signing MOU with Unaisi Baba who defied the FNU Council to bring the institution directly under Rabuka and enable his ethno-nationalistic agenda.
Maybe the constitution debate is a welcome diversion from the drug and HIV crisis devastating Fiji. With 3000 + people expected in Nadi for the pre COP talkfest, delegates are already questioning how safe their stay may be? With 1 in 60 people carrying the virus, what assurance is there that people eating out in restaurants, resorts etc that the people cutting the veges, fruits or lemon at the bar etc have been tested and would not have contaminated the food through unfortunate accidents like cutting a finger, for example.
The golden goose, tourism, is living on borrowed time as visitors begin to seek guidance from their governments on safety and security advice.
Sorry, have to correct you on HIV transmission whilst preparing food.
The virus doesn’t last outside the human body long enough for this to happen.
Other misinformation currently circulating includes that HIV was part of the Covid vaccine so everyone vaccinated must have it.
A needle program will encourage IV drug use.
Prayer and herbal remedies are the cure.
These are all wrong.
Religion burying their head in the sand as extramarital sex or recreational sex is a sin.
Government not taking responsibility for an emerging health crisis.
Reported shortages of antiretoviral drugs.
Adult responsibility towards high risk drug and sexual activity.
Mother to new born transmission is a tragedy which can mitigated through pre natal screening as part of pre natal checks.
The Public Health Act provides avenues to address transmissible diseases.
Education, education, education.
Statistics of 1 in 60 of the population or 1 in 60 adults are misleading.
The reality is the (most) sexually active age group from say 15-35, the statistic will be far higher.
Been litte out of touch recently, just wondering what numbers does Rabuka have on his side, with NFP and also without NFP, (considering Honourable Agni Deo Singh seat will be vacant now)
If you have an hour today, People of Fiji — please watch this 1987 DateLine documentary from beginning to end:
“Foreign Interference? Fiji Coup 1987 (DateLine)”
It is on YouTube. Watch it yourself. Listen to what Rabuka says himself. Listen to Dr Timoci Bavadra. Listen to the journalists, the politicians and ordinary people speaking at the time. Then make up your own mind about 1987 and how much of what we are debating in Fiji in 2026 sounds familiar.
This isn’t somebody in 2026 telling you what happened nearly 40 years ago. You can watch people from that period speaking for themselves.
Especially our younger generation who were not alive in 1987 — please watch it.
History matters. Make up your own mind.
The commission very rightly stated that “(T)he dominance of male participants, particularly in iTaukei rural communities, reflects the need for ongoing efforts at ensuring gender equity in representation. Gender equity as a matter of representative government in addressing the democratic deficit is discussed in this report, via
altemative views in Chapters 8 (The Legislature), 14 (The Bose Levu Vakaturaga), and 16 (Closing Reflections) of this report. The Commission is transparent in its consideration of whether consultation participants are reflective of Fiji’s diverse population.”
In the same breath, the commission failed to address the fact that the ethnic composition of those who made submissions was heavily skewed towards iTaukei (males) from rural communities. In fact 92% (86% iTaukei and 6% Rotuman) of the 3,873 submissions are the drivers of the entire constitutional review. It’s not only the gender equity, more importantly the ethnic and geographic equity as well which needs to drive a representative government.
4k out of 900k out of which a majority are from rural areas are driving Fiji’s next constitution. We need to be worried, really really worried.
Rambo needs to realize the fact that his core voter base which is composed of rural iTaukei males will not win him or PAP the next elections. The silent majority and moderates in the urban and peri-urban areas will. If Manoa continues blindly supporting Rambo, he won’t even get what he got last time.
For buffoons like Filipe Tuisawau, who can’t tell a rock from his head, the pursuance and statement for ‘supporters of the 2013 xo constitution’ to step aside, shows the sheer ignorance and lack of any touch with what’s the sentiment on the ground.
Anyway, what can you expect in ROTFI when you have Captain’Rambo’ Chaos in charge…sheer incompetence and disenfranchisement for political expediency at the expense of the nation at large.
Thank you— Everyone in Fiji needs to read THIS right-to-the-heart-of-the-matter FACT of a comment.
Sona Rolex will continue his relentless race-based quest for itaukei supremacy. Once a bigot, always a bigot. Snakes find it hard to go backwards.
Racism is not only found in words or actions but in power structures (gcc/constitutions/State sanctioned “affirmative action”/institutionalized policies, et al) that determine who is accepted, respected, and allowed to rise.
Always remember the wise words (poem) Pastor Martin Niemoller so profoundly wrote:
First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me