Ro Teimumu Kepa last night again stressed the role of the chiefs – and said this needs to be under the 1997 Constitution.

The Social Democratic Liberal Party (SODELPA) leader tried to strike a more conciliatory note, speaking at Burebasaga Village Hall in Rewa last night.

She said the involvement of the chiefs could only be done in the context of the 1997 Constitution. She made no reference to recent furore over comments made by former Prime Minister, Laisenia Qarase, linking the number of the ballot paper to the Muslim holy book, the Koran.

However, she said the 1997 Constitution provided a proper framework for all groups to live together in harmony.
“If you notice in the previous Constitution the chiefs were consulted and gave their blessings to the Constitution.”

No questions were asked by the 50 villagers during the first session in the village hall.

About 30 villagers from the tikina of Burebasaga also gathered outside the village hall to listen to their chief.
The presentation was interspersed with meke by the Rewa youth dance group that was sent on livestream to SODELPA supporters around the globe.

“We are fortunate in Rewa that we do not have a lot of land compared to other provinces so we do not have a lot of issues when it comes to the land use decree and the land bank,” she said later in the presentation.

She reiterated SODELPA’s opposition to the current legislation regarding land use and the use of the word Fijian for all citizens of Fiji – a notable feature in the SODELPA campaign.

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