Academic questions ministerial powers

A prominent academic has argued that Fiji's Constitution gives excessive powers to ministers at the expense of individual rights and independent decision-making.

Linguist Rajendra Prasad made the submission during a Constitution Review Commission (CRC) consultation at the University of the South Pacific yesterday.

Mr Prasad said the 2013 Constitution required significant amendments to curb ministerial powers, which he believed had been open to abuse.

He pointed to provisions allowing ministers to make decisions that, he argued, should instead be subject to judicial scrutiny or handled by independent public officials.

Referring to Section 121(5), which deals with the removal of non-citizens lawfully in Fiji, Mr Prasad said ministerial authority to order deportations should be removed.

He said court oversight should remain the only avenue for such decisions, arguing that ministerial interpretations could change with each new office holder.

Mr Prasad said previous deportations had demonstrated why such powers should not rest solely with ministers.

He said that while government actions may have been justified in some cases, the processes used had failed to meet accepted international standards.

Criticising provisions in the Bill of Rights, Mr Prasad said many constitutional rights were weakened by broad limitations that effectively allowed ministers to become the final decision-makers.

"The rights of individuals are far less than the rights of ministers, which is wrong in our democracy," he said.

Mr Prasad said the Office of the Ombudsman should be strengthened because it remained one of the few independent institutions capable of scrutinising executive decisions.

Advocating the restoration of greater authority to permanent secretaries, he said they were appointed on merit and had previously made operational decisions within ministries before those powers gradually shifted to ministers.

Mr Prasad said limiting ministerial authority and restoring institutional checks and balances would strengthen democratic governance and improve public confidence in government.