Adi Sivia joins in chorus for review of supreme law

Consultant and president of Unity Fiji Adi Sivia Qoro has called on the need for a thorough and genuine review of the 2013 Constitution.

Adi Sivia’s main concern is how the Constitution came to be emphasising how its original draft, created by Yash Ghai’s Constitution Commission, was tossed aside by the previous government.

Instead, they pushed through their own version, which became law in September 2013.

Adi Sivia believes this process was flawed from the start, lacking true input from the Fijian people.

The brief consultation period wasn’t enough to gather real public opinion, leading to questions about whose interests the constitution truly served.

She also pointed out the harmful effects of Fiji’s past coups, which have damaged the nation’s democracy, social structure, and economy.

She warned that these events have set the country back, and a flawed constitution can’t fix the damage.

“It brings into question the credibility of the nations’ democracy, the negative social implications which we are now witnessing and on the economic welfare of our people,” she said.

“More than anything it sets the country back by so many years in terms of its development.”

She said on the amendments to the constitution, it is important to note that Amendment provisions in the constitution make the Fiji Constitution one of the most difficult constitutions in the world to amend.

“And many have made reference to this! This has a huge implication on the democratic rights of the people of this nation and their participation in the making of their own Constitution. This should be the focus of the citizens now to be openly discussed and find a way forward,” Adi Sivia added.

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