Constitution Amendment Bill delayed again

The much-anticipated Constitution Amendment Bill will not be tabled this week as Parliament commenced its November sitting yesterday.

Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka said there were other Bills that were to be tabled in Parliament.

“No, none of them coming up this sitting,” Mr Rabuka said, just four days after informing the media of Government’s plan to table the Constitution Amendment Bill this week.

“We have some Bills coming up and they are just equally important.”

Last week, the Prime Minister told the media that he had instructed all Government Members of Parliament to be present throughout the five-day parliamentary sitting.

The Government wants to amend the 2013 Constitution following a Supreme Court opinion in August this year changing the requirement from three-quarters to two-thirds of Parliament votes, followed by a majority voted in a national referendum.

Mr Rabuka is confident in achieving the two-thirds Parliament votes this time around, after failing to achieve the three-quarters in Parliament in March this year.

He confirmed that a referendum system still needed to be established before amendments can proceed.

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