CRC report to be made public after Cabinet: PM

Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka says the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) report will be released to the public only after it has gone through Cabinet.

Asked by this newspaper yesterday when Government planned to release the report, Mr Rabuka said: "After Cabinet."

Cabinet will receive the report on Wednesday, September 9, instead of Tuesday as earlier flagged, "to give everybody more time to read" it.

Mr Rabuka also clarified that his call for calm followed what he had seen online.

He said the call was made after reading "writings in Facebook."

It was not based on any specific report of unrest, but on concern that the posts "could have led to people holding probably hardline ideas."

Mr Rabuka said Government would not selectively release the CRC's findings.

"We are not going to be picking some, and most of it will be presented to people," he said.

He said the report would also go before a national committee and be debated in Parliament as a whole.

On possible changes to Fiji's common identity, Mr Rabuka stood by his 2023 position that any major change would require a vote in Parliament.

His comments come as pressure grows from the Opposition and civil society for the report to be released publicly.

Fiji Labour Party leader Mahendra Chaudhry has called for its immediate release, saying "a constitution belongs to the people."

The Social Empowerment Education Programme (SEEP) has also joined calls for its release.

SEEP executive director Chantelle Khan said Fijians who took part in consultations "should be able to see the outcome."

The report is now with Mr Rabuka and is expected to be tabled in Cabinet on September 9, ahead of Parliament's sitting from September 28.

To amend the Constitution, a Bill requires two-thirds support in Parliament across three readings.

It would then require a majority in a referendum — a vote that cannot take place without the National Referendum Bill, which is still before a Parliamentary Standing Committee.