Dialogue Fiji rejects return to 'Fiji Islander'

Dialogue Fiji has opposed calls to replace "Fijian" with "Fiji Islander," saying the common national identity introduced under the 2013 Constitution should remain unchanged.

In its submission to the Constitution Review Commission, the organisation said nationality and ethnicity should not be confused.

It argued that a person could be iTaukei or Indo-Fijian by ethnicity while remaining Fijian by nationality.

Dialogue Fiji said replacing "Fijian" with "Fiji Islander" would represent a step backwards and weaken Fiji's national identity.

The organisation also reaffirmed its support for Fiji remaining a secular State and opposed any return to constitutional arrangements that classified citizens according to race or ethnicity.

It said the Constitution should continue protecting indigenous identity while maintaining one equal civic identity for all citizens.

Constitutional review too rushed to gain public trust

Dialogue Fiji also questioned the credibility of Fiji's constitutional review, warning that the process is being rushed and lacks the transparency needed to earn public confidence.

In its submission to the Constitution Review Commission (CRC), the organisation said Fiji needed constitutional reform but argued that the current five-month review was too short to produce a legitimate outcome.

Dialogue Fiji said constitutional reform should be transparent, participatory and trusted by the people, noting that constitutions are the nation's supreme legal framework and should not be rewritten through a process that lacks adequate public engagement.

The submission said international constitutional reviews typically take between 18 and 24 months, pointing to South Africa, Kenya, Tunisia and Fiji's own Reeves and Ghai commissions as examples.

Dialogue Fiji described the current review as the shortest major constitutional review in Fiji's history and argued that the process should include a dedicated public website, livestreamed hearings, published submissions and consultation statistics to improve transparency.

Despite its concerns, the organisation said it decided to participate because Fiji's constitutional future was too important to ignore.