GCC defends 278 chiefs’ role in Constitution Review

Great Council of Chiefs (GCC) chairman Ratu Viliame Seruvakula says the 278 chiefs who took part in the constitutional consultation accurately represent Fijians, defending the number of participants amid criticism from the Opposition.

“Yeah, those numbers are accurate. We did a very wide consultation across the 14 provinces,” Ratu Viliame said.

He was responding to concerns and claims that too few Fijians were consulted during the Constitution Review Commission (CRC) process.

He said the GCC was satisfied with the outcome of the review overall.

“We gave our report to the CRC, and it’s come out... we got about a certain percentage of success, compromise, and those that didn’t go through, that’s fine. That’s part of the process. We accept it and we’re happy with it,” he said.

Minister for iTaukei Affairs Ifereimi Vasu, who is responsible for the GCC, said a fresh consultation team would now be deployed to address the concerns.

“There will be another special team to do the consultations,” Mr Vasu said.

The Acting Attorney-General defended the GCC figures this week, saying they showed that 278 chiefs represented 504,609 iTaukei, but conceded this did not mean every individual endorsed the submission.

Opposition Leader Inia Seruiratu said the admission “does more to expose the weakness” of the Government’s argument and questioned where Indo-Fijians and other minorities featured in the count.

Parliament is scheduled to debate the CRC report from Monday.