Great Council of Chiefs wants faster path to restoration

The Bose Levu Vakaturaga (BLV), or Great Council of Chiefs (GCC), has welcomed Cabinet's endorsement of legislation to restore the institution but is calling for the Stand-Alone Bill to be taken to Parliament without further delay.

In a recent statement, the BLV/GCC thanked Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, Minister for iTaukei Affairs Ifereimi Vasu and Cabinet for backing a stand-alone legislative process to formally establish the institution under the 2013 Constitution and national law.

However, the council said the next step must be swift.

The BLV wants Government to introduce the Bill in Parliament this month and has raised concerns that further consultations under Section 11 of the iTaukei Affairs Act 1944 could prolong the process.

"This urgency is not simply about symbolism. It is about substance, constitutional recognition and institutional authority," BLV chairman Ratu Viliame Seruvakula said.

The council has also called for changes to the Bill's commencement clause 1(2), so the Act takes effect upon assent and is not delayed further.

It said the proposed provision, which allows the Act to come into force on a date set by the Minister through a Gazette notice, could leave the institution legally established but unable to operate.

"The practical consequence is significant: even after the Parliament passes the legislation the BLV could remain without full corporate status, operational authority and its own financial arrangements for months. The Institution could exist in law but not in function," the BLV stated.

"That is not consistent with the objective of restoring the BLV."

The council stressed that the restoration must be real, immediate and complete.

It wants the Act to take effect immediately after assent or on a fixed date.

BLV's independence

The BLV also stressed that the institution must remain independent of Government and retain its traditional and constitutional role.

It questioned whether the proposed legislation is intended to restore an existing traditional institution or create a new statutory body.

"While Clause 3 stated that the BLV 'exists as the principal customary and traditional institution of the iTaukei people, pre-existing and subsisting independently of this Act', the Bill's own long title - Supreme Council Bose Levu Vakaturaga of Chiefs Act 2026 - and its objective in Clause 4 to bring the BLV under an Act raises a critical question of whether Parliament recognised an ancient institution, or is creating a new statutory body?" the BLV stated.

The council said restoring the BLV was important to Fiji's current period of national renewal and could contribute to dialogue, stability and reconciliation.

It said it remained committed to working with the Government while pushing for what it described as the full restoration of the institution.