Party wants new Constitution, election under 2013 document

The Liberation of Fiji Party wants Fiji to have an entirely new constitution but says the next general election should proceed under the 2013 Constitution.

The position emerged during the party’s submission to the Special Parliamentary Committee examining Bill No. 32 of 2026 today, raising questions about how the party intends to move away from the existing Constitution.

Party leader Veronica Malani told the committee that the party did not support amending the 2013 Constitution and preferred the Government to formulate an entirely new document.

However, when questioned by Opposition MP Alvick Maharaj, Ms Malani confirmed that the party wanted the next general election to proceed under the existing Constitution.

“Let’s move forward and have the election and let the new government form, maybe it might be you or whoever the new government will be, and let that be the job of the new Government,” she said.

Her response came after Mr Maharaj questioned whether the party was effectively accepting the 2013 Constitution for the election while opposing the current process to amend it.

Assistant Minister for Commerce and Business Development Sachida Nand also questioned how the party could seek an entirely new constitution when the existing Constitution did not provide for it to be replaced through the process the party appeared to be suggesting.

Ms Malani questioned why the issue had not been addressed two years earlier, saying the incoming government should deal with it after the election.

Earlier, general secretary Manoa Malani told the committee that the party’s opposition was based on concerns about the authorship, legal origins and democratic legitimacy of the 2013 Constitution.

He said the party wanted the authorship of the document to be independently investigated and publicly disclosed.

The party also questioned the level of public involvement in the original drafting process.

Former Attorney-General Siromi Turaga reminded the party that the Government was complying with the Supreme Court ruling that the 2013 Constitution was lawful.

Mr Malani maintained that the party was questioning the process through which the Constitution was introduced and whether the people had genuinely been involved.

The party said it wanted a constitution developed by the people and for the people, rather than further amendments to the existing document.