Constitution not the root of Fiji’s problems, Seruiratu says

Opposition Leader Inia Seruiratu has questioned the tendency to blame Fiji’s Constitution when political problems arise.

Speaking in Parliament yesterday, Mr Seruiratu said constitutional amendments must strictly follow the procedures outlined in the law.

“The Constitution itself prescribes the manner in which it may be altered.”

He said those safeguards were designed to protect constitutional supremacy.

“Those procedural safeguards are not obstacles, they are protections specifically designed to preserve constitutional supremacy and prevent arbitrary change.”

Mr Seruiratu said history showed that political crises had occurred under different constitutions.

“We had the 1970 Constitution, yet with the 1987 debacle. The 1997 Constitution ticked all the boxes, still we had the events of 2000 and 2006.”

“The 2013 Constitution was engineered to end the coup culture in Fiji, but there are now issues emerging against it.”

He said the country must examine deeper issues.

“So where is the problem, is it the substance of the constitution, is it the people, is it politics, or is it leadership. We need to get to the root of this.”