Opinion: Rethink Fiji’s democracy model

I begin this submission with an appeal to the people of Fiji, particularly the indigenous Fijians; the Christian churches, especially those of the Methodist Church, never ever again to support a coup supposedly in their name. As it had been shown up, the lot of the taukei has not improved.

Nothing replaces old fashion hardwork. The real hope for the taukei is the full utilisation of the land and to maximise returns from their natural resources. We can help each other do that.

I will spend a bit of time in my opening in offering some suggestions on how to deal with the coup culture and hopefully will prevent future overthrow of elected governments in the future.

As Preamble, we the people of Fiji, should have a Covenant, whereby we, the people of Fiji, covenant with each other that those involved in crimes against the State, illegal removal of elected government, treason, sedition, etc, shall be made to account for their misadventures.

The Preamble should demonstrate our collective resolve as a nation that coup-makers shall be punished.

The new Constitution should be unequivocal in its position on unlawful removal of an elected government.

Perpetrators shall have their day in court.

We should make very clear that future coup-makers shall never enjoy immunity.

I acknowledge that this alone will not stop future glory seekers who will claim God's calling. But the

Covenant will make it plain that when the dusts are settled, however long it takes, reckoning awaits.

That any self-rewarding constitution shall be done away with at the first available opportunity. It is for the legal draftsmen to make that message very clear.

It is, I believe, the only way to make future cowboys or visioners of grandeur to think very hard.

There is no other way to stop the coup culture.

CURRENT IMMUNITY?

Immunity must go. If we are serious about addressing and eradicating the coup culture. There should be no immunity in a new constitution.

The immunity in the 2013 Constitution should be removed in a revised form. Not that I desire the perpetrators of 1987 or 2006 be tried and sent to prison. I have no malice against them. But it is to make those who may dream of seeing their names in headlines and having their day in the sun that they will also have their day in court. This is the clearest message to demonstrate our collective repugnance against coups.

We must be serious in our effort in dealing with the coup culture.

Our judiciary should create its jurisprudence, its precedence on this vital issue.

To be clear, I am not bitter against those who escaped prison. I told the Fiji Truth and Reconciliation Commission that people, after all these years, should learn to let go, to forgive.

"People are still baying for blood, pointing fingers, being nasty, unkind and basically unforgiving," I told the FTRC.

"They still want Sitiveni Rabuka to go to prison. People have unkind views of Bainimarama and Khaiyum.

When do we stop? When do we finally let go? When do we forgive." In any event, Rabuka and Bainimarama cannot be tried with treason because it is time-barred. At least it was in my time.

I welcome the submission of the Commander of the RFMF calling for the removal of the immunity provision to stop the culture of impunity. This is significant in the conversation about immunity. And his position should be given serious

consideration. For I suspect that the underlying thoughts in the decision of the Supreme Court not to touch the immunity clause was an inherent fear that it might antagonise the military and cause further instability. But you have heard the Commander.

And his position aligns with this submission that immunity should never ever be entertained.

As an aside, and I refer to the Commander, who I have never heard of until he became Commander. This nation owes him a deep debt of gratitude.

For such a man was present for just such a time as this. If we think back to the early hours, days, weeks even months of the Coalition victory, and with the personal pressure on him from the powers that be at the time, a lesser man would

have yielded. That he did not, that held aloft, held his own, was grit courage, fortitude and sanity.

The course of history of our troubled nature would have been further down that dark road we are starting to emerge out from. I fear no contradiction to say that there would be a national sigh of relief at the news of his reappointment to realm for the next five years.

REMOVAL OF T IME-BAR

Time-bar should be removed from treason and sedition. This is another clear demonstration of our resolve and also a reminder to future cowboys. For however long it takes, the long arms of the law, slowly but

surely will get you.

COMMON NAME

I have no issue with everyone being called Fijian. It would have been nice though if I was asked, i.e, Fijians were asked. I am sure indigenous taukei will not unnecessarily withhold Fijian as a common name

with informed and clear-headed dialogue and consultation. I recall in an exchange of views while at Nukulau, I had actually advocated for Fijian being a common name.

However, I am not blind to the fact that this is a very sensitive and emotional topic and that a large number of taukei Fijians have very strong views about what is being bandied around as 'identity theft'.

Being that as it may, I am confident, that good sense will prevail which will result in the people of Fiji coming up with a common name we all will be proud of.

SECUL AR S TATE

Where did this come from. Fiji has always been a nation under God. All people who now call Fiji home are all people of faith. Fijians, descendants of Girmitiyas, Muslims, European descendants, Gujiratis, Rotumans,

Banabans, Pacific islands, all will affirm faith in God. There was a conspiracy thinking that the introduction of the secular state was tosuppress the Christian faith. I am however, a bit ambivalent on making

Fiji a Christian State. I believe faith is a personal relationship with God.

It would be sufficient if a new constitution states that Fiji is a nation under God to demonstrate that are people, irrespective of ethnicity, who believe in God. I am wary when clever people try to explains away that a secular state is merely

to separate religion from government.

By declaring a nation under God will do that too. I suspect that the push for secular state stems from the dominance of one particular faith in public fora. There has been a long-standing practice, a

tradition, almost customary.

To be sure, a secular state, in the plainest English meaning, is a nation without God.

BILL OF RIGHTS

UNDRIP should be included.

A NEW WAY

A new constitution should come up with new ways of doing business.

Our system of needs to be changed. Not for just for the sake of change.

But because there are better ways of doing things. In looking back at the road we the people of Fiji have journeyed together since independence, I believe we should be asking ourselves very serious questions.

Our system of government, the parliamentary system we have adopted, even the brand of democracy we live in.

Have they been the best for us as a people and as a nation.

DEMOCRACY

Is western form democracy we have willy-nilly adopted really the best way forward for Fiji. I ask the question. We are a communal people,we do things together.

Our way of life, does not leave anyone behind.

But that is what has become of us.

We have all bandied the word and the concept of soleslevaki. It is an over-hyped word but underused, trivialised even misused. But therein lies the future our nation. In invite

the Commission to come to my village of Waciwaci in Lakeba, Lau and see what we are starting to do there under the WINDS of LAU initiatives.

We hope to transfer the intellectual property for this to other villages on the island and other islands in the province and out of the province. The thinking is to spread

it around the country. A small seed.

Sadly no attempt has been seriously made to realise the full potential of solesolevaki at the national level.

That should be now our mantra. To be sure, I am not against the practice of democracy, not just the western kind. Democracy mixed with communal solesolevaki could the potent portion we have been

missing.

The elixir for our national healing.

DECOLONISE

Sadly, I dare say that we are still largely a colony, despite over 50 years of so-called independence. In our minds, in our processes, in our laws, in in our institutions, in

the way we do things. We still have photos of the late Queen of Britain in our villages. I acknowledge there was, and still is, a lot of affections, but how long do we stoke that fire.

We should start the process of full, real and total decolonisation. I give an example.

The Bose Levu Vakaturaga was created by the colonial's government and was in existence throughout until someone sent them to drink homebrew under a mango tree. Even after it is resurrected, it still is operating under the same colonial rules and laws.

Colonial rule was never altogether altruistic. It laws and regulations were meant to protect them and to make life easy for its servant. They were never meant for the benefit of the ruled.

Another example. Before independence there was the Colonial

Sugar Refinery. After the Fiji flag was raised, there was the Fiji Sugar Corporation with a lot of hope.

But the same laws and monopoly that protected the CSR were translated to do the same for the FSC.

Our land laws, mining laws are now just being merely tweeted while the long hands of the colonial hands are still very visible.

Section 281 of the 2013 Constitution which deals with land arrangements should be taken out and left

to the respective legislations.

The NLTB has served its purpose well when the great man created it those many years ago. Many are pointing fingers at it and even accusing the great man of not doing enough. We should cease blaming what was good to a certain point.

Of course there are some serious shortcomings in NLTB. Because it is still largely operating on the colonial mode. But instead of harking back to the perceived ills of the past, we put our collective heads together to improve the situation.

It mut be noted that crown land, freehold land, mineral six feet under, etc, are foreign concepts.

At some point these must be addressed.

But with a proviso. That the interest and welfare of nonindigenous

Fijians be address and protected. A secure and enduring system of 1 and access to all Fijians should be worked out.

The colony did not allow a second common language to be taught in school to allow meaningful grassroot integration, after Over 50 years of self rule we still have not done it. I used to think that Hindi should be our second common language, because it gives us an international edge, But I now believe that it should be Fijian as we are now being called Fijians