Legal counsel Tevita Vakalalabure, representing the Ioane Naivalurua group, argued before Fiji’s Supreme Court this afternoon that the 1997 Constitution remains the lawful constitution of Fiji.
He submitted it was never legally abrogated.
Mr Vakalalabure emphasised that the 1997 Constitution was developed through democratic processes with full public participation and parliamentary approval.
He urged the court to take note of what Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka had said when he introduced the 1997 Constitution Bill in Parliament on June 23, 1997.
He cited Mr Rabuka’s words: “What will give legitimacy to our Constitution is the principle that it has been developed with the free and full participation of everyone. It provides for a system of parliamentary government based on the consent of the people.”
He argued that the 2013 Constitution, drafted by a small group of officials without broad public consent, lacks lawful legitimacy and cannot claim to represent the will of the Fijian people, now or in the future.
“By that standard, a constitution cannot claim lawful legitimacy today, and in our view, 50 years from now.”