The Fiji Labour Party has told the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Justice, Law, and Human Rights that provisions in the draft National Referendum Bill 2025 were unconstitutional and could undermine democratic participation.
In a submission, Fiji Labour Party representative Dr Sunil Kumar said the bill restricted fundamental freedoms required for a legitimate constitutional referendum.
“Bill 46 is unconstitutional and undemocratic,” Dr Kumar said.
“A constitutional referendum must enable open debate and informed consent.”
He said clauses in the bill violated freedom of speech, expression, assembly, and association, as well as political rights and the right to information protected under the Constitution.
Dr Kumar raised concerns about Clause 11, which allowed polling station details and referendum questions to be published as late as five days before polling.
“This period is too short for a constitutional referendum,” he said.
“It creates opportunity for strategic manipulation.”
He also objected to Clause 16, which required ballot papers to be printed in English only.
“Referendum legitimacy requires that voters fully understand what they vote on,” Dr Kumar said.
“There could be a language barrier for a small but significant percentage of voters.”
Dr Kumar further criticised provisions that allowed only parliamentary parties to set up offices near polling stations.
“This discriminates against politically and socially active groups and violates equality of participation,” he said.
He also raised alarm over Clause 25, which allowed gatherings to be declared unlawful if they caused “annoyance”.
“Annoyance is a very broad and subjective term that can be abused against peaceful assemblies,” Dr Kumar said.
Responding to international practice, Dr Kumar said democracies such as Australia, Canada, Scotland, Ireland, and New Zealand encouraged campaigning and open debate during referendums.
“They did not criminalise campaigning, but encouraged it,” he said.
The Fiji Labour Party called for the repeal or narrowing of Clauses 22 and 23, longer notice periods, multilingual ballot papers, clearer participation rules, and transparent campaigning regulations.
“A referendum must be fair, open and properly prepared,” Dr Kumar said.
“Bill 46 undermines democratic participation.”
