A unanimous call has been made by Naduri villagers to scrap Fiji’s current electoral system and return to the old constituency-based model.
“This way, we can vote for someone we actually know — someone who understands our daily challenges,” said villager Rapoama Raqi.
Fellow villager Viliame Rova agreed.
“We can’t relate to the current candidates. They don’t know us — and we don’t know them,” he said.
Under the old system, voters chose local representatives. That changed with the introduction of a nationwide voting system.
Electoral Law Reform Commission member Prof Wadan Narsey said voters were now handed ballot papers with hundreds of numbers — no names or party symbols.
“You don’t even know where the candidates are from,” he said.
The villagers also called for a change to the voting eligibility age from 18 to 21 years.
“Politicians target them for votes – but they don’t really know what’s going on,” said Ravulolo Draunibaka, adding that changing the voting age would ensure more informed, responsible voters.
Commission chair Daniel Fatiaki acknowledged that many villagers felt 18 years was too young.
“We’re seeing less interest from 18-year olds at these consultations – they may not yet feel ready to decide who sits in Parliament,” he said.
Mr Raqi also proposed that the number of seats in Parliament should be increased from 55 to 60 – distributed equally for women, men and youths.
“This ensures everyone has a voice,” he said, adding that the youth category should be 21 to 35 years old.
However, commission chair Daniel Fatiaki said previous consultations had seen people push for fewer seats due to costs.
“They said Parliament was getting too expensive,” he said.
Prof Narsey said the number of seats had grown with the population – and could continue to grow.
