The Constitution Review Commission (CRC) and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) are unnecessary costs during an election period, says former attorney-general and economy minister Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum.
Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said the work of both commissions should not be carried out during the campaign period, arguing that any major constitutional or reconciliation process would be better handled after the general election.
He said the CRC raised questions because Fiji was already in a campaign period and any recommendations it produced before the election would still require further political and legal processes.
“It’s an unnecessary cost. We are in a campaign period now,” he said.
“Even if, for example, they came out with a report in four months’ time, what are you going to do about it? Elections will be held. It has to be held by no later than February.
“Will Parliament then say, let’s have a referendum? It’s an entirely expensive exercise.”
Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said if political parties wanted to pursue constitutional reform, they should make it an election issue and carry it out after the polls if they received a mandate from voters.
He also questioned whether the CRC was being used as a political tool, claiming some people involved in the commission had previously been candidates for political parties.
Mr Sayed-Khaiyum also criticised the TRC, describing it as a “waste of time” in the broader national context.
He said very few people who had been genuinely affected by past events had taken part in the process, apart from some political and military figures.
He argued that Fiji’s situation could not be compared with South Africa because Fiji did not have an apartheid system or a history of ethnic violence on that scale.
“Yes, there had been racist attitudes, but those issues had been addressed over time through years of leadership.”
He said Fiji’s constitutional development had also moved toward a common national identity, including the principle that all citizens were Fijian.
