THE Referendum Bill is set to be brought before Parliament in December, Acting Attorney-General and Justice Minister Siromi Turaga has confirmed.
“We will get the Referendum Bill in December,” Mr Turaga said.
He confirmed the Constitutional Amendment Bill would not be brought before Parliament in the current session, which ends on Friday.
“The Cabinet subcommittee, chaired by the Prime Minister, has been working on this. Some of the committee members are meeting today (yesterday).”
Mr Turaga said the subcommittee’s work was progressing and he expected discussions to begin soon.
“We are going to anticipate vigorous meetings starting from today. Then we will thrash out with other members – it’s quite difficult to get that going.”
He said the Cabinet Subcommittee on the Constitution included the Prime Minister, the leaders of the three coalition parties, Lands Minister Filimoni Vosarogo, Information Minister Lynda Tabuya and himself, because of their legal backgrounds.
Asked what else could be expected before year-end, Mr Turaga said preparations were already under way for the Constitution Review Committee.
“Part of this process is, first of all, the appointment of the Constitution Review Committee.
“That’s already part of a Cabinet decision, but it has yet to be announced. We’ll be meeting with the Prime Minister soon. This needs to be agreed by all,” he said.
“Probably in the coming weeks, we should be progressing with it because there have been some discussions.
“Initially, there was some representation to set up the committee early in the year. Unfortunately, we were of the view that we should wait for the Supreme Court’s decision.
“Once we brief the Prime Minister today (in the committee), the next important thing is the announcement of the Constitution Review Committee and its terms of reference.”
