Dialogue Fiji has urged the Constitution Review Commission to retain the modern democratic foundations of Fiji’s 2013 Constitution while reforming what it describes as an excessive concentration of executive power.
In a detailed submission, the organisation said Fiji needs constitutional reform, but warned that the legitimacy of any changes would depend on a process that is transparent, participatory and trusted by the public.
“The core issue is not whether Fiji needs constitutional reform. It does. The issue is whether the reform process is capable of producing legitimacy. A flawed process may produce a document, but it will not produce a constitutional settlement that the people trust.”
Dialogue Fiji criticised the current five-month review process as rushed and lacking sufficient public deliberation, arguing that comprehensive constitutional reform normally takes between 18 and 24 months and should involve civic education, nationwide consultation, public feedback and careful drafting.
The organisation said the current review effectively amounts to a full constitutional review because submissions are being invited on the Constitution as a whole, rather than on specific provisions.
It contrasted the current process with the Ghai Commission, describing it as a benchmark for transparency after receiving more than 7,000 public submissions and publishing them online.
Despite its criticism of the review process, Dialogue Fiji said it does not support sweeping constitutional changes.
“The weakness of the 2013 Constitution is not that it is too modern. The problem is that it combines progressive citizen equality with excessive executive power. Reform must therefore retain the modern democratic foundations of the Constitution, while correcting the structural concentration of power.”
The organisation called for Fiji to retain key features of the current Constitution, including the abolition of communal electoral rolls, a single national electoral roll, one person one vote one value, open-list proportional representation, secularism, equal citizenry and a fully elected unicameral Parliament.
Among its recommendations is a redesign of the Constitutional Offices Commission to make it more independent by removing the Prime Minister as chairperson and creating balanced representation from Government, the Opposition, the Fiji Law Society and academia.
Dialogue Fiji also wants the Public Service Commission strengthened by removing the requirement for the Prime Minister’s agreement when appointing or removing Permanent Secretaries.
On electoral reform, the organisation supports retaining the single nationwide constituency and open-list proportional representation but recommends reducing the electoral threshold from five percent to two percent.
It argues that while the national constituency ensures equal value for every vote and discourages communal politics, the current five percent threshold unfairly disadvantages smaller political parties.
Dialogue Fiji has also proposed constitutional incentives to improve gender representation among election candidates through public funding criteria, while recommending a maximum Cabinet of 15 ministers, a two-term limit for the Prime Minister and stronger constitutional safeguards against executive dominance.
The submission also calls for stronger protections for judicial independence, constitutional recognition of access to information as an enforceable right, greater protection for the independence of Parliament and the Public Accounts Committee, and stricter controls on fast-tracking legislation.
Dialogue Fiji further proposed introducing a citizens’ petition mechanism to allow members of the public to formally request Parliament to consider issues of national importance.
The organisation also urged the Commission to retain Fiji as a secular state, preserve equal citizenry and continue recognising “Fijian” as the common nationality for all citizens.
“Fiji does not need another Constitution that one side celebrates and another side rejects. We need a constitutional settlement that is modern, democratic, inclusive, rights-protecting and institutionally balanced. Above all, we need a Constitution that belongs to the people of Fiji.”
