The Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2025 was defeated in Parliament last night after failing to secure the required votes to amend Section 160 of the 2013 Constitution.
Following a long day of debate, Speaker of the House Filimone Jitoko confirmed the vote results, announcing that 40 MPs voted in favour, 14 opposed, and one member abstained.
However, Standing Orders 93(1)(b) mandates that no less than three-quarters of all members – equivalent to 41 MPs – must support the Bill for it to proceed.
“Section 69(1) requires that decisions must be determined by a majority of votes from members present and voting. Therefore, if 41 votes in favour are not achieved, the Bill shall not proceed. It ends here,” Mr Jitoko said.
The defeat means that constitutional amendments will remain subject to the stringent three-quarters voting requirement, a provision critics argue makes changes nearly impossible.
Government members had pushed for the threshold to be lowered to two-thirds, citing the need for a more flexible process.
