National Federation Party (NFP) leader Professor Biman Prasad has urged Parliament to defer the third reading of the Constitution Amendment Bill until after the next general election, saying the additional three weeks allowed for consultations would not address public concerns surrounding the proposed changes.
Speaking in Parliament during debate on a motion to defer the tabling of the Bill for its third reading, Prof Prasad said the process should continue after the election to allow for wider consultation, discussion and consensus.
He said delaying the process would give the country an opportunity to develop a constitutional document that was accepted and owned by all Fijians.
“As I said to the Honourable Prime Minister, who is the chair of the Special Committee, in my letter, it would be very good if we did not impose this timeline and continued this process after the general election,” he said.
Prof Prasad acknowledged that the composition of Parliament could change following the election, with different political parties and representatives potentially taking part in the process.
However, he said there was already common ground among political leaders on the need to change the 2013 Constitution.
“Even from the Opposition side, the Honourable Leader of the Opposition is on record to say that the 2013 Constitution needs to change, and we all share that view,” he said.
He rejected suggestions that postponing the process would amount to wasting public resources, saying the consultations and parliamentary debates conducted so far had been worthwhile.
“There is no wastage of resources, as some people might claim. The work that has been done so far, in terms of consultation and debate, is worth the money spent,” he said.
However, Prof Prasad questioned whether extending the consultation period by another three weeks would resolve concerns about the process.
“We believe that these three additional weeks are not going to allay the fears, the suspicions and the perceptions of the people that have been created,” he said.
He urged Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka and the Special Parliamentary Committee to reconsider the timetable and allow the process to continue after the election.
Prof Prasad said the additional time would provide an opportunity for better consensus, more meaningful discussions and disagreements to be addressed before a final constitutional document was produced.
“Whatever we get after that, the acceptance and the perception should be that it is a document that would be owned by everyone in the country,” he said.
