The restoration of the Great Council of Chiefs (GCC) is a priority for the Government, says Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka.
In his contribution to the debate on Bill No 26, which aims to amend the iTaukei Affairs Act to allow for the restoration of the council, Mr Rabuka said it had been 10 years since the council was abolished by law but without consultation with the chiefs and indigenous people of Fiji.
“The restoration of the GCC is in line with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) which the Coalition Cabinet formally endorsed earlier this year,” the Prime Minister said.
“This Bill also implements the Government’s obligations under ILO Convention No 169 on the Rights of Indigenous and Tribal Peoples, which Fiji ratified on the third of March, 1998, under the SVT Coalition Government.”
Mr Rabuka said for the past 16 years, 37 laws and decrees were promulgated without consultation with the indigenous people, their leaders or their institutions.
