Republic of Fiji Military Forces Commander Major General Jone Kalouniwai has acknowledged the military’s role in Fiji’s past coups, declaring that constitutional immunity has protected those in power and helped perpetuate a cycle of rebellion.
In a submission to the Parliamentary Committee considering the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2026, Major General Kalouniwai said the military could not escape responsibility for its involvement in overthrowing Fiji’s constitutional order.
“Honourable Members, the RFMF does not come before you with clean hands,” he said.
“In 1987, in 2000 and in 2006, the constitutional order of our nation was overturned, and the RFMF was at the centre of those events.”
He acknowledged the devastating consequences of those events on ordinary Fijians.
“Lives were lost, families were broken, and in some homes the wound has never healed.”
Major General Kalouniwai said the military had examined why Fiji experienced repeated coups and identified what it described as the “Architecture of Rebellion.”
He said the structure rested on four pillars: secrecy, governance through fear, loyalty to individuals rather than the people, and constitutional immunity.
“Each coup did not only break the law. It rewrote the law, so that the breaking became legitimate.”
The Commander said immunity provisions had allowed those responsible for destabilising the country to escape accountability.
“Mr Chairman, that is what immunity has done to Fiji. It is our mark of impunity.”
He described the system as a contradiction in which the language of peace, stability and reconciliation was used to justify protection from accountability.
“In the name of stability, we protected those who destabilised the nation. In the name of reconciliation, we silenced those who were wronged.”
Drawing on the biblical account of Cain and Abel, Major General Kalouniwai compared constitutional immunity to a mark that shielded wrongdoing from accountability.
He said the consequences extended beyond individual coups, creating conditions for further political instability.
“And so the cycle turned. Governance failed, pressure grew for the military to step in, the military stepped in, immunity followed, and impunity grew deeper, preparing the ground for the next failure.”
Major General Kalouniwai stressed that immunity had never served the interests of ordinary citizens.
“Immunity has never protected the widow, the farmer or the child. It has protected only those who held power.”
The RFMF has recommended replacing Chapter 14 of the proposed Constitution with provisions establishing a Truth, Accountability and Reconciliation Commission, where protection would depend on full disclosure and would not extend to the gravest crimes.
The Commander said Fiji now had an opportunity to break from its history of coups and establish a constitutional order in which no individual or institution stood above the law.
