Republic of Fiji Military Forces Commander Major General Jone Kalouniwai says the military’s submission on the Constitution Amendment Bill is driven by the need to protect ordinary Fijians, particularly widows, children, persons with disabilities and families still waiting for justice.
In his submission to the Parliamentary Committee considering the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2026, Major General Kalouniwai said the military had placed people, rather than constitutional provisions, at the centre of its deliberations.
“Mr Chairman, when we seriously pondered over this Bill, we did not first think of sections and subsections. We thought of people,” he said.
“We thought of a mother in our villages who rises before dawn, watches the price of rice and flour climb, and wonders whether her children will have a better life than hers.”
He said the RFMF had also considered the struggles of young people without a voice, vulnerable children, persons with disabilities and widows seeking dignity.
The Commander made particular reference to families who had suffered during Fiji’s troubled political history.
“We thought of the young man in many of out settlements who has no voice in rooms like this one, the child who cannot yet speak for herself, the person living with a disability, the widow who asks only for dignity, and the families who lost sons, husbands and fathers in the dark chapters of our history, and who are still waiting for the truth.”
Major General Kalouniwai stressed that constitutional protections were especially important for those without political influence or institutional power.
“The powerful will always find protection. But the common people of Fiji, and above all the vulnerable, have only one shield: that is the law.”
He warned that unequal application of the law would disproportionately affect those least able to defend themselves.
“When the law is equal, they are safe. When the law bends for the few, they are the first to fall.”
The Commander said the RFMF’s position was therefore not about protecting the military’s interests but ensuring that Fiji’s supreme law provided equal protection for every citizen.
“It is for them – the widowed, the helpless, the vulnerable and forgotten, Mr Chairman, that the RFMF speaks today.”
The statement forms part of the military’s broader submission calling for stronger constitutional accountability, safeguards for fundamental rights and changes to provisions granting immunity for past actions.
