OPPOSITION Leader Inia Seruiratu has told Parliament the Professor Yash Ghai 2012 draft of the Fiji Constitution failed to reflect the extensive consultations conducted throughout the country.
Mr Seruiratu detailed the history behind the National Council for Building a Better Fiji, established in 2007 after the 2006 events, which spearheaded consultations.
“So, when consultations – extensive consultations – took place throughout Fiji, about 1028 consultations at village and settlement levels, with organisations and individuals, businesses and more, this was not just about one particular area,” Mr Seruiratu explained.
“Professor Yash Ghai, before he landed in Fiji, came through Australia, where he was briefed before coming to Fiji. When he arrived, most political parties were not part of the National Council for Building a Better Fiji.
“They refused because of the events of 2006. So, these are the people who befriended Professor Yash Ghai, apart from other lobbyists, interested parties and so forth, and that shaped the way in which the Yash Ghai Report was formulated.
“That is the context, Mr Speaker, Sir. When that happened, again, the will of the people through the State of the Nation and Economy report and the People’s Charter, after the extensive consultations, was not reflected.
“I know that the honourable Tikoduadua is now laughing because he knows the process that all of this went through. That is how we arrived at the 2013 Constitution.”
