Fiji constitution Photo: supplied
The Fijian government has started laying the groundwork to amend the country's constitution, Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka has reportedly confirmed.
The 2013 Constitution has been criticised by political commentators and opponents of the previous FijiFirst administration, including Rabuka, as being "imposed on the people".
It was a notion strongly brushed off by the former leader Frank Bainimarama - currently serving a one-year jail term for abuse of office - who maintained that the document all Fijians to share "the same rights, the same votes of equal value, and the same national identity".
However, Rabuka's People's Alliance Party (PAP) stated in its 2022 election manifesto that the constitution was "dotted with limitations that render them non-compliance with international human rights laws".
"Government is putting in place legislation or brining a bill to Parliament to enable the [amendment] process to begin," the Prime Minister quoted in a Fiji Sun report on Monday.
He told the newspaper the constitution gave the country's prime minister and the attorney-general "unusual" powers.
Fiji has had four constitutions; 1970, 1990, 1997, and 2013.
In a public lecture at the Fiji National University on Thursday last week, Australian academic Anthony Regan said the Fijian government could pursue legal options to make changes to the 2013 Constitution, suggesting a review was necessary.
"I know of now country in the world that's had so many constitutions and reflects a lack of constitution on what's the best way ahead is," Regan said.
Rabuka told the Fiji Sun he welcomed Regan's comments.
"It was an eye-opener for many, but it is something most of us have been considering," he was quoted as saying by the newspaper.
An editorial in The Fiji Times on Sunday said Regan's remarks that the 2013 Constitution needed a review will "no doubt stimulate discussions on this important topic".
"So we have what he considers a constitution that is vulnerable to potential abuse by future governments if it is left like this," the newspaper's editor Fred Wesley wrote.
