EDITORIAL: By Fred Wesley, editor-in-chief of The Fiji Times
Australian constitutional law expert Professor Anthony Regan believes Fiji’s Coalition government came into power “by the skin of its teeth”.
In the face of that, he believes it is not an option to leave the 2013 Constitution “as it is!”
Professor Regan spoke at the Fiji National University’s (FNU) Vice-Chancellor’s Leadership Seminar in Nasinu on Thursday, on “Constitutional Change in Fiji: Looking to the Future”.
He has voiced caution about the stability of the 2013 Constitution.
“Do you leave it as it is now and say it’s too difficult to change? That’s an option,” he said.
“And you might say that’s OK because the new regime is a fair and thoughtful regime and will act only fairly.
“That may be true, but every government is subject to temptations when there are pressures.”
He spoke about what he terms a pretty bad electoral system designed to keep people in power.
The Coalition government got in by the skin of its teeth in the face of that system.
The system, he argued, designed to favour certain parties, increased the risk of a less favourable government gaining power in the future.
And this, he warned, could cause problems in the future.
“There’s no guarantee that a good outcome will come in every future election and then, if a government that had far less good intent came to power, it’s got the authority to do all the things we have talked about.”
These included overriding human rights and stacking accountability institutions.
He believes the recent Parliamentary remuneration debacle has added a new layer of complexity to the challenges we face as a nation.
He believes, with the added majority in the House, it may be possible to get the 75 percent majority needed to amend the constitution.
He has also suggested possible ways to move on reforms.
He suggested amending electoral legislation, and factored in compulsory voting to raise voter turnout and possibly inch out support for constitutional reforms.
Change though, as the good professor notes, will definitely need support and a united front.
That will mean awareness campaigns designed to raise the level of understanding of any need for reforms and encourage participation.
That will mean taking the message out to the masses, and encouraging them to buy into any bid to make changes.
That isn’t going to be a walk in the park either.
Professor Regan’s opinions will no doubt stimulate discussions on this important topic and encourage people to consider whether it is important enough for them to participate.
So we have what he considers a constitution that is vulnerable to potential abuse by future governments if it is left like this.
And in the face of that sits the need for us all to carefully consider what we must do moving forward. We have layers of complexities as we mentioned above, and major challenges that will need careful consideration and discussions!
Republished from The Sunday Times on 4 August 2024 under the original headline “By the skin of its teeth” with permission.
Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz
