[Source: Legal Aid Commission Fiji/ Facebook]

Leader of Opposition Inia Seruiratu says a comprehensive talanoa, with full disclosure of what has transpired in Fiji in the various events from 1987 must take place, before any process to amend the 2013 Constitution.

Seruiratu stresses these steps are fundamental.

He adds that it is critical to know what happened, and who was behind all of these events, that shook Fiji, and pushed us backward on the development path.

According to Seruiratu, such a talanoa is the basis for a full transparency and reconciliation process that will ensure solutions that have caused past problems.

Seruiratu stresses that a review of the Constitution must undergo a rigorous process.

He highlights that the very first step in that process should be the convening of talanoa sessions or political dialogue involving our political and community leaders.

Seruiratu says this is a necessary part of the process, without which Fiji will continue to drift apart, our differences become untenable, our fears grow palpable, and there will be no end to distrust circles.

He adds the Talanoa Sessions must involve higher-order proficiencies in honest discussions and emphatic listening, problem identification, constructive feedback, consensus building, and conflict resolution to allow for the identification of the deeper and more complex problems that have plagued Fiji, resulting in the undesirable chronic conflicts that we had encountered as a nation.

Seruiratu says one of the key benefits of such Talanoa Sessions is that it can reveal the beauty and symmetry of our differences and enable us to reset our moral compass, thus allowing us to unite around our disagreements, our differences, and of course our agreements.

He warns that by dismissing the opportunity to be involved in Talanoa Sessions or Political Dialogue, Fiji is omitting the essence of true reconciliation.

According to him the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, premised on the outcomes of the Talanoa Sessions, is the next step in the process, followed eventually by the review of the constitution itself.

The common denominator in this whole process Seruiratu says must be the future of our nation, and all those who call Fiji their home.

Seruiratu says Constitutional Law from the Australian National University’s Professor Anthony James Regan’s discourse at the Fiji National University Vice-Chancellor’s Leadership Seminar Series earlier this month has generated a groundswell of affirmative views on the need for a wholesale review of Fiji’s 2013 Constitution.

The Opposition Leader says this culminated with the End-of-the-Week Statement by the Independent MP Viliame Naupoto in Parliament reiterating the call for the review of the Constitution.

He stresses the Constitution is the fundamental law of the nation which outlines the powers and limitations of government and the rights of citizens.

Seruiratu says it is an essential document that sets the framework for governance in any country.

As with all legal documents, he says a constitution should be considered a “Living Document” which should be subjected to review as circumstances affecting a nation’s life change.

He says a revamped constitution should ensure the strengthening of the principle of popular sovereignty which asserts that the people are the ultimate source of power, hence they should have a bigger say in how they are governed.

Fiji has had four constitutions since gaining independence in 1970 which are 1970, 1990, 1997, and 2013 Constitutions.

He says the 1970 Constitution was purported to be a good balanced document, yet we had the events of 1987.

Seruiratu says the 1997 Constitution was said to be close to perfect, still, we had the events of 2000 and 2006.

Seruiratu says what this demonstrates is that constitutions do not solve problems.

He stresses there must be a shared commitment, built around our diversities, to the aspirations and the spirit of the Constitution, to make it work.

He says Professor Regan has made his observations on 2013 Constitution clear from a legal viewpoint.

Seruiratu says Professor Regan’s approach was legalistic.

He stresses that the government must now show leadership to pave the way forward in ensuring that the outcome of any review is acceptable to all, and is sustainable in the long term.

Seruiratu says governments come and go, it is the nation and its people that will continue to remain.