Vice-chancellor of the University of Fiji- Shaista Shameem [Source: Fiji Government/Facebook]

Constitutional lawyer Professor Shaista Shameem has raised concerns as to how far back the grievances need to go to achieve effective reconciliation.

Speaking during Truth and Reconciliation Commission consultations held at the University of Fiji, Shameem claims that everyone is now feeling unsettled due to proposed policies.

She asserts that on the one hand they feel insecure; on the other hand, reconciliation doesn’t make any sense to many.

She adds that reconciliation starts with the truth, and we need to tell the truth first.

Professor Shameem says that Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka’s endorsement of the 1997 Constitution should be apology enough, as that Constitution had an excellent Bill of Rights.

She says it was a document of national reconciliation at the time on which the 2013 Constitution was built.

The constitutional lawyer says the Bill of Rights gave Chandrika Prasad his rights back and abolished the death penalty that George Speight faced.

She adds that it delivered rights to them both, one a perpetrator, the other the victim.

Professor Shameem stressed that gender reconciliation is also important.