The People's Charter for Change, Peace and Progress (initially, People's Charter for Change and Progress) was a proposed legal document which would have complemented the 1997 Constitution of Fiji. It would have established compulsory guidelines for any government policy in Fiji over the coming years. The People's Charter was due to be completed and come into force prior to the scheduled 2014 general election.
A draft version of the Charter was released to the public in early August 2008. Input from the public was to be received in August and September. Council member Filimoni Kau stated that objections would be considered, but that the Charter would go ahead in any case.
Context The People's Charter was the brainchild of interim Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama, head of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces, who overthrew the elected Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase in December 2006. Bainimarama alleged that Qarase was corrupt and racist, and declared that a People's Charter was necessary in order to prevent corruption and racism within future elected governments.
Content and aims of the Charter
Stated objective In April 2007, a draft version of the Charter was published."Building a Better Fiji for All through a People's Charter for Change and Progress" , Fiji government website, April 2007 The draft, intended as a general presentation of the future Charter's aims, began with a statement that "Fiji’s politics and overall governance have been dominated by and deeply mired in divisive, race-based politics, policies, and institutions". Consequently, the text authors state, "Fiji needs to become a more progressive and a truly democratic nation; a country in which its leaders, at all levels, emphasize national unity, racial harmony and the social and economic advancement of all communities regardless of race or ethnic origin."
The overall objective of the Charter is defined as follows: To rebuild Fiji into a non-racial, culturally-vibrant and united, well-governed, truly democratic nation that seeks progress, and prosperity through merit-based equality of opportunity, and peace.
Much emphasis is laid on the necessity to prioritise national unity over the politics of separate ethnic communities.
In August 2008, shortly before the Charter was due to be released to the public, it was announced that it recommended a change in the name of Fiji's citizens. If the proposal were adopted, all citizens of Fiji, whatever their ethnicity, would be called "Fijians". At present, the word "Fijian" does not denote a nationality, and refers exclusively to indigenous Fijians. Citizens of Fiji are referred to as "Fiji Islanders". The proposal would change the English name of indigenous Fijians from "Fijians" to itaukei, the Fijian word for indigenous Fijians."Charter proposes common Fijian name", August 4, 2008
Archbishop Petero Mataca summed up the Charter by saying it would "reinforce the quality and sustainability of democracy in Fiji" and "provide a clearer vision of the principles and values we want to live by"."'Charter will not replace Fiji Constitution'" , FijiLive, January 16, 2008
Short-term consequences Commodore Bainimarama said that the People's Charter would prevent any candidate for the 2009 general election from campaigning on racist and divisive policies. Such candidates would be barred from taking part in the election.
"That will be taken care of by the charter so if anybody with Qarase-like policies comes in, the charter will automatically remove them." Fiji's coup leader 'to bar PM from poll', Sydney Morning Herald, 18 October 2007.
Asked by a journalist whether Qarase would be allowed to take part in the election, Bainimarama said he would: "That is also in the commitment we had yesterday and that was [sic] always been there".see reference note 2
In May 2008, Bainimarama added that the military would enforce future governments' compliance with the provisions of the Charter."Agree With Charter Or No Elections", FijiVillage, May 22, 2008
Methodology The Charter was prepared by a National Council for Building a Better Fiji (NCBBF), supposed to be "broadly representative of Fiji society (including leaders and representatives from the civil society including NGOs, the private sector, religious and community organisations, employers/workers and youth organisations, and the political parties)".
The NCBBF held its first meeting on January 16, 2008. It reportedly began with an "in depth" assessment of the state of the nation."Fiji council members revealed" , Fiji Live, 16 January 2008"'Charter will not replace Fiji Constitution'" , Fiji Live, 17 January 2008"PM explains where Fiji went wrong" , Fiji Live, 16 January 2008"Fiji’s National Council members" , Fiji Broadcasting Corporation Ltd, 16 January 2008
Officially, the NCBBF's work on the Charter is overseen by an independent monitoring group, which reports directly to President Ratu Josefa Iloilo. The monitoring group was chaired by Sela Molisa, a member of the Parliament of Vanuatu. Reverend Amy Chambers is also a member of the monitoring group."Vanuatu MP to monitor charter" , Fiji Times, June 12, 2008 The NCBBF itself is composed of three task teams, one (co-chaired by Ratu Josefa Serulagilagi and Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum) tasked with focusing on good governance, another (co-chaired by Ratu Josateki Nawalowalo and Finance Minister Mahendra Chaudhry) on economic growth, and the third (co-chaired by Loraini Tevi and Health Minister Dr. Jiko Luveni) on "social cultural identity and nation building.""Flawed democracy" , Fiji Labour Party website, July 23, 2008
On June 24, 2008, the NCBBF made several recommendations, all of them in line with Bainimarama's original aims. These included: abolishing communal electoral rolls, and replacing them with proportional representation abolishing compulsory voting reducing the voting age to 18 new anti-discrimination laws."Fourth NCBBF communique" , Fiji government press release, June 24, 2008
The NCBBF advocated implementing electoral reforms before holding any election. A representative of the Council stated: "The NCBBF is of the firm view that change is long overdue and that Fiji urgently needs a new electoral system based on equal suffrage - that is one person, one vote, equal value.""No Fiji vote 'before electoral reform'", AAP, June 24, 2008
On August 5, 2008, the NCBBF announced that it had endorsed a draft Charter document, which was to be released shortly thereafter. Fijilive reported that the NCBBF planned to "gauge the views of the people on the draft Charter via a public awareness campaign over the next six weeks". Meetings would be held in public venues, the Charter would be advertised in the media, and there would be "consultations by public relations teams at grassroots level in all the villages and settlements throughout the country"."NCBBF endorses draft Peoples’ Charter" , Fijilive, August 5, 2008
Implementation It was unclear how the People's Charter would be officially implemented. The interim government announced that the public would be consulted, but no official reference to a referendum was made. Legally, if the Charter was deemed to alter the Constitution, it could only be adopted by a two-thirds majority of elected members of Parliament, which was not in session, having been dismissed after the coup."Charter will end ethnic dominance", Sydney Morning Herald, August 7, 2008 Deposed Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase, who opposed the Charter, however, stated that a referendum would constitute legal validation."Qarase: Let people decide", Fiji Times, August 8, 2008 In the end, the abrogation of the Constitution in 2009 made the question redundant, and much of the essence of the People's Charter was included in the new constitution promulgated by the interim government in 2013.
Content The People's Charter was released to the public on August 6, 2008. Among its key proposals were the following:"People’s Charter Insight", Fiji Daily Post, August 7, 2008 addressing the root causes of coups through political, social and economic reform; toughening the sanctions against coups; building "conflict resolution mechanisms for groups and individuals affected by coups"; empowering courts to penalise or dissolve political parties which "engage in activities that breach important values of the constitution"; establishing "civic programmes to raise public awareness about the injustice and illegality coups and issues of democracy and good governance"; ensuring a separation between Church and State; enhancing and facilitating "public participation in all aspects of governments"; enacting a Code of Conduct for government leaders; reforming land legislation to facilitate general access to land use, while maintaining and enhancing indigenous landowners’ rights; officialising the military's role in overseeing the governing of the country; introducing a one-man, one-vote electoral system, to replace the communal electoral rosters.
In addition, specific proposals aimed at promoting national unity and reducing inter-ethnic divisiveness:"Charter proposes common name" , Fiji Times, August 7, 2008 changing the official demonym of Fiji's inhabitants from "Fiji Islander" to "Fijian", a term currently applied only to indigenous Fijians; promoting interfaith dialogue; teaching both the Fijian language and Hindi in schools, so as to promote multiculturalism; instituting a national anthem in the country's three main languages: Fijian, Hindi and English.
Criticism and support
Prior to publication The proposed Charter received strong support from the head of the Roman Catholic Church in Fiji, Archbishop Petero Mataca, who became co-chair (with Commodore Bainimarama) of the National Council for Building a Better Fiji. However, others were more cautious, noncommittal or openly critical. Fiji Women's Crisis Centre coordinator Shamima Ali declined to comment. Fiji's Citizens Constitutional Forum continued to oppose the military coup, calling it unjustifiable, but in response to the proposed Charter, said there is "a serious need to re-look at problems to find solutions to move the country forward"."Launch of the National Council for Building a Better Fiji" , Citizens Constitutional Forum, October 10, 2007
The National Federation Party and the Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua Party both opposed the idea of a People's Charter implemented by an unelected government."People's Charter for Change and Progress launched" , Losalini Dulakiverata, 11 October 2007 Fiji’s Methodist Church, to which a majority of indigenous Fijians belong, also opposed the Charter, stating that it had been instructed by God to do so. The Fiji Labour Party supported it."Labour supports reforms to the electoral system" , Labour Party website, July 23, 2008 The Fiji Council of Churches offered cautious support, urging people not to oppose it outright, and suggesting that it provided "a window of opportunity for the nation to move forward".
Samisoni Pareti of the magazine Islands Business expressed doubt as to whether elections could be held as promised in early 2009 if the interim government insisted on having the People's Charter in place before the election. In Pereti's view, the Charter would not be completed in time, and Bainimarama might have to choose between postponing the election (and thus sparking the ire of the international community) or abandoning his People's Charter."Polls to be Deferred? Either that or the People's Charter an exercise in futility" , Samisoni Pareti, Islands Business Pareti's prediction turned out to be accurate: the election was postponed."No Elections in Fiji in 2009 says Bainimarama" , Fiji Broadcasting Corporation, July 18, 2008