𝐀 𝐁𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐊 𝐂𝐇𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐌𝐀𝐒 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐅𝐔𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐅𝐈𝐉𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐒!

‘𝐑𝐮𝐬𝐡’ 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐅𝐢𝐣𝐢’𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐬’ 𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐈𝐧𝐢𝐚 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐮 has released a strongly worded statement warning that the Government’s plan to bring a new Constitution into ‘𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞’ by 𝟐𝟒 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 risks placing Fiji’s long-term stability on shaky ground. The party says a constitution is meant to provide stability for generations, yet Fijians are being asked to accept fundamental changes to the country’s supreme law in roughly three months. According to the Constitution Review Commission’s own figures, less than one per cent of the population took part in the consultation process. People First argues this is far too limited for such a major overhaul of the state’s structure, citizens’ rights and the electoral system. The Government intends a special parliamentary sitting on 22 September, followed by further parliamentary steps and a referendum between November and mid-December, with the new document scheduled to take effect on Christmas Eve. People First calls this an extraordinarily compressed timetable and demands a clear explanation of ‘𝐖𝐇𝐘’ the deadline cannot be extended. Particular concern is raised about the shift from the current national electoral system under the 2013 Constitution to one based on open constituencies. This would require new electoral boundaries and significant preparation by the Electoral Commission and Fijian Elections Office. The party insists the Government must guarantee that the next general election will not be delayed as a result. Drawing on Fiji’s political history, People First warns that rushed constitutional change can create uncertainty, weaken social cohesion, undermine confidence in institutions and harm the economy. In a diverse, multicultural society, any new Constitution must command broad confidence across communities rather than serve a short political timetable. The statement also calls on the coalition partners to take a clear stand. It says they cannot remain silent while a fundamental change to the constitutional and electoral system proceeds at speed, and that they have both the opportunity and the responsibility to insist on a more careful process. On transitional arrangements, People First notes that a Cabinet subcommittee is examining what happens after 24 December. The party demands precise answers: 𝙒𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙗𝙚 𝙖 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙤𝙙? 𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙞𝙩 𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙩? 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙞𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙂𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩? 𝙒𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙭𝙩 𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣? Fijians, it argues, should not be asked to vote on a new Constitution while remaining in the dark about the day after it comes into force. People First’s formal calls are: • 𝑺𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒓𝒐𝒑 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 24 𝑫𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 2026 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆; •𝑮𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒖𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒄 𝒆𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒄𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒛𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏; • 𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒕 𝒂 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒖𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒖𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏; • 𝑪𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒚 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒔, 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝒎𝒂𝒑; • 𝑮𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒙𝒕 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒅; 𝒂𝒏𝒅 • 𝑭𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒆𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒕 𝒐𝒏 𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕, 𝑮𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆. The party concludes that Fiji cannot afford another constitutional mistake. A Constitution that will govern the country for future generations must emerge from a credible, inclusive and carefully considered process—𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗣𝗢𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗟 𝗛𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗘