Fiji Council of Social Services Executive Director Vani Catanasiga [Photo: File]

Fiji’s Constitution review is moving at a pace that civil society leaders say risks leaving ordinary Fijians without enough time to understand what could change in the country’s most important legal document.

Fiji Council of Social Services Executive Director Vani Catanasiga says the Constitution does not belong to politicians, it belongs to the people.

She says the public has not had enough time to understand the review process, its timelines or the potential impact of the proposed changes.

Catanasiga says her organisation, which has a wide network of community-based organisations, is concerned by how quickly the process is progressing.

She says civil society groups are only now starting discussions on what the proposed changes could mean for communities.

Centre for Democracy and Dialogue CEO Nilesh Lal says the issue is bigger than simply changing sections of the 2013 Constitution.

He says any constitutional reform must give people a meaningful opportunity to understand, debate and influence the document that governs their rights and institutions.

Lal says there is agreement in principle that there are structural problems with the 2013 Constitution, including what he describes as disproportionate power being concentrated in the executive.

“Fixing those issues requires a process that is credible, inclusive and genuinely participatory.”

The concern is also being driven by the numbers.

Lal says the Constitution Review Commission received around 1,230 submissions.

While that is slightly higher than the approximately 1,100 submissions received during the process that led to the 2013 Constitution, he says it is significantly lower than the more than 7,000 submissions received during the Ghai constitutional process, which took about 11 to 12 months.

Lal describes that timeframe as very compressed and says it should not be acceptable for a process of such national importance.

The Contitutional Review Commission report will be tabled in Parliament today in a special Parliament sitting.