Draft constitution set this month

February 3, 2013 | Filed under: Fiji News | Posted by: newsroom
By MAIKELI SERU

The draft constitution is expected to be completed this month.

This was revealed by the Fijian Government on Friday.

This follows an announcement last month revealing an amendment to the Ghai Draft prepared by Professor Yash Ghai and the Constitution Commission.

“The draft constitution was always intended to be issued when the Constituent Assembly sits, which is scheduled for later this month, February. The document is in the final stages and will be ready to present to the Constituent Assembly when it meets,” Government told the Fiji Sun.

The draft is expected to be given to the Constituent Assembly first, compared to the controversy surrounding the completion of the Commission’s draft.

The Assembly will then discuss it in sessions open to the media and the public.

The timeline of the new draft is in line with an earlier statement by the Prime Minister, Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama, during the announcement of the amendment at Government House with the President, Ratu Epeli Nailatikau.

“The Constituent Assembly is to have its first sitting in February 2013. We expect, as announced last year, that a new Constitution should be in place by March of this year,” Commodore Bainimarama said during the announcement.