FIJI'S DRAFT PEOPLES CHARTER RELEASED

UNCLAS SUVA 000315


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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL FJ
SUBJECT: FIJI'S DRAFT PEOPLES CHARTER RELEASED


1. (U) Summary. The National Council for Building a better Fiji
(NCBBF) unveiled its draft Peoples Charter for Change and Progress
on August 5. The original plan to have the Charter voted on by the
people of Fiji has gone by the wayside. NCBBF will instead conduct
six weeks of public consultations before delivering the Charter to
the President in late September. The draft Charter affirms that the
Constitution is "the supreme law of Fiji." However, some
recommendations, such as changing the voting system, can only be
accomplished by amending Fiji's constitution, which in turn can only
be accomplished by parliament. How exactly the IG intends to
implement the Charter proposals remains a subject of much
speculation. Meanwhile, the NCBBF announced that it has no money to
conduct six weeks of consultations and is looking for donors. In a
perhaps related event, the IG announced that the Great Council of
Chiefs will not meet in August as previously announced because
leaders from only three of Fiji's fourteen provinces have agreed to
participate. End Summary.


2. (U) The NCBBF was convened early this year, with forty members
drawn from across society and is co-chaired by Commodore Bainimarama
and the head of Fiji's Catholic Church. The NCBBF itself has
convened five times while assorted smaller "teams" and "committees"
have also met regularly to focus on specific areas identified by the
IG/army as being particularly in need of reform. These issues
include electoral reform, land reform, public sector reform and
entrenching the role of the army in Fiji's public life. From the
outset, the NCBBF's independence has been questioned, particularly
given that that PM Bainimarama has co-chaired the entire process,
and the various task forces have invariably been co-chaired by IG
ministers and high ranking military officers. Three of Fiji's
prominent political parties, the SDL, NFP and UPP, have boycotted
the process, as has the Methodist church. The NCBBF endorsed and
approved the publication of the People's Charter at the meeting
ending August 5.

Eleven Pillars & Reforms
--------------


3. (U) The draft Peoples Charter is an ambitious document. The
NCBBF explains that the goal of the Charter is to "strengthen the
Constitution." Many of the initiatives, such as reducing poverty
and improving the public service, are commendable; many have been
included in various electoral platforms and governments for years.
Perhaps the most significant proposal is electoral reform and the
removal of communal or ethnic based voting, which would require an
amendment to Fiji's constitution. The Charter proposes a
twelve-principle broad-based strategy designed to end the cycle of
coups, including (ambitiously) removing the "political, economic and
social conditions for coups," as well as strengthening the sanctions
against those who conduct them. The draft also proposes a common
name for all citizens - "Fijians", which historically denoted only
indigenous Fijians. Catering to its base, the Charter also proposes
"enhancing the role of the army in national development through
legislative reform to re-define its role."

State of the Nation & Economy (SNE) Report
--------------


4. (U) In addition to the Peoples Charter, the NCBBF also endorsed a
State of the Nation and Economy report (SNE) on August 5. According
to the communique, the SNE -- which has not been made public --
formed the basis for the draft Peoples Charter. The communique
claims that during months of outreach throughout Fiji, NCBBF teams
received feedback from more than 1,000 villages and settlements
around Fiji, and that more than 200 people contributed during NCBBF
working group meetings to the analysis of problems and issues
discussed in the report.

Great Council of Chiefs Will Not Meet
--------------


5. (U) In a perhaps related event, the IG announced August 6 that
the GCC would not meet in August as planned. Despite months of
lobbying by an IG taskforce, only three of Fiji's fourteen provinces
were willing to join the "new look" GCC, bringing the total far
short of the requisite 32 that would constitute a quorum. The
leaders of most provinces remain strongly opposed to the IG's
restructuring of the GCC -- a traditional body that they believe
should only be changed by the chiefs themselves not the government.


6. Comment GCC: Given this background, and despite the urgent need
for the GCC to select a new vice president, PM Bainimarama is
probably pleased that the GCC will not assemble in the near term,
thereby avoiding a possible challenge to his authority from
traditional leaders.


7. (U) Comment Charter: While the draft Charter affirms that the
constitution "is the supreme law of Fiji," many of the proposed
reforms can only happen with an elected Parliament passing a bill to
amend the constitution. If the IG truly seeks to abide by the
constitution, they will have no choice but to recall Fiji's
parliament, a parliament controlled by Qarase's SDL party and not
favorably inclined towards the IG or the NCBBF and its proposed
reforms. The IG and NCBBF have repeatedly said that the
Commonwealth and UN will be organizing a "President's Forum" later
this year to discuss electoral reform. Opposition political parties
have expressed an interest in engaging, but are pushing for a more
comprehensive dialogue. The issue of how these reforms might be
incorporated into the constitution remains very much a subject to
debate. What is less a subject of debate is whether they will
happen: The IG has made it quite clear that they will happen. End
comment.


ROBERTSON