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Commodore Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama, Prime Minister and Co-Chair of NCBBF Remarks at the Launching of the Draft Peoples Charter, Public Outreach and Consultations Lower Civic Auditorium, Mon. 25th August, 2008 Ni sa bula vinaka! and a very good evening to you all. First and foremost, I thank you all for being here this evening for the official launching of the nation-wide consultations on the draft Peoples Charter for Change, Peace and Progress. We embarked on a special journey starting on 5th December, 2006, on a vision for this country to achieve change. The Interim Government that was sworn in by His Excellency the President, under my leadership, believes that Fiji’s overall political, social and economic situation is such that the case for change is very compelling. We can and must achieve change for a more equitable and prosperous future for all. And for this, we all must share a collective will to achieve the changes that are imperative. Since January last year, the Interim Government embarked on an exhaustive examination of our political, economic, social and cultural structures, to identify the shortcomings that have contributed to the abysmal record of successive governments particularly since May 1987. We have been identifying not only the major causes of our problems, but, more importantly, we have focused on finding solutions. To do all this, within the first few months of its inauguration, my Government took the decision to reach out to the people of Fiji being mindful of the larger issue of mandate which the events of December 2006 would raise. For my part, I was of the firm view that Government must not pretend that it alone has all the wisdom to solve, on its own, our country’s deep-rooted, entrenched and complex problems. Therefore, my Government sought His Excellency The President’s consideration and support to set up a body through which we could reach out to you, and to get you, the people of Fiji, to be actively involved in charting the way forward for Fiji. As you well know, this body is the National Council for Building a Better Fiji, or NCBBF, as it is commonly known. Some have questioned the inclusiveness of the NCBBF and in doing so have created certain doubts. There has been much also by way of misinformation intended to portray that there is resistance or a lack of support for the Peoples Charter process. On the contrary, the feedback that we have been getting from a broad cross section of the people of Fiji is in fact much more positive than is conveyed by the mainstream media reports. The NCBBF was set up as broad based, independent consultative body. It includes men and women who are representatives from national, local and provincial governments, business organisations, political parties, unions, religious bodies, civil society organisations and other representative bodies. I want to stress that we sought as fully an inclusive body as possible. All the major political parties, including the Qarase-led SDL and even the National Federation Party, which has not won any seats in the last three consecutive Parliaments, were invited to participate as members of NCBBF. However, some organisations, such as several political parties including SDL and also the current leaders of the Methodist Church, chose not to accept the invitation of His Excellency The President. For its part, the NCCBF has left the door open and the invitation remain extended for them to take their seats when they feel ready to do so. By deliberately choosing not to participate, these organisations have willfully penalized, not only themselves but also their loyal followers, most of them the ordinary people of Fiji. To-date, the NCBBF has operated very effectively as a representative body putting forward the views of their large memberships. His Excellency The President’s Independent Monitoring Group, the IMG, last April reported to His Excellency that it had observed “…frank, free and candid discussions in the NCBBF and related meetings, and not, in any way, constrained by the presence of members of the interim Government”. The NCBBF, through its outreach teams earlier covered over 1,000 villages and settlements and also communities in all the urban areas. This included communities in our smaller islands as well. The reports received indicate that the ordinary man and woman in our communities are receiving the Peoples Charter initiative as a once in a lifetime opportunity to participate in building a better Fiji. The NCBBF has been undertaking its mandated task of formulating the draft Peoples Charter through two key steps: first, a comprehensive, forward-looking Report on the State of the Nation and the Economy, the SNE Report has already been prepared; and the second step involved the formulation of the draft Peoples Charter, based on the findings and recommendations contained in the 385 –page SNE Report. The 45-member NCBBF organised itself into three National Task Teams to accomplish its work. The National Task Teams, in turn, established altogether nine Working Groups. The Working Groups focused on high priority subject areas. At the Working Group level, we have had just over 200 people, volunteering and meeting regularly over a 3-month period, to undertake an in-depth analysis of Fiji’s problems and needs. In doing this, and drawing on the feedback from the consultations nation-wide, the Working Groups came up with proposed solutions. The membership of the Working Groups were not dominated by government bureaucrats or the staff members of the NCBBF Secretariat (TASS) as some would like you to believe. In fact, the Working Groups comprised mainly non-government and non-NCBBF members, including representatives from the professions, the private sector, civil society organizations, academia, as well as community organisations. It is important that the people of Fiji recognize that through the NCBBF, a conscious effort has been made to reach out to get broad-based participation in the Peoples Charter process. I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge and honour those people, particularly those from outside of Government serving in NCBBF and in the Working Groups, who have freely joined the Peoples Charter consultative processes. You have my and the Interim Government’s deep appreciation for coming forward to help our nation during a time of such great need. We thank you for your commitment, for your untiring efforts, and for your contributions to-date. On the other hand, and in sharp contrast, there are those who opted to be nothing but negative, who continue to make ill-informed and misguided criticisms from the side lines, and who are doing their utmost to undermine the Peoples Charter process. These opponents are building a culture of suspicion, abuse, character assassination, and vilification. Constructive criticism is part and parcel of dialogue. However, unsubstantiated criticisms on their own are perhaps easy to make from the comfort of armchairs and from the sidelines. Finding solutions are the work of those who are willing to roll up their sleeves to contribute constructively to help achieve common good. To those who have been invited to join the NCBBF but who have chosen to oppose from the outside, I call on you to come forward and to get involved. It is still not too late. You need to see for yourself the quality, and depth of work that the NCBBF has so far undertaken in formulating the draft Peoples Charter. With the draft Peoples Charter now ready, we are, with today’s launching, moving into the next phase of dialogue, consultations and consensus building. The Peoples Charter is about peoples’ democracy at work. Those who remain opposed have asked why my Government in the absence of an elected Parliament has embraced the NCBBF; Whose role is to promote dialogue and consultations to find solutions to Fiji’s deep-rooted, fundamental problems. These opponents argue that only an elected Parliament can achieve change. There are those that claim that changes should only be made through “democratic” means. Since Independence in 1970, Fiji has had 10 elected Parliaments. What is the overall record of these Parliaments? I put to you today that our Parliaments have a sad and dismal record on nation building. They have divided us as a people through their rhetoric inside the Parliament and outside. They exploited the race based electoral systems for narrow sectarian interests. They campaigned for elections on race, on our differences, on our fears and on our prejudices. Our so-called democratic system allowed and encouraged these abhorrent practices. They exploited our differences when there has been so much more in common between our different ethnic communities. We have been unable to use our election campaigns to promote and debate policy alternatives based on the need for economic and social development and nation building, including such bread and butter issues as health, education, housing, basic infrastructure, water and employment opportunities. Much has been said by our opponents that I, with the Military Council, will dictatorially impose the Peoples Charter upon our nation. I want you to be your own judge from the facts that I have presented to you tonight. Decide for yourself. Do not let others decide for you. What evidence have they provided to you that I have imposed and not consulted? The short and simple answer is: NONE! All the evidence proves to the contrary. The NCBBF has been consulting in the most thorough and efficient manner that our country has ever known or seen. The cynics of course would not want you to believe me or the Interim Government. They would like you to believe what they say – that the presence of some Government Ministers in NCBBF would ensure that the results would suit the Government. It is also claimed that the members selected to serve in the NCBBF and also the Working Groups, were chosen because they are either apologists for the Interim Government, or the Military, or share the same views as these two organisations. These are harsh and totally unfair remarks, made against a fine group of men and women who have shown dedication in giving for this national initiative their time and wisdom. Such claims also insult the intelligence of these people. Of course the initiatives to create the NCBBF and to formulate the draft Peoples Charter came from the Interim Government. However, I must assure the people of Fiji that the Peoples Charter process, once formally underway since January of this year, has been independent of the Interim Government and fully consultative. For example, it was I who urged the NCBBF to specifically deliberate on the “Role of the Military” and in particular, on the eradication of the “coup culture” in Fiji as one of the issues that needs to be discussed and dealt with. One would think that I, as the Commander of RFMF, would have been reluctant, even nervous to make such a request. I can tell you today that the Military Council supported the Working Group’s Report on the “Role of the Military” as it emanated entirely from the work of the NCBBF consultative process. It is my earnest desire and commitment to work for a broad-based consensus on the way forward for Fiji. In this respect, I urge Leaders in our nation, including in particular the political Leaders, to come forward and dialogue in going forward now, for the sake of our nation’s future and to demonstrate the love of our country. The draft Peoples Charter should be used as a basis for opening dialogue and to develop consensus on moving Fiji forward. I ask you tonight if these are actions of a man or a government that wants to be dictatorial and to impose its own will. I have said publicly in the past that if there is no Peoples Charter, there would be no elections. I wish to reiterate this to you all tonight. But this does not necessarily mean the same thing as saying that I will unilaterally impose the Peoples Charter upon the people of Fiji. These are two different issues and yet, my opponents want to confuse you on these. The draft Peoples Charter is not my document. It is a document drafted by a consultative and broadly representative group, through a transparent process of extensive full consultations with the people of Fiji right across the country. This draft Peoples Charter document remains such i.e. a draft, until the majority of Fiji’s people embrace it. Only then it becomes the Peoples Charter, representing the collective will of the people of Fiji. It will not be, and cannot be, the “Bainimarama Charter”, or the “RFMF Charter” or the “Charter of the Interim Government”. The Peoples Charter will be adopted by my Government as a vision statement that identifies our core problems and the solutions recommended through the extensive consultative process. It is incumbent on my Government to ask others to adopt the Peoples Charter as the common principles on which we should rebuild our nation because it is the peoples’ collective will for the way forward for Fiji. If the Peoples Charter is not accepted, there is no considered way forward. We are not obliged to abandon this enormous and important work, achieved through an extensive participatory and consultative process, just because some people have decided not to participate, in spite of being invited to join the national level dialogue process for the way forward. My Government will not do that. My Government’s task is now to persuade others who have not joined, to join and contribute. We hope to achieve consensus. My Government accepts that there are some important legal hurdles to be overcome to change processes and institutions that will come out of the recommendations from the Peoples Charter process. I will also pursue these changes in the proposed President’s Political Dialogue Forum to be convened by the UN and COMSEC, and through other dialogue processes. In this respect, much has been talked about the 1997 Constitution and the sanctity of the provisions of that document. Some people have already told me, and told you, that I will breach the Constitution. They know me better than I know myself, it appears. They have climbed roof tops to tell me gratuitously that we must follow the Constitution on the way forward. I understand that. I also understand that the Constitution should be a living and breathing document, which could be modified or changed if there is an emerging consensus to do so. It is not cast in stone. The drafters of our Constitution alluded to this possibility that, in time, some aspects may need to be re-examined. It would be fool-hardy not to modify or amend the Constitution if there is an emerging consensus that some aspects of it need to be modified, changed or amended. I believe that there is an emerging consensus, for example, on aspects of electoral reforms. There are other issues identified through the Peoples Charter process which can be examined through bilateral or broader dialogue. That is the process I am now ready to embark upon more fully. But this is an internal matter for our country to address. My Government does not appreciate unhelpful commentary from those without, especially those who do not understand our values, our problems, our challenges. This is unhelpful during such a sensitive period of building bridges and negotiations. Our political atmosphere has become volatile because of these unhelpful commentaries from outside countries. It only fuels confusion. I hope that this is not the intention of those who are providing such commentaries. Much has been said about the March 2009 date I had mentioned at the Tonga Forum Heads of Government meeting last year; now reiterated by the Forum meeting in Niue. It has become a mantra for those who do not want change but wish to return to pre- 5th December, 2006. It has become a police baton for some in the international community to beat me and Fiji with, in the name of restoring democracy. I want an early election but this must follow the necessary reform of our electoral system. But, again, the date must be an internal matter for us the people of Fiji. It is a matter for the people of Fiji, for the interim Government and for our key leaders, and not one for those outside of our country to dictate, or to preach upon us. First, all the parties need to ensure that we are indeed working for the restoration of a sustainable parliamentary democracy through free, fair and democratic elections which conform with international norms. We are at a stage now where we are talking to stakeholders and these talks are the most important process to achieve as of now. I will not be constrained or distracted by time to achieve consensus. I am sure that other political leaders are also prepared to dialogue, as long as it takes, to reach consensus on building a better Fiji. We will together choose the right date for the general elections that suits the nation’s interest. In conclusion, I appeal to all of you, the good people of Fiji, let us hope that a transformation in our leadership will occur to seek lasting solutions to our ills. I seek your help; I seek your prayers; and I seek your patience and indulgence, that we all come together, that we work together to build a better Fiji. I urge you all, the people of Fiji: be informed; get involved. I thank you all for listening to me. Vinaka vakalevu and Good Evening. ____________________ |
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