Prime Minister Commodore Bainimarama said the new Constitution, implementing the reforms and the result of extensive consultations, will be in place by September 2013.
“This will give the people of Fiji, a year to become familiar with its provisions before elections in September 2014,” he said.
“ There have been critics of this time line. These critics ask why work on the new constitution will not commence before September 2012.
PM Commodore Bainimarama said the answer is very simple, at least to those who know and understand Fiji's history.
“ Fiji has had a colonial history which created many anomalies and inequalities, the legacy of which resonates today. Consequently and of the making of the politicians, our post-colonial period has been punctuated with political instability,” he said.
“ On each occasion that a new government is voted into power, the old elite which benefited financially from the previous established government has been able to successfully destabilize the government and to replace it with its own supporters and representatives.”
PM Commodore Bainimarama said this was only possible because those institutions of the State which were supposed to protect democracy and democratic values, instead colluded with the elite, to destabilize and replace the new government.
“That is not all. Fiji has suffered more than 20 years of mismanagement, corruption, and nepotism. Our infrastructure, our judicial system, and our systems of accountability have all remained under- developed and unproductive,” he said.
“ Many of our finest brains have left the country to migrate, because they could see no future in a country governed by ethno-nationalism, corruption and greed. In order to ensure that democracy has a real chance of survival in Fiji's future, serious, and principled reforms must be implemented to build roads, institutions and values.
PM Commodore Bainimarama said together with infrastructure, the hearts and minds of our people must adopt and cherish true democracy.
“The way of the old elite must never triumph again,” he said.
“ There must be reforms before elections, to ensure that democracy is sustainable for Fiji's long term future. The people of Fiji, deserve better than the short term band-aid solutions we have experienced over the past decades.