Raw Fiji News

Intervention on Agenda Item 6 (ACP/26/031/09 REV 1) on the Committee of Ambassadors Report by dictatorBainimarama

Mr. President, allow me on behalf of my delegation to congratulate your Excellency on your appointment to the Chair and to assure you of Fiji’s co-operation.

Allow me if you will Mr. President to provide a brief on the political situation in Fiji as referred to in paragraphs 28 and 29 of the Committee of Ambassadors Report before us.

Update ACP Council on the Political Situation in Fiji

Court of Appeal Ruling
Colleagues and Excellencies, you are no doubt aware that on the afternoon of Thursday 9th April in a legal action by the former Prime Minister challenging the validity of the President’s powers to appoint an Interim Government, the 3 member Fiji Court of Appeal ruled that:

1. The 1997 Constitution did not give the President express written powers to appoint an Interim Government;

2. Suggested that the President should exercise his discretion and appoint a caretaker PM, an independent person who is neither a party or a defendant in the Court case;

3. Refused the State’s application for a Stay Order on the grounds of appeal to the Supreme Court.

PM Bainimarama addressing the 89th ACP Council of Ministers meeting in Brussels –

RFN says – look at the body language of those around Frank. Do they look excited or convinced by his babbles? Hmmm…..they look bored shit with everyone kinda looking around the room while Frank spills his dung.

On the afternoon of the same day, soon after the Court of Appeal’s ruling, I consulted my Cabinet and informed the President that the Interim Government has stepped down.

President’s Response
After taking legal advice overnight, the President in a televised address to the nation on 10th April declared that the Court of Appeal’s ruling has left him with very limited options because the suggestion by the Court of Appeal above was also not provided for in the Constitution and this anomaly in the decision, coupled with the serious consequent vacuum created by that decision; and the existing circumstances in Fiji left His Excellency no choice but to abrogate the 1997 Constitution.

And to avoid a prolonged situation where in practical legal terms Fiji had been left without a Government for the preceding 24 hours, the President declared the abrogation of the Constitution and reappointed my team of Ministers as an Interim Government to prepare the country for a return to sustainable democratic governance with all the relevance constitutional and electoral reforms to be addressed.

The abrogation of the Constitution by the President was considered necessary in the difficult legal situation Fiji was faced with on 9th April and it had allowed the President through the previous Interim Government to continue with the reforms that he had embarked on and which was supported by a majority of Fiji’s population [in a nationwide consultation in 2008] and was encapsulated as a credible way forward in the People’s Charter for Change, Peace and Progress.

New Legal Order
Under this new Legal Order the President has decreed his appointment as Head of State and the re-appointment of myself as the Prime Minister, and those who served previously to the same post in the new Cabinet. The President in our meeting on 10th April wanted continuity and the reform agenda to be fast tracked, including the convening of the general election by not later than September 2014.

The Government has resurrected by decree the essential elements of the abrogated Constitution that deals with law and order, the Judiciary and other Constitutional Offices.

Law & Order
The situation remains calm around the country but the Government has issued a Public Emergency Regulations (PER), to safeguard against any illegal or subversive activities and also to ensure the smooth running of the machinery of Government. This PER will be reviewed at the end of the month.

New Administration’s Mandate
My Administration after being sworn in by the President on 10TH April, has recommitted ourselves to overseeing constitutional and electoral reforms for a better Fiji, particularly the formulation of an electoral system that is based on universal and equal suffrage.

And in light of the above, I wish to request the support of the Council in the essential constitutional and electoral reform that my Government wishes to carryout in Fiji for the betterment of all her population.

I thank you Sir.