Fiji 1997
The Fiji 1997 constitution was an effort to resolve continued discord between native Fijians, Indo-Fijians, and other ethnic communities. The country had entrenched political institutions that organized representation along ethnic lines and favored the Fijians. At the same time, Indo-Fijians continued to be economically better off as a group.
The country had drafted a new constitution in 1990 with the proviso that the document be reviewed within 7 years. The 1997 constitution thus took the form of a major amendment of the 1990 document. The procedures followed emanated from conversations inside the cabinet and from negotiations between the cabinet and a major Fijian political group. The format corresponded closely with the standard Commonwealth model: a commission prepared the initial text, which was submitted to the legislature in the form of a bill for further discussion and amendment. The legislature was the ratifying body.
The commission that prepared the initial draft had three members, one chosen by the government, one chosen by the opposition, and one selected through mutual agreement. The commission included a Fijian, an Indo-Fijian, and a “man of the cloth” who had the trust of all sides. It first conducted extensive consultations with members of the public over a period of about 5 months. The members traveled to different parts of the country, held public and private meetings, and commissioned several research papers. It also consulted foreign experts. The commission had a two-member staff with legal expertise. The development of the initial recommendations took 18 months. The deliberations about recommendations took place behind closed doors, although the earlier, consultative stage of the process was open to the public. The record of the commission, including the recommendations, filled 700 pages.
The recommendations went to the country’s bicameral legislature for debate, modification, and eventual adoption. The legislature had a 70-member lower house whose members were elected from ethnic lists, with the proportion of seats allocated to different ethnic groups fixed in the previous constitution. The 34 members of the upper house were appointed by the president and by the House of Chiefs. The legislature had its own drafting committee, which made changes in the commission recommendations before forwarding the document to the body as a whole. Ratification required approval in both houses of the legislature by a 2/3 majority and at least ¾ of ethnic Fijian senators (upper house). The revised document passed unanimously.
Notes: Beginning in the 1990s there was a substantial, organized civil society-based discussion of constitutional reform. Civic education and useful parallel conversations took place as part of this effort, which continued after the drafting process concluded and after the coup.
Results: There was a coup d’etat in 2000, during the first five years of the life of the new constitution. In 2001, the highest court determined that the 1997 constitution was still in effect.