Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum stresses that the current government has brought about more laws which protect women than any previous governments.
While many women’s NGOs and other groups have questioned why there is no specific section for women in the draft constitution and why there are no reserved women’s seats for political parties, Sayed-Khaiyum said the draft looks at everyone’s rights and it is based on common and equal citizenry.
In a public forum in Suva, Doctor Tupeni Baba and other members of the group known as the United Front for a Democratic Fiji question why women’s rights have not been clearly specified in the government’s draft constitution.
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However, Sayed-Khaiyum said specific laws have already come into place that has given rights to women that never existed before.
Sayed-Khaiyum also said this is just a political agenda as the same politicians never nominated or pushed for a high percentage of women to be their candidates in the past elections.
Story by: Vijay Narayan & Aliki Bia