It's nothing new because most of these recommendations were already in the pipeline.
These are the words of former Supervisor of Elections Semesa Karavaki, who said that most of the recommendations highlighted in the Draft People's Charter on the Reform of the Electoral System is something they had been working on.
"And that has been discussed before. It was all in the pipeline. Discussions were progressing on that issue. It is whether they come up with it or whether it was going to be decided on as it was being discussed previously. Something we were moving towards. It’s not something new that they’re coming up with."
Karavaki added that the issue on abolishing compulsory voting is something that should be re-examined.
"I fail to understand that because the reason why people are registered is to vote. If you are registered and you don’t vote – it doesn’t make sense. All the work that is done for them and then there is no requirement for them to come and vote to tell them to come and vote and all those resources and all that effort to carry out that compulsory registration. I am not sure what they want to use that for. They probably want to use it for some other purpose rather than voting, itself. It doesn’t make any sense."
The Draft People's Charter had recommended the reform of the electoral system to eradicate Fiji's current electoral system which they say is racially discriminatory and undemocratic.
FTA Sees Nothing Different on Education
The Fijian Teachers Association also said with regards to the section on education in the Draft People's Charter, there is nothing new.
President Tevita Koroi said this is merely repeating what already is in place in the Education Ministry, after the ministry had consultations with the stakeholders.
"Looking through Pillar 9 as stated in the draft document of the Charter, I’ve noted that some of the measures that are being proposed are already part and parcel of the policy statement of the Ministry of Education. Areas such as quality education, technical vocational education, higher education, curriculum framework. So nothing new. Not much there except to repeat and emphasize areas that are already policy statements of the Ministry of Education after consultation with important stakeholders."
The Draft People's Charter states that we must ensure that there is access to quality education for all, establish a statutory body for community and non-formal learning, establish a modular system of education, establish a coherent national tertiary education system, increase access to tertiary and higher education, ensure improved overall quality of teaching and learning through better trained educators, implement a progressive and responsive curriculum, strengthen early childhood education - especially in the rural areas and outer islands, improve the financing of education, enhance the skills base and vocational training and introduce a system for the distribution of all education grants that specifically recognizes and is based on the disadvantage of schools.
