Suspended lawyer Rajendra Chaudhry has proposed in his constitution submission that there should be reserved seats in the general elections for the itaukei, Indians and general electors.

Chaudhry has told the Professor Yash Ghai led commission that this may be an affront to what the current government is advocating but the constitutional hearing exercise is to gather the views of the people and not what the government wants people to accept.

Rajendra Chaudhry said for the itaukei, reserved seats are necessary to protect their customary rights to land, sea and natural resources.

He said for Indians, as citizens of Fiji, without full citizenship rights and without automatic access to land, natural resources and related issues, it impacts their security as citizens.

Chaudhry said 5 seats should be reserved for the itaukei, 5 seats for Indians and 5 seats for other races but all persons, irrespective of race, should be entitled to vote for persons whom they want to occupy these reserved seats.

He said the 15 reserved seats should cover the national constituency boundaries and all ethnic persons will have a choice of voting for their preferred candidates.

Chaudhry said the remaining 55 seats should be considered on an open roll.

Rajendra Chaudhry also said the Great Council of Chiefs as well as the confederacies must be preserved and the GCC be given constitutional recognition to act in an apolitical manner in its deliberations.

He said in his submission that it must be accepted that in times of political crisis, it was the GCC that was the voice of reason and moderation for the coup makers.
 
Chaudhry said the reduction of pensions will affect thousands of retirees.

He also said that the decision to do so was made by an unelected government.

Chaudhry said the retirement age must be restored to 65 and this should be a constitutional prescription.

Rajendra Chaudhry then goes on to say that the current structure of the Independent Legal Services Commission must be dismantled. 

He said lawyers must not practice under fear of recrimination or duress.

Chaudhry said complaints can be handled by the commission but the prosecution of these complaints must be separate from the commission and a special division of the High Court should be assigned to conduct such prosecutions.

He also said that the People’s Charter must not be given any significant weight because he said it has no mandate of the people.

Chaudhry said the government has refused to publish ministerial salaries since the abrogation of the constitution in 2009.

He also said the annual reports of the auditor general have not been published for a number of years.


Story by: Vijay Narayan