The people are the ones who should pronounce on the Draft People's Charter, not me.
These are the words of Interim Finance Minister Mahendra Chaudhry who said the stakeholders and leaders of political parties should undertake wide range consultations with their people to find out what they think of the Draft People's Charter.
Chaudhry said the process that is used to get the public viewpoint on this must be transparent, credible and legitimate, adding once this is done then it can receive acceptance.
He said there are over forty people representing different organizations to take the Draft People's Charter to the people however to what extent they can get their message across to the grassroots is another matter.
Chaudhry said the job now is to take it to the people, explain it to them and make sure they understand it so they can say yes or no to it.
He also added it is very important that the process is not seen to be imposed by the Interim Administration.
Read Charter First Says Yabaki Publish date/time: 08/08/2008 [15:08]
The Citizen's Constitutional Forum said we need to find a solution to the cynical trend of political and economic problems in Fiji.
Chief Executive Reverend Akuila Yabaki said critiques should read the Draft People's Charter first before airing their views.
Yabaki is requesting people must put aside their prejudices and read this document, keeping in mind the welfare of the future generations in Fiji.
"The lack of development in Fiji , the coups and the race-based problems, are all due to poor leadership which promote the leads at the expense of the grass-roots population. So the Charter Process showed an acknowledgement by citizens and stakeholders in our country that we need to act now to find a solution to the cyclical trend of economic and political problems. This is why some civil society organizations are involved in the consultations. Rather than just watching from the side-line we need to be involved."
