Blue Ribbon Campaign (Fiji) - The Great Council of Chiefs

The Great Council of Chiefs

The Great Council of Chiefs endorsed the bill at a meeting on 27 July. The endorsement came after more than two months of reserving judgement in the light of vociferous public objections.

On 18 May, Ratu Ovini Bokini, Chairman said that the Great Council had not been consulted and was "in the dark" about the bill. He said that attempts to obtain a copy of the bill from the government had come to nothing. The government has not released its draft bill, but a copy was leaked to the media and has been published by the Fiji Times.

Ratu Bokini's comments drew an immediate response from Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase, who said that he saw no need for prior consultation with anybody. "Any Bill is drafted without consulting any party or stakeholders is because it contains what the Government wants to be included in the Bill," Qarase said.

The Great Council of Chiefs has the power to pass or block the bill by instructing its 14 Senators in the 32 Member Senate on how to vote. As they hold the balance of power between the 9 Senators appointed by the Prime Minister and the 8 appointed by the Leader of the Opposition, a block vote by the chiefly Senators would decide the outcome. On 19 July, however, Great Council secretary Asesela Sadole said that their Senators would not be instructed on how to vote, but would be left free to follow their consciences.

In a speech to mark Ratu Sukuna Day on 30 May, in honour of Fiji's first modern statesman, Ratu Sir Lala Sukuna, Bokini cautioned against a one-sided approach to reconciliation, saying that it was not something that could be forced. "It must be allowed to grow through a shared understanding of what we all want and where we are all heading," he said. "Only then can we negotiate seriously about what to give and what to take and this process takes time and patience," he said.

Great Council secretary Sadole announced on 17 July that the Council had translated the bill into Fijian for the perusal of its members, pending a meeting to be held in the third week of July. Sadole said that the Council would consider the bill on its own merits, without reference to what outsiders have been saying for or against it. "Most people have not actually sat down to read the Bill. It seem that most of their opinions is formed by other opinions. We do not want outside consultations to influence the meeting and by taking out our own translation, it can really help," Sadole said.

Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Mahendra Chaudhry has warned the chiefs against possible deception by the government. He said that the government has already misled church leaders about the bill, and could not be trusted not to similarly mislead the chiefs. National Alliance Party President Ratu Epeli Ganilau has similarly called on the government not to try to "fool" the Great Council of Chiefs.

A Great Council of Chiefs meeting to consider the bill, starting on 26 July, is now considered likely to approve it, as 45 of its 55 members are delegates from Fiji's fourteen Provinces and one Dependency (Rotuma), all of which have endorsed the legislation. The Fiji Military Forces and the Methodist Church are to make submissions at the meeting, but the secretariat of the Great Council has refused a request from the opposition Labour Party (FLP) to make one, ostensibly because of time constraints and on the ground that if they accepted a submission from the FLP, they would have to accept one from every political party.

The Great Council qualified its endorsement of the bill by urging the government to consider the concerns raised by its opponents, including the Military. The council supported the maintenance of law and order, but upheld the prerogative of the government to make whatever laws it considered fit, adding that there are legal channels that opponents may use to challenge such laws. They also affirmed that the nation's chiefs represent the entire population, not only indigenous Fijians.

Prime Minister Qarase hailed the decision, saying that he had received the "overwhelming support of the Fijian people," but Opposition Leader Mahendra Chaudhry said that the chiefs had failed to address the issue properly, and that he would continue to fight the bill. Another opponent of the bill and former Great Council of Chiefs Chairman Ratu Epeli Ganilau said that he would have expected the chiefs to have taken more time to consider and debate the matter, but that their decision would make no difference in the end because it was Parliament that would decide on the bill.

Military commander Commodore Frank Bainimarama, one of the most unyielding opponents of the legislation who had attacked it in an address to the Great Council lasting more than an hour, issued a statement on 29 July strongly critical of the decision. Bainimarama said that the Military accepted the decision of the Great Council to endorse the legislation, but said that the Military would continue to oppose it.

Great Council Chairman Bokini said on 30 July that the chiefs had endorsed the legislation on the basis of a number of reasons that the Military should consider. They had supported the bill on the basis of truth and justice, and of the Christian beliefs upheld by the great majority of their members. It was the norm in Fijian culture to resolve differences through dialogue and consensus, he maintained. He hoped that the Military would take these considerations into account.