Reconciliation and Unity Commission - Rumoured Presidential Opposition

Rumoured Presidential Opposition

The Fiji Times reported on 25 June that in a closed-door meeting with the Prime Minister, President Ratu Josefa Iloilo and Vice-President Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi had called on him to withdraw the legislation, with the Vice-President, a former Judge, saying that there were serious legal implications to it. The Prime Minister reportedly replied that he would "consider" the request. To date, the Times report, written by Winikiti Bogidrau, the wife of an army officer, has not been verified, and spokesmen for the President and Prime Minister would not confirm or deny it, but on 27 June, the Fiji Labour Party (FLP) claimed on its website to have known of the meeting before the article was published. The FLP further alleged that the Prime Minister had intended to ask the President to use his position as Commander-in-chief of the Military to curb Commodore Bainimarama's public criticism of the bill, and that he was taken aback by the President's request to withdraw the legislation. Former Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka on 27 June that the President does not have the authority to force legislation to be withdrawn. In his traditional speech opening Parliament on 1 August, Iloilo said that the government had introduced it for the purpose of fostering unity and stability. He welcomed the public debate, saying that reconciliation was "a difficult but necessary process."