Controversial Legislation
Fiji is one of the rare countries in the world that officially imposes disabilities on a group that constitutes a large part of the population, on the basis of race. It has caused an exodus of the Indians, who until recently formed slight majority in Fiji.
A public opinion poll published in the Fiji Times on 21 June showed the bill had more opponents (44%) than supporters (35%). 13% had no opinion. There was a clear ethnic division: the bill was supported by 55% of indigenous Fijians but only 19% of Indo-Fijians, while 29% of indigenous Fijians and 60% of Indo-Fijians opposed it. 10% of indigenous Fijians and 14% of Indo-Fijians said they did not care one way or the other.
A Tebbutt Times Poll published in the Fiji Times on 2 July revealed that only 4% of the population have read the bill fully, with a further 16% having read it partially.
Read more about this topic: Reconciliation And Unity Commission (Fiji)
Famous quotes containing the word legislation:
“No legislation can suppress nature; all life rushes to reproduction; our procreative faculties are matured early, while passion is strong, and judgment and self-restraint weak. We cannot alter this, but we can alter what is conventional. We can refuse to brand an act of nature as a crime, and to impute to vice what is due to ignorance.”
—Tennessee Claflin (1846–1923)