Constitution-making and Public Participation in Fiji (original) (raw)

Abstract

In ethnically diverse societies, constitutions are seen to play an important role. They offer a clear basis for the development of common relationships between different communities and also illustrate the views and attitudes of the dominant communities with regard to other communities. Therefore the processes involved in constitution making have become an important measure of the success or failure of democratization efforts in ethnically diverse societies. The general aim of this paper is to critically examine the 2012 constitution making process in Fiji focusing on the principle of participation and how it was translated into practice. This was one of the central guiding principles of the Commission and more importantly this principle is now judged as a universal tenet of constitution making. While literature clearly shows the possibilities of constitution-making processes in transition from conflict and in post-conflict societies, experience of the 2012 constitution-making process in Fiji will highlight the inherent difficulties in such processes in situations of tightly controlled military regimes.

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