Fiji constitution still years away 

Source: ONE NewsFrank Bainimarama

Fiji will have a new constitution by 2013 that will open the way for free and fair democratic elections the following year, the country's controversial leader says.
  
But Frank Bainimarama's optimistic "road map" for his nation, unveiled on Wednesday, was met with scepticism by some Pacific commentators who have labelled it "disappointing" and "lacking in substance".
  
The speech, entitled "A strategic framework for change", is the first to detail Fiji's future since Bainimarama's regime tore up the country's constitution in April and installed a new order with heavy sanctions on free speech.
  
The military government has been in power since it staged Fiji's fourth coup in December 2006 and has broken several promises to take the country to the polls since, citing a need to first overhaul the race-based voting system.
  
In his speech, Bainimarama said work on the new constitution would not start until 2012 and would be finished within a year ahead of September 2014 election.
  
"The new constitution must include provisions that will entrench common and equal citizenry, it must not have ethnic-based voting," he said.
  
Currently, Fijians can only vote for candidates standing in seats matched to their ethnicity, a system widely regarded as flawed.
  
The constitution would be based on the People's Charter, a document Bainimarama says draws widely from community opinion.
  
"It must have systems that hold governments accountable with more checks and balances."
  
The voting age would be lowered from 21 to 18, and reviews would be held on the government's five-year term, the number of seats and the need for a Senate.
  
He also signposted a "radical overhaul" of the nation's complex land tenure system in a country where more than 90 per cent of all land remains under the ownership of indigenous Fijians.
  
Bainimarama also appealed for help in the process from the international community, which has been widely critical of his non-consultative military style.
  
Two key bodies, the Commonwealth and the Pacific Islands Forum, suspended Fiji's membership earlier this year.
  
"My appeal to the international community is that Fiji has and continues to seek engagement, not disengagement," the leader said.
  
Professor Brij Lal, an ANU academic who helped draft the 1997 constitution, said the speech was "disappointing in the sense that it was full of platitudes but with very few concrete proposals about returning Fiji to democracy".
  
He said it put the cart before the horse, in that it focused on trying to improve the economy before improving political stability.
  
"It's also obviously trying to entice back international support, but that's unlikely to work," Prof Lal said.
  
Meanwhile, heavy censorship remains in place, with officials installed in newsrooms to vet media coverage and government critics banned from speaking at conferences.
  
A Methodist Church congress was cancelled by the regime, and several journalists have been held without charge or expelled from the country.