THE statement in the media by the Chief of Staff of the Fiji Military Forces, Colonel Jone Kalouniwai, in September criticising the speech of National Federation Party MP Parmod Nand, has again raised the question of the role of the army in the political and constitutional system of Fiji. This Essay poses the question whether Fiji, is evolving towards the situation of a “controlled democracy” like in Pakistan under an imposed 2013 Constitution. Does recent history answer this?
This question was first raised by Colonel Kalouniwai’s article July 24, 2017 in the Fiji Sun that provided justification for Section 131 (2) of the Constitution: “It shall be the overall responsibility of the Republic of Military Forces to ensure at all times the security, defence and wellbeing of Fiji and all Fijians”. This provision did not exist in the 1970 and 1997 Constitutions that were passed by our Parliament. There was a similar provision in the decreed Constitution of 1990 but it was repealed under Section 195 of the 1997 Constitution.
It then resurfaced under the decreed 2013 Constitution. The Pakistan situation is where the military and intelligence services are the actual long-term rulers of the country and usually decide how long an elected government can be tolerated in power?
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