6 Aug 2008

Draft Fiji People's Charter to be released today

9:55 am on 6 August 2008

The draft People's Charter for Change has recommended 12 key principles it hopes will end Fiji's coup culture.

Chief amongst them is the removal of political, economic and social conditions for coups and putting in place measures to sanction coups.

The newsagency Pacnews says it understands that one of these measures includes the seizure of all assets owned by executors and supporters of any coup.

The role of the country's armed forces is to be redefined to enhance the military's community development partnership by strengthening its developmental role to ensure that its professional, technical and social potentials are fully realised.

Pacnews says the draft also recommends reforms of institutions and rehabilitation of groups and individuals, which are most prone to being implicated in coups.

It identified these as ethno-nationalists and religious fundamentalists.

It also recommends sweeping electoral reforms, which call for the communal representation system to be abolished and replaced with a common roll system.

It recommends that Fiji adopt the Open List proportional representation voting system, with the voting age lowered from 21 to 18.