Croz Walsh's Blog -- New Zealand and Fiji: How Much Fairer They Could Be

Costume "Fusion"
In every festival where there are performances by contestants or entertainers, we usually see them portraying their culture. Whether it is European, iTaukei, Fijian of Indian origin, Polynesian, Melanesian, Micronesian or other ethnicities, the performance is usually be based on culture. The reason for this is we human beings celebrate our heritage, our ethnicity and culture. During the Hibiscus festival we see all sorts of dances – we see the meke, the bhangara, the hula to the tamure and the dancers are usually dressed in the traditional costumes. Sometimes it’s a grass skirt, and we also see the iTaukei attire of masi and other attire of where the dance or meke originated from.

Lots of time, thought and practice is put in. And if the meke belongs to a certain vanua, a traditional ceremony of request is presented to the owners. If accepted, the owners would even have one of their people attend the practice to make sure it is done properly. From dance move…

By Subhash Appana 
Previously published.
Part I. Background to the 1970 Constitution and Early Elections  18 August
Part II: After the 1972 Elections  22 August
Part III – Aftermath of 1977 1 September


 The lessons of 1977 were too serious to be ignored. Ratu Mara had lost the April elections because he tried to work across the ethnic divide without taking any side unequivocally. This did not convince enough of the Indian voters, while the Fijians felt he was too accommodating towards the Indians; they chose to support Butadroka’s nationalist message focusing on repatriating the Indians back to India on British expenses. Mara thus had to take a hardline stance and allow open criticism of the Indians in September 1977 – Senator Inoke Tabua and Ratu Tevita Vakalalabure had a field day with this.

Butadroka’s anti-Indian fire was outdone and doused, and the Alliance was once again at the helm of both ethnic Fijian politics as well as the Fiji government. Mara also felt that the fragmented…

Submission to Constitution Commission 2012 by Vijay Naidu, Raiwai, Suva

Introduction
Fiji is a beautiful country with generally peaceful, kindly and caring people from diverse cultural backgrounds which they have shared with each other.  Kava or yaqona is the national beverage, and curry and ‘lovo’  are our preferred food. The iTaukei people and cultures have values and norms worthy of emulation by all citizens.

English is a common language for all of us, and increasingly Bauan Fijian and Fiji Bhat are also becoming more widely used.  It has a great potential to become an integrated, equitable and peaceful multi-ethnic state, “the way the world should be” . Besides the colonial heritage that has created the Fijian state, Fiji’s multi-ethnic and multi-religious character and also divided the citizens into racial compartments, political and community leaders as well as opinion makers have fostered ethnic (racial) consciousness and divisions. For over a century, inter-ethnic distrust has…

Submission to the Constitutional Review Commission, by Pacific Dialogue Limited
CONTENTS 1.0 Constitutional values ……………………………………………………………. 2 2.0 Preamble ……………………………………………………………………….. 2 3.0 ‘Fijian’ as a national name ……………………………………………… 4 4.0 National flag ……………………………………………………………………….. 6 5.0 National anthem …………………………………………………………… 7 6.0 Change of street names ……………………………………………….. 8 7.0 Constituent Assembly ………………………………............................... 8 8.0 Referendum ………………………………………………………………………… 10 9.0 Parliament ………………………………………………………………………… . 10 9.1 House of Representatives ………………………………………………. 10 9.2 Senate ……………………………………………………………………………………. 11 9.3 Cabinet ………………………………………………………………………. 11 9.4 Power Sharing ……………………………………………………………………… 11 9.5 Remuneration of Members of Parliament …………………… 13 9.6 Electoral System …………………………………………………………. 14 10.0 Care Taker government ………………………………………………………….. 16 11.0 Bill of Rights ………………………………………………………………………… 17 12.0 Citizenship …………………………………………