Bavadra rejects proposals

Press, 21 July 1988, Page 8

Bavadra rejects proposals

NZPA Sydney

Fiji’s deposed Prime Minister, Dr Timoci Bavadra, yesterday rejected reported Government proposals for a new Constitution as discriminatory and undemocratic.

Details of a Fijian Cabinet sub-committee’s recommendations on the constitution were published in the “Fiji Times.” They include a single-

house Parliament of 71 seats, including 12 appointed seats — eight by the President and four by the Prime Minister. Indians would be limited to just 22 elected seats, indigenous Fijians would elect 28, other communities eight and the island of Rotuma one. . Dr Bavadra said in a statement, released through the Fiji Independ-

ent News Service in Sydney, that the proposals would institutionalise racial separation. “This concept has been proposed to keep certain conservative chiefs in power and to keep the Labour Party, the commoner Fijian and enlightened chiefs out of power,” he said. Although the Fiji Parliament had racially

aligned seats under its previous constitution (with 22 reserved for Indians, 22 for Fijians and eight for other races), voting across racial barriers took place in 25 seats. Dr Bavadra said the new proposals were unacceptable to his coalition parties and they would keep open the option of boycotting any election.