1 Mar 2012

Fiji military regime fails to meet own deadline on constitution consultation

3:26 pm on 1 March 2012

Fji's military regime has failed to announce details of consultation on a new constitution by its self-imposed deadline.

The interim Prime Minister, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, was due to announce details of the consultation in the fourth week of February.

Megan Whelan reports

"At the beginning of the year, Public Emergency Regulations were lifted so discussions on a new constitution, in time for elections in 2014, could begin. An announcement was delayed because of flooding in January, but Commodore Bainimarama told diplomats last month that consultation would start by the end of February. The information ministry said he would provide details about the timeframe and methodology of the consultation process. Repeated requests for information about the process put to the Ministry's Permanent Secretary, Sharon Smith Johns, have gone unanswered."