A strategic analyst, Dr Paul Buchanan, says latest actions by the Fiji regime show it is not planning on a liberal democracy for the country in 2014.
Dr Buchanan, who has studied countries moving from military to civilian rule, says the rejection of the draft constitution is further proof of the regime's plan to introduce what is known as a guarded or protected democracy.
He says this could be the most pragmatic way for Fiji to move forward.
Dr Buchanan says Chile, Brazil and South Korea are successful examples of nations moving from outright military rule to elected civilian rule.
"And in all of these cases, that guarded democracy lasted for approximately a decade before an election was held that led to the restoration of, if not liberal democracy, a fuller democracy in which the military recognised that it could afford to step away from its protector role."
Dr Paul Buchanan of the think tank 36th Parallel.
