23 Apr 2013

Young people in Fiji increasingly agitated over constitution, says activist

9:40 pm on 23 April 2013

A human rights activist in Fiji Tura Lewai says the country's young people are increasingly agitated because they feel hopeless about the constitution process and Fiji's future.

Tura Lewai says young people are mobilising to enlighten communities on the Fiji regime's draft constitution which they say concentrates power and limits people's rights.

He says they are using their networks to counter what they feel is regime propaganda.

"It's going like wildfire. I think as more people are aware of what's happening, more people are getting agitated. And like cells that are within the human body as they begin to vibrate, all the other cells begin to vibrate as well."

Tura Lewai says young people are working with other opposition groups like the United Front for a Democratic Fiji.

The UFDF is collecting signatures towards a petition and a member Mahendra Chaudhry says it will consider peaceful protests within the law if the constitution is shoved down people's throats.