FIJI'S MILITARY GOVERNMENT UNVEILS CONSTITUTION PLAN

Fiji's ruling military junta unveiled plans for a new constitution on 1 July 2009 that promises to return the country to representative democracy. Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama stated that the new constitution will drop the current voting system based on ethnic divisions in favor of a more open democratic system. An ethnic-based system was introduced in 1997 in which members of Fiji's majority indigenous population and minority Indian population could only vote for candidates in their own ethnic group. Bainimarama claims that the new proposed constitution would allow open voting and also lower the voting age from 21 to 18. The military ruler also claimed that the constitutional changes will not be implemented until 2013, with the first elections not being held until at least 2014. Despite the unveiled roadmap to democracy, critics in the international community are likely to continue their harsh condemnation of Fiji's ruling junta because of the extended time frame for an eventual move towards democracy. Bainimarama also revealed that the military government will extend emergency powers until the end of 2009.