The issue of electoral boundaries is another example of skewed democracy. This boundary commission should be taken to task for negligence.
Viti Landowners and Resources owners have unveiled a new strategy that dwarfs any proposal(if any) from the Great Council of Chiefs. It also exposes the area of wealth building that no Fijian cultural institution has ever addressed.
This quote from Pacific Islands news article on the issue of Great Council of Chiefs in Fiji.
Working on the "Power 10" raised a different set of issues. No traditional chiefs (working outside the political system) or religious leaders feature on the list. Despite leaders from these areas looming large as figures of influence in the daily lives of most Pacific Islanders, it was difficult to find any whose influence is felt on a regional basis. And we made a particular effort to look for regional leaders in these two critical areas.
As we worked on this issue, an Australian academic, Dr. Robert Norton, was quoted in regional media as saying "most members of Fiji's Great Council of Chiefs lack the academic qualifications and capacity to fulfill their role in modern-day Fiji.
"While some (chiefs) have progressive views on the sharing of power and resources, the majority have highly ethnocentric outlooks and this has enhanced the image of the council as a college of backward-looking hereditary elites."
While the question of ethnicity raised here is a challenge particular to Fiji, Norton's broader comments on the role of chiefs in a parliamentary democracy, created as you would expect, debate even beyond Fiji's borders. It's one we are destined to have for some time yet.
Club Em Designs
No comments:
Post a Comment