CRC Proposes 60-Member Parliament With House and Senate

Fiji would have a 60-member Parliament made up of a House of Representatives and a Senate under recommendations by the Constitution Review Commission.

The Commission has recommended replacing Fiji’s current single-house Parliament with a bicameral system consisting of 41 members in the House of Representatives and 19 members in the Senate.

Under the proposed system, the 41-member House would comprise:

• 26 members elected from constituencies through first-past-the-post voting.
• 15 members allocated through party lists to provide proportional representation.

Political parties would qualify for proportional representation if they receive at least 5 per cent of the party vote or win at least one constituency seat.

Party lists would also alternate between female and male candidates, with the first candidate on the alternating list being female.

The proposed 19-member Senate would not be directly elected.

Eight Senators would be appointed by the Bose Levu Vakaturaga, five by the Prime Minister, four by the Leader of the Opposition, one by the Rotuma Island Council and one by the Rabi Council of Leaders.

Appointments made by the BLV, Prime Minister and Opposition Leader would be required to reflect Fiji’s diversity, including minority groups.

The Senate’s primary role would be to review legislation passed by the House of Representatives. Senators would elect a President and Vice-President of the Senate from among themselves.

The Commission says the proposed system is intended to combine local constituency representation with proportional representation while providing a second chamber to review legislation.

The recommendations are proposals and have not become law. The President has also stressed that receipt of the Commission’s report does not amount to endorsement of every recommendation and that the proposals must proceed through the appropriate constitutional, governmental, parliamentary and democratic processes.