Issue No: 548; 4 March 2001

A legal opinion prepared by Geoffrey Robertson, QC, and Professor George Williams, Director of the Centre of Public Law and the University of New South Wales, has been sent to the Acting President Ratu Josefa Iloilo.

The opinion states:

"The Bose Levu Vakaturaga (Great Council Of Chiefs) is created by the Fijian Affairs Act and it granted important powers by the 1997 Fiji Constitution. For example, under section 64, the Bose Levu Vakaturaga selects 14 of the 32 members of the Senate."

"Section 90 provides that the President and Vice-President are both appointed by the Bose Levu Vakaturaga. In doing so, the Council is required to consult with the Prime Minister. The appropriate person with whom the council should consult, at least until Parliament is recalled, is Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry. As the Fiji Court of Appeal noted on p 3, Counsel agreed that the President did not dismiss the Prime Minister or his Government."

"A necessary first step in implementing the decision of the Court of Appeal is to recall the Parliament elected in May 1999 to enable it to form a government. If Parliament proves unworkable because it is unable to form a government and chose a Prime Minster, it should be dissolved and fresh elections held. Where there is no Prime Minister due to an unworkable Parliament and because an election has been called, an acting President might be appointed by the Bose Levu Vakaturaga until there is a Prime Minister to consult with."

"Apart from these constitutional functions, the Bose Levu Vakaturaga has an additional political role of exercising responsible leadership. In this regard, the Bose Levu Vakaturaga and its members, like every Fijian citizen, is bound by the rule of law set out in the 1997 Constitution. The Constitution grants law-making power only to a democratically elected Parliament and sets clear limits to the role that can lawfully be played by the Council."