Reconciliation, Tolerance, and Unity Bill

The Reconciliation and Unity Commission was a proposed government body to be set up if the Reconciliation, Tolerance, and Unity Bill, which was introduced into the Fijian Parliament on 4 May 2005 was passed. The legislation proposed to empower the Commission to grant amnesty to perpetrators of the Fiji coup of 2000, and compensation to victims of it from 19 May 2000 through 15 March 2001. The Fijian President would retain a veto over the granting of amnesty.

The Commission was to be appointed by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister, in consultation with the Leader of the Opposition. Its purported objectives were to promote reconciliation in a spirit of tolerance and unity.

Attorney-General Qoriniasi Bale announced on 5 July that the bill was likely to be tabled in Parliament in September, but on 10 August, Manasa Tugia, the Chairman of Parliament's Justice, Law and Order Committee, announced that the date would be brought forward to mid-August.

On 17 August the House of Representatives voted to approve a request from Tugia to extend the time for the committee to hear submissions on the bill. Tugia said the extension was necessary because Hindi translations of the bill had not yet been legally vetted and distributed, and because the views of important stakeholders had not yet been received. Tugia said submissions received so far revealed diametrically opposed views on how to overcome Fiji's "coup culture." The differences appeared to be over means, not ends. "While both sides of the argument clearly want to see a better Fiji freed from the 'coup culture', the two sides have different views on how best this can be achieved," Tugia said.

On 18 August, Tugia said that the parliamentary committee needed more money to continue with public consultations on the bill, and said that an application had been lodged with the Ministry of Finance.

Commonwealth of Nations Secretary-General Don McKinnon revealed on 8 September 2005 that Prime Minister Qarase had assured him that significant changes would be made to the bill.

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Wikipedia