Support for Fiji constitutional amendment bill remains uncertain

Five Cabinet members from Fiji’s National Federation Party (NFP) and Social Democratic Liberal Party (SODELPA) had not committed to voting for the Constitution (Amendment) Bill ahead of its third reading, according to the Fiji Sun, reporting from Fiji on 6 November 2026. The MPs’ decisions could be significant to Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka’s effort to secure the two-thirds majority needed for the Bill to pass.

The five MPs are NFP members Sashi Kiran, Lenora Qereqeretabua and Pio Tikoduadua, and SODELPA members Ifereimi Vasu and Viliame Gavoka. The Fiji Sun reported that both parties oppose the Bill in its current form, but the MPs had not made a united commitment about how they would vote.

Kiran, the Minister for Women, Children and Social Protection, said she would decide after seeing the final version. She described the personal consequences of either choice: “If I vote against the Bill, I lose my job. And if I vote for the Bill, I lose my job.” She said she would consider whether the Bill protects the rights of the majority and minority and whether it works in nation-building.

Qereqeretabua, an NFP MP and Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs, said she would follow her party’s direction. Tikoduadua, the Defence Minister, did not state how he would vote, saying: “When the time comes, you will know, and the conscience is clear.”

Vasu said SODELPA opposed the Bill in its current form and would wait for a revised version before deciding. Gavoka, the Deputy Prime Minister and a member of the special parliamentary select committee reviewing the Bill, urged MPs and critics to wait for the completed text. “Wait for the finished product,” he said.

The two-thirds majority requirement makes the position of these MPs relevant to whether the constitutional amendment can pass. The Fiji Sun reported that Rabuka is seeking that threshold, while the five members’ votes remain uncertain. Party positions and individual votes are therefore not yet the same thing: the parties oppose the Bill in its current form, but not every MP in this group has publicly stated a final decision.

The report also describes consequences that may shape the MPs’ choices. Rabuka has said Cabinet members from the two minority coalition parties who do not support the Bill could lose their ministerial positions. MPs who go against their party’s position risk disciplinary action, including expulsion. These are reported political risks; the article does not establish what action will be taken against any individual MP.

The immediate issue is the Bill’s third reading and the need to secure the required two-thirds support. The five MPs are members of the governing coalition parties NFP and SODELPA, whose stated opposition applies to the Bill in its current form. Their comments leave open whether a revised version could change their positions.

The special parliamentary select committee is reviewing the Bill. Gavoka’s call to wait for the finished text, and Kiran and Vasu’s stated intention to assess a final or revised version, indicate that their decisions depend in part on the Bill’s completed wording. The Fiji Sun report does not provide the final text or a date for the third reading.

The next points to follow are the version of the Bill that returns after committee review, the MPs’ stated positions on that text and the vote at the third reading. The report gives no date for that vote. Readers following the Bill can distinguish between the parties’ opposition to its current form and the individual MPs’ decisions, which some have said they will make only after seeing the revised or final version.

Rabuka’s warning about possible loss of ministerial positions and the risk of party discipline remain part of the political context. A related report on the Prime Minister’s warning covers that issue.