With its commitment to promoting a non-racial Fiji, the interim administration now has the opportunity to secure greater political cooperation and understanding. The social justice chapter of the constitution (Section 44) ought also to be reviewed to clearly prescribe guidelines for affirmative action programs. Everyone agrees that the basic criterion for assistance should be the need of all disadvantaged and underprivileged individuals and groups, regardless of their ethnicity. In relation to expiring agricultural leases on native land under ALTA, attempts by previous governments to secure a resolution have been frustrated by political self-interest. Given its importance both for stimulating agricultural production and for intercommunity cooperation, the interim administration should consider legislation on this issue as part of its review agenda.

Changes and improvements in the constitution and in land legislation to facilitate greater cooperation among the communities in Fiji are important for a more facilitative legal framework. However, legislative action on its own is not enough. Patriotic feelings of national unity can only come from the heart. It is thus important for the interim administration to task its National Council for Building a Better Fiji to include programs for national reconciliation and unity in the proposed People’s Charter. In this, Fiji should draw inspiration from the vision of Fiji’s first prime minister, Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara. When accepting Fiji’s formal instrument of independence on 10 October 1970, he told the Queen’s Representative, HRH Prince Charles, that the people of Fiji were taking on the full responsibility of nationhood not only for themselves, but also for each other. Fiji is a country which, since independence, has continually been in search of its destiny as a multi-ethnic and multicultural society. Fiji’s prime ministers and their governments have devoted themselves to efforts to realize this vision, but they have not succeeded. It is now for the interim administration to take up the challenge.

One of the great lessons of history is that people are confident and able to fully apply their creative abilities and energies when they are free – when there is no impediment to their enjoyment of their constitutional rights and freedoms. They are also confident when the law treats everyone equally and fairly, and when they are governed in the best collective interest. This is why there is a direct correlation between, on the one hand, democracy, the rule of law and good governance, and, on the other, economic dynamism. Repression, suppression and exclusion lead only to fear, frustration, lack of confidence, and economic decline and stagnation. This has been the experience not only of all liberal democracies but also of state socialist countries and nations with military regimes. Fiji has much to learn from this.

The interim administration is to be commended for its commitment to building a better Fiji through a corruption-free and non-race-based approach to governance. However, for Fiji to make rapid progress in economic recovery, it must respond to the people’s concerns that there be an early return to democracy, the rule of law, economic security and long-term peace, stability and unity. The Book of Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament tells us that, in the ultimate, life here on earth has no real purpose. Therefore, enjoy it, for it is like chasing the wind! Now I do not share this rather pessimistic view of life. Where there is life, there is hope to make it better – that is our hope for Fiji.

What we critically need today is national leadership by people who have the courage, the vision and the commitment to stand firmly at the political centre, and to make Fiji a country that believes in, and cares for, all its people. For the citizens of Fiji, what is needed is a new attitude in our relationships with one another. In our multi-ethnic and multicultural society, our religious faiths may be different, but they are all centred on a common belief in an Almighty God whose love embraces all of us and is infinite and is boundless. It is love with no condition. Let us extend and share that same love as the binding force that draws us together.

The challenge for us all is to build a Fiji that is united, progressive in its economic and social development, proud of its cultural diversity, and committed to the rule of law, good governance, and the protection of our God-given environment.