(PINA/IFEX) – A special sitting of Fiji’s House of Representatives passed the Emergency Powers Act 1998 on 10 July 1998 despite criticism by the news media and some Opposition parliamentarians. The act enables the president to declare a state of emergency on the advice of the government. The government would then have power to introduce […]
(PINA/IFEX) – A special sitting of Fiji’s House of Representatives passed
the Emergency Powers Act 1998 on 10 July 1998 despite criticism by the news
media and some Opposition parliamentarians. The act enables the president to
declare a state of emergency on the advice of the government. The government
would then have power to introduce emergency regulations. These include
allowing premises to be to entered and searched without a warrant, private
property taken over, public meetings banned, the news media censored, and
individuals arrested and deported. This week the act will go to a special
sitting of the Senate for approval.
**Updates IFEX alert of 7 July and 9 July 1998**
Opposition parliamentarians appealed for the act to first be referred to the
House of Representatives legal select committee for careful scrutiny. But
Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka told the House: “As legislators we have to
ensure that the interests of the general nation are preserved and in some
cases they may need the curtailment of our individual and group rights.”
Background Information
The Emergency Powers Act 1998 includes a section enabling the introduction
of regulations for “censorship and the control of and suppression of
publications, writings, maps, plans, photographs, communications and means
of communications.” The Government says that, under the 1990 Constitution
(introduced by an unelected interim government after two 1987 military
coups), the president has the power in certain circumstances to declare a
state of emergency and issue decrees which displace various rights and
freedoms. When the new Constitution comes into effect that power will be
repealed. The proposed legislation enables the president to still declare a
state of emergency, the Government says (see IFEX alerts).
