The paramount chief of Lau, Ratu Tevita Mara, has publicly condemned the change of Fiji’s national designation under the 2013 Constitution, calling the switch from “Fiji Islander” to “Fijian” an act of “erasure” that stripped indigenous people of a long-standing ethnic identity. His remarks come as the Constitutional Review Committee (CRC) continues nationwide consultations to review the 2013 charter.
Tui Nayau Ratu Tevita told reporters the renaming was implemented without proper consultation and relegated indigenous Fijians to the term i-Taukei. “Under the 2013 Constitution, our nationality was unilaterally changed to Fijian — stripping without consultation the ethnic identity of the indigenous people that has been in existence for over a hundred years, relegating them to the term i-Taukei,” he said. “That was not nation-building. That was erasure.”
Ratu Tevita urged the CRC to ensure that any decision on national nomenclature rests with the people. He pointed to the 1997 Constitution — developed, he said, through wide and meaningful public consultation — as the benchmark for how the country should approach questions of identity and nationality. “Our previous 1997 Constitution … had clearly and respectfully laid out both our nationality and our ethnic identities. That is the standard of democratic process to which we must return — consultation. People’s will as the final word,” he said.
The CRC, chaired by Sevuloni Valenitabua, launched a six-month nationwide consultation process to gather public submissions on the 2013 Constitution with the stated aim of strengthening democracy. The seven-member panel plans to compile submissions over the coming months and deliver a final report to the President by August 31, 2026. The committee has repeatedly said it is seeking broad input on a range of constitutional issues; Ratu Tevita’s intervention puts nationality and ethnic terminology squarely on that agenda.
Ratu Tevita’s statement represents a significant development because of his standing as a paramount chief in the Lau group of islands, a role that carries cultural and political weight in Fiji. His framing of the renaming as an “erasure” underscores the sensitivities around identity politics in Fiji and highlights the potential for constitutional language to affect perceptions of indigenous status and rights.
The CRC’s consultations are ongoing and will determine whether the issue of nationality wording is reconsidered in the committee’s recommendations. With submissions due to continue over the six-month period, Ratu Tevita’s call for direct public decision-making adds a prominent voice urging that any change to how Fijians are named should follow inclusive, national consultation rather than being decided unilaterally. The committee’s final report to the President at the end of August 2026 will mark the next formal milestone in the review process.
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