The chair of a Fiji Parliamentary Committee says it's not inconsistent that future changes to Fiji's flag will be done through referenda.
Photo: AFP
Although the decision to change the current flag was made solely by the Government, Ashneel Sudhakar says there is general agreement on the National Flag Protection Bill's ruling that any future flag changes will require a 75 percent majority referendum and a 75 percent majority vote in Parliament.
Mr Sudhakar says the current flag was introduced in 1970 without a referendum and there's no inconsistency in the Government's process.
"There has been no law, so the question of inconsistency does not arise. Because in a vacuum, in the absence of any law requiring a referendum on a majority, there's basically no basis of going to a referendum."
Ashneel Sudhakar says he proposed an idea to the committee that future referenda on changing the flag could include the votes of school children.