Rewa Chief Ro Naulu Mataitini has described the Republic of Fiji Military Forces’ (RFMF) call to remove constitutional immunity protections as “Fiji’s most courageous act of statesmanship,” saying it places the responsibility on the government to pursue accountability.
The retired United Nations security executive said the RFMF’s submission to the Constitution Review Commission marked a significant shift.
“For decades, Fiji has lived in a house ‘built to protect the architects of rebellion rather than the inhabitants of this nation,’ as RFMF Commander Major-General Ro Jone Kalouniwai put it.
The very institution that once wielded the spear of political intervention has voluntarily reached for the olive branch of justice,” Ro Mataitini said in a post on social media.
Ro Mataitini said the RFMF had taken a step that previous governments had not.
“In an unprecedented submission to the Constitution Review Commission, the RFMF has done what no government in the post-1987 era has mustered the moral fortitude to do: it has asked to be held accountable.”
He said that by calling for the removal of the “Mark of Impunity,’ the RFMF had “not only demonstrated institutional maturity, but has also challenged the political class to finally confront a truth it has long avoided.”
Referring to the RFMF Commander’s submission, Ro Mataitini said the proposal acknowledged the consequences for military personnel.
“The Commander acknowledged that this proposal carries a ‘real cost,’ exposing officers and soldiers to legal risk and the perception among some ranks of a ‘breach of loyalty.’”
“The military is effectively declaring: If we have erred, we are willing to face the courts,” he added.
Mataitini said the RFMF’s position now required a response from the government.
He said previous governments had argued that changing immunity provisions would threaten stability, but that position had now changed.
“The RFMF has now passed the ball firmly to the government’s court.”
“Today, that argument is void.
The military—the very institution whose past actions justified those fears—has declared that such fears are no excuse for inaction,” Ro Mataitini said.
He said the government now had “a historic opportunity to show that it governs for the conscience of the nation, not just the comfort of the powerful.”
“The Commander has proven that institutional survival must never come at the expense of the national soul; the government must now prove that political survival should not either.’
Ro Mataitini also said the proposal was consistent with calls by the Bose Levu Vakaturaga for truth and reconciliation.
“The RFMF’s proposal to replace blanket immunity with conditional immunity—tied to full public disclosure through a strengthened truth and reconciliation process—seeks not vengeance, but truth.”
He said the proposal offered “a pathway that honors international standards while respecting our unique cultural context, prioritizing the nation over any single institution.”
Ro Mataitini said the RFMF Commander’s statement also redefined patriotism.
“The Commander’s assertion that the ‘survival of any single institution can no longer be purchased at the expense of this nation’s soul’ is a profound rebuke to our entire political class.’
“It redefines true patriotism—not as allegiance to a coup leader or a political party, but as the willingness to subject oneself to the same laws as ordinary citizens,” he emphasised.
Looking ahead, Ro Mataitini said the Constitution Review Commission and the government now faced important decisions.
“The Constitutional Review Commission now faces its greatest test. Will it show the ‘moral courage’ Major-General Kalouniwai urged? And will the government embrace its recommendations rather than shy away?”
He said the RFMF had removed a longstanding obstacle to constitutional reform.
“The old excuse that ‘the military will not allow it’ no longer applies—the military is leading the charge.”
Ro Mataitini said that if Parliament did not act, “it will not be protecting the nation from instability; it will be failing citizens who have been denied justice for generations.”
“The RFMF has shown that true strength is the humility to relinquish power.
Now, the government must show that true leadership is the wisdom to use power for redemption. The alternative, as the Commander warned, is a ‘nation of perpetual drifting’—a cost our children should never bear,” he said.
