SUVA – The backlash over a mediocre selection of new flag options posted by Fiji’s flag change committee has led to a prime ministerial backtrack.

None of the current flag designs is locked in stone, says Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama.

“And if necessary, we will review the current process to get the right result,” the Fiji Sun reports the PM saying last week.

He has even gone so far as encourage people to suggest new designs if they are not happy with the 23 selected and posted online.

Bainimarama said: “A great country deserves a great flag. They’re the words of the American flag expert, Ted Kaye, who has been helping us design a new one and I couldn’t put it better myself.

“As you all know, we have a range of designs that people are now being asked to comment on. And I know that the public reaction to the 23 designs that have been put out hasn’t been entirely positive.

“We also know that many Fijians do not object to the flag being changed but want a design they like.

“We also know that a lot of Fijians are now, only after the designs have been put out, getting engaged and suggesting new ideas.

“In our vakamalua attitude to most things, it sometimes takes us Fijians a while to get involved but now that is happening. And that is good.

“I welcome this debate about the designs, the criticism of designs as well as the positive responses that have come in.

“I urge every Fijian of every age and background to give your opinions on the current designs, suggest new designs and join our crusade to find a national symbol we can all identify with – a design that speaks to the experience of being a Fijian now and in the future, not the experience of our colonial past. A great flag for a great country.”

Bainimarama was reacting to what appears to be a furious consensus against the Government’s new flag choices.

“Little wonder,” wrote Richard Naidu, a Suva lawyer in a comment piece in the Fiji Times. “Our 45-year-old flag, whose symbols reflect Fiji’s unique history, is about to be replaced by an insipid collection of clipart pictures. Well, that’s my opinion.”

But lost in the artistic debate, he said, is the despotic law the Bainimarama government intends to use to protect the flag it wants.

“Under the National Flag Protection Bill we may not use the flag while criticising the Government and if we commit an offence – and there are many – we are guilty unless we ourselves prove otherwise. And only a 75 per cent vote in a future referendum will let us change the new flag.

“In a strong and vibrant democracy, people have a right to criticise their government. Their government has to prove them guilty of an offence. And, if we want to change our flag again, the majority opinion is the one that should count. The new law will prevent or restrict all of these.

“The first question is why we need a law at all. For 45 years, we have not needed one. We carry our flag with affection. We see it waved all over the world at rugby matches. We point it out with pride when we see it in other countries. We respect our flag because we want to, not because we are told to.

“Few of us – even members of Parliament – have the time or the interest to read the dense wording of the draft law.

“Section 5 of the new law says ‘the Flag shall be respected’. What does that even mean?

“Can we not have our backs to it? Can we not roll our eyes in front of it? Can we not criticise it? We need to know because when we are taken to court for not respecting it, we must prove we are not guilty.

“If we choose to display the new flag in our home or office, it must be displayed in a ‘place of prominence’. What does that mean? Because if the Government decides it is not in a “place of prominence, we are guilty until we prove otherwise.

“The new Bill has a long list of dos and don’ts. Break one of these laws and we are guilty until we prove otherwise.

“The reversal of the burden of proof is probably the most absurd and despotic part of this new law. It goes against the right of every citizen of a civilised country.

“A good law requires the government, before it puts you in jail or fines you, to prove to a court that this is what you deserve. But under this law, it is us who must prove to a court that we deserve to stay out of jail.

“The Bill says that we may not associate or use the flag with any form of expression which criticises the government or any member of the government.

“So if the flag is part of your Facebook page, you must never say anything against the government or any of its ministers or MPs. You can, however, criticise the Opposition as much as you want.

“The government however may use the new flag on its press releases or its Facebook page to criticise or attack others. So the new flag will belong to the government’s propaganda machine.

“When people demanded a referendum to test the popularity of our current flag, the government refused it. But the new flag – the flag nobody seems to want – can only be changed by a referendum. In that referendum, 75 per cent of all voters – that is all registered voters, not just the voters who turn up – must vote for changes to the flag.

“So, let’s say we have 500,000 registered voters.

Let’s say in a referendum for a new flag, 400,000 people turn out to vote and 100,000 don’t bother. Out of the 400,000 voters, 360,000 people – 90 per cent – vote for a new flag. The referendum will still fail.

“A small minority of people can stop the flag from being changed. This, then, is our ‘vibrant democracy’.

Parliamentarians will soon have to vote on the National Flag Protection Bill. We have to assume that the Fiji First Party will herd its MPs into a “yes” vote.

“Those MPs may want to pause and reflect on the anti-democratic law that they are voting for, and ask themselves if they really are putting Fiji first.”