A FORMER parliamentarian has submitted that the position of President be retained while the vice president's position should be made redundant.
In his submission to the Constitution Commission in Suva on Wednesday, Sayed Abdul Khaiyum said the President should be elected by the people and not by any person or a body of people.
He said the best candidate for the job must be a citizen of Fiji with the background of a distinguished career in the national or international arena.
He said the President must serve a term of five years and be eligible to offer his candidature for another term of only five years.
"The new constitution should have provisions for affirmative action on means test only and not in consideration of any ethnicity," Mr Khaiyum said.
"A person who has taken residency of another country and has been absent for five years or more should not be eligible for appointment to any decision-making position in government, not be allowed to contest for a seat in the House of Representative or be appointed to the board of any State entities or the civil service.
"Fiji has the capacity to run its own affairs without the assistance of armchair leaders and advisers."