THE interim administration is disappointed with the progress of the country and believes that problems that were to be tackled were swept under the mat.
Interim Prime Minister and army commander Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama said it was imperative that the country tackled deep-rooted problems urgently, openly, honestly and effectively.
He raised his concerns at the inaugural meeting of the National Council for Building a Better Fiji, at the Tradewinds Convention Centre in Suva yesterday.
"Although we have been aware of these problems over the years, they have been swept under the mat without any genuine effort to tackle them," Commodore Bainimarama said.
"As a small island economy, highly vulnerable to external pressures we at the same time are faced with our own man-made domestic challenges."
Commodore Bainimarama said this included a tradition of leadership that was generally been more self-serving and thrived on mongering fear as well as insecurity in the minds of citizens.
He said the nation had become fragmented as a result of the divisive race based politics and the lack of accountability and transparency in our political governance had been a major problem.
And these, Commodore Bainimarama said, had severely hindered the progress of the nation.
"Indeed we can and must learn from the past, but we must not obsessively live it," he said.
"We must move on, take responsibility and make a conscious effort to work together, to constructively contribute to changing our country's situation."
Commodore Bainimarama said the coup related experiences of 1987, 2000 and 2006 raised fundamental questions of good governance, democracy, race relations and the meaning of our nationhood.
He said the people and leaders must take a holistic and inclusive approach in addressing the problems.
"But our nation has been on a path of decline, marked by very low to negative growth," Commodore Bainimarama said.
"Public sector debt is unsustainably high, and the level of investments remains insufficient to lift and sustain the growth of our economy.
"A higher level of sustainable economic growth is necessary to generate more employment" to reduce poverty.
"Over one third of our population currently live in conditions of deprivation and poverty."
He said the aim of the People's Charter was to rebuild Fiji into a non-racial, culturally vibrant, united, well-governed and truly democratic nation.
"To rebuild a better Fiji, we need to make sure that the foundations for our political, economic and social governance are re-laid more solidly, and on a firmer and sustainable footing," Commodore Bainimarama said. "It is the responsibility of this national council to develop a draft People's Charter.
"The proposed Charter will not replace our Constitution.
"Also, it will be recalled that the initial draft on the People's Charter proposal was silent on the issue of the role of Fiji's military as a key institution in our nation.
"Going forward, the national council may consider setting up a working group to specifically address this issue.
"As the current head of Fiji's military, I am very much aware of the concerns regarding what is now being widely described as the coup culture' in Fiji.
"Fiji must rid itself of this reputation, and for us to be able to do this, we must address the fundamental problems and issues.
"This is what the People's Charter proposal seeks to do."