YOU can't hurt someone and then hold a gun to their head and coax them into joining the National Council for Building a Better Fiji, Nadi-based lawyer Tupou Draunidalo said.
Speaking at the Media Forum on whether the People's Charter was good for Fiji, she said it was ironic that those who removed the Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua party now wanted the ousted Government involved in NCBBF.
"Conflict resolution doesn't work like that," said Ms Draunidalo, a member of the negative team.
The actions of the President, Ratu Josefa Iloilo, to remove the Government was unlawful in itself, she told the roomful of people, including interim Cabinet ministers, members of the civil societies, businessmen and women and civil servants that gathered at JJ's on the Park on Thursday night.
"Recalling the 2006 Parliament is the only way to go. It would be ironic for the army to propose an amnesty Bill similar to SDL," she said.
"Which charter will stop coups?"
In summing up for his team, Doctor Wardan Narsey said if we did not have the four coups, poverty would be less than what was brought about as a result of the coup.
He said the coups resulted in loss of confidence and investments and prompted many to keep their profits offshore other than in Fiji.
Dr Narsey said an NCBBF pamphlet highlighted Fiji's public debt but the bigger and more important question was why the country's debt levels have risen to astonishing heights.
"We need to ask ourselves if we need to spend so much on the army. What do they (army) do? Coups every now and then," he said adding that the military continued to overspend its budget.
Dr Narsey said the military refused to reveal the truth about the regimental funds following allegations of misappropriation and misuse.
Despite the military's reliable profession as international peacekeepers, the rank and file with RFMF must now be thinking like political parties and this, he said, was unhealthy.
Dr Narsey said he and others were on record publicly criticising the SDL government yet despite that, the solution was not through army-staged coups.
"There is no evidence," he said of the allegations levelled against the previous government. What are we left with now - the Charter process?. Society is in total disarray," he said.
Dr Narsey said the Catholics and Hindus had joined the charter and the Muslim community withdrew after it developed cold feet.
Video and transcripts of the People's Charter debate
