The name specifically comes from the blue ribbons promoted by the ruling United Fiji Party as a sign of support for the bill.
This campaign had the strong support of Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase, Attorney General Qoriniasi Bale, and other members of the ruling coalition and was warmly welcomed by imprisoned coup instigator George Speight.
The proposed Commission was intended to have the power (subject to presidential approval) to grant compensation to victims, and amnesty to perpetrators, of the coup d'état which deposed the elected government in May 2000.
This decision was criticized on 20 June by Joji Kotobalavu, a spokesman for the Prime Minister, who said that it was inappropriate for the commission to accept complaints about bills before they were tabled and before the public had had a chance to express its views.
Speaking in Auckland, New Zealand on 11 June, Prime Minister Qarase said that his government detected strong support for the legislation from "important and large sections of opinion" – but that media coverage failed to reflect that.
He acknowledged that sensitive questions of race and culture were at stake, but insisted that it was important to "learn to respect each other's views and to differ without anger or ill will."
"We need to concentrate more than ever on identifying the reasons for the upheavals of 1987 and 2000 and making sure that such tragedies never happen again," Qarase said at a meeting of the National Advisory Council, a think-tank representing Fiji's ethnic communities, which he chairs.
He said there was a fundamental lack of trust between Fiji's two main racial groups, coupled with radically different understandings of the events of 2000.
(The Prime Minister's comments were rejected the next day by Opposition Leader Mahendra Chaudhry, who said that the principal reason behind the coups of both 1987 and 2000 was greed, and that it was a "lie" to say that they were carried out in the name of indigenous interests).
He also said that while he recognized that expatriate businessmen working in Fiji had a right to comment on issues that were directly related to their commercial and professional undertakings, they "should exercise care and discretion to avoid crossing the line into active politics."
His admonition reinforced a warning to the Fiji Employers Federation from the Ministry of Home Affairs that foreign workers and businessmen who spoke against the government would risk forfeiting their permits.
He also rejected claims by Lauan Senator Adi Koila Nailatikau, the daughter of former Prime Minister, President, and Paramount Chief of Lau that most Provincial Council members who endorsed the bill had not understood it properly.
On 28 July, Qarase hailed the decision of the powerful Great Council of Chiefs and the Methodist Church to endorse the legislation.
Earlier, in an address to the Great Council, Qarase had reiterated a previous assertion that to withdraw the bill would be a denial of democracy.
Faced with continuing opposition to the bill, Qarase pleaded with opponents such as Opposition Leader Mahendra Chaudhry and United Peoples Party leader Mick Beddoes to give the bill a chance, saying they had "a rare opportunity to help bridge the obvious gulf between our people."
I were in Chaudhry's shoes I would grab the opportunity to try and establish dialogue through this Bill with the Fijian people to promote reconciliation and unity and I will do the same with Mr Beddoes as well," Qarase said.
He was responding to concerns raised by Ratu Isaia Gonewai, Deputy Chairman of the Nadroga-Navosa Provincial Council, about the impact of criticism from foreign organizations and governments.
Bale responded that while he was open to discussion about altering some of the details, the government would not be influenced by foreign intervention, and that if local and international opponents continued to lobby against the bill without making any constructive suggestions on how to improve it, parliament would probably pass it intact.
We want to get rid of the huge distrust and racial hatred that is being harboured by some members of the country's two major races as a result of the May 2000 coup," he said.
The aftermath of the 2000 crisis was negatively affecting the fabric of society, he said, and the government had long wanted to address that, but had delayed doing so until now because it could be misinterpreted as an attempt to cover up the actions of wrongdoers.
He denied claims that the bill was unconstitutional, saying that proposed amendments were to take account of public opinion, not to correct noncompliance with the Constitution.
On 19 July, however, Great Council secretary Asesela Sadole said that their Senators would not be instructed on how to vote, but would be left free to follow their consciences.
National Alliance Party President Ratu Epeli Ganilau similarly called on the government not to try to "fool" the Great Council of Chiefs.
The Fiji Military Forces and the Methodist Church are to make submissions at the meeting, but the secretariat of the Great Council had refused a request from the opposition Labour Party (FLP) to make one, ostensibly because of time constraints and on the ground that if they accepted a submission from the FLP, they would have to accept one from every political party.
The Great Council qualified its endorsement of the bill by urging the government to consider the concerns raised by its opponents, including the Military.
Prime Minister Qarase hailed the decision, saying that he had received the "overwhelming support of the Fijian people," but Opposition Leader Mahendra Chaudhry said that the chiefs had failed to address the issue properly, and that he would continue to fight the bill.
Military commander Commodore Frank Bainimarama, one of the most unyielding opponents of the legislation who had attacked it in an address to the Great Council lasting more than an hour, issued a statement on 29 July strongly critical of the decision.
Great Council Chairman Bokini said on 30 July that the chiefs had endorsed the legislation on the basis of a number of reasons that the Military should consider.