The overall objective of the Charter is defined as follows: Much emphasis is laid on the necessity to prioritise national unity over the politics of separate ethnic communities.
[3] Archbishop Petero Mataca summed up the Charter by saying it would "reinforce the quality and sustainability of democracy in Fiji" and "provide a clearer vision of the principles and values we want to live by".
[4] Commodore Bainimarama said that the People's Charter would prevent any candidate for the 2009 general election from campaigning on racist and divisive policies.
[7] The Charter was prepared by a National Council for Building a Better Fiji (NCBBF), supposed to be "broadly representative of Fiji society (including leaders and representatives from the civil society including NGOs, the private sector, religious and community organisations, employers/workers and youth organisations, and the political parties)".
[8][9][10][11][12] Officially, the NCBBF's work on the Charter is overseen by an independent monitoring group, which reports directly to President Ratu Josefa Iloilo.
Fijilive reported that the NCBBF planned to "gauge the views of the people on the draft Charter via a public awareness campaign over the next six weeks".
Legally, if the Charter was deemed to alter the Constitution, it could only be adopted by a two-thirds majority of elected members of Parliament, which was not in session, having been dismissed after the coup.
Fiji's Citizens Constitutional Forum continued to oppose the military coup, calling it unjustifiable, but in response to the proposed Charter, said there is "a serious need to re-look at problems to find solutions to move the country forward".
[26] The Fiji Council of Churches offered cautious support, urging people not to oppose it outright, and suggesting that it provided "a window of opportunity for the nation to move forward".
On an individual basis, prominent Indo-Fijians such as Shamima Ali, Brij Lal, Imrana Jalal, Wadan Narsey and Richard Naidu refused to support the Charter.
To truly succeed, the charter, like the nation, must proceed by bipartisan agreements, by consultative dialogue that brings victors and vanquished to the table of compromise so that a just settlement is achieved".
[34] The poll was taken in the context of a public debate over the Charter, during which it was supported by Joseva Serulagilagi (Chairman of the Tailevu Provincial Council), Lorine Tevi (President of the Fiji Council of Social Services), and Pundit Kamlesh Arya (President of the Arya Pratinidhi Sabha of Fiji), and opposed by Wadan Narsey (Professor of Economics at the University of the South Pacific), Richard Naidu (Senior Partner at the Munro Leys law firm) and Tupou Draunidalo (Former Vice-President of the Fiji Law Society).
He stated that "[s]ome of the key proposals in the charter, if implemented without the approval of an elected parliament, would be contrary to the provisions of the 1997 Constitution.
[38] Academic Brij Lal, one of the authors of the Constitution, described the Charter as "too prescriptive", commenting that it appeared to aim at creating an unfeasible utopia.
Referring to the proposed abolition of the communal voting system, to be replaced by a "one man, one vote" electoral process, party secretary Pramod Rae stated: Ousted Vice-President and lawyer Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi sought to take a balanced and cautionary view: Jone Dakuvula, of the Citizens' Constitutional Forum, commented favourably on the Charter: Bainimarama attacked some of his critics, labelling their objections self-serving: In October 2008, the Fijian Teachers Association objected to a proposal for the Charter to be presented to children at school, describing the idea as "propaganda".