Coalition Initiative Group and Krishna Datt of the mainly Indo-Fijian Fiji Labour Party both rejected the Vice-President's calls for proportional representation, saying they were satisfied with the present electoral system. Madraiwiwi also expressed concern about how the high level of Indo-Fijian emigration could create electoral disparity, affecting the election results in marginal open constituencies. Critique of ethnic politics In his opening address to the Pacific Islands Political Studies Association (PIPSA) conference on 24 November 2005, Madraiwiwi described race relations as "a work in progress." He lamented the ethnic faultline that defines Fijian politics, a situation reinforced, he said, by what political parties thought the electorate wanted. The electoral system, in which almost two-thirds of the seats in the House of Representatives are chosen by voters registered on closed ethnic rolls, further reinforced this divide, he maintained. The result was that people retreated into their "ethnic fortresses" and viewed one another with suspicion. Madraiwiwi spoke of the need to build personal relationships on the basis of trust, across ethnic lines. "We must begin to trust each other if this country is to progress the way we want it to. But before that we have to lay the preparatory work to engender that trust by building relationships every day," he declared. One factor gave the Vice-President cause for optimism. The indigenous population was growing somewhat faster than that of the nation as a whole, which he thought would gradually allay their fears of marginalisation and could lead to their being less fearful about being led by someone of a different ethnic group. Views on the place of the Fijian language See main article: National language debate in Fiji. Addressing the 72nd annual meeting of the Fijian Teachers Association in Suva on 9 January 2006, Madraiwiwi added his own voice to calls for the Fijian language to be made a compulsory subject in all primary schools. His parents' generation had emphasised prioritising English on the assumption that Fijian could be learned later, but this had resulted in a generation knowing little Fijian, and unless the language was made compulsory at all levels of primary education, it would be lost to the next generation, Madraiwiwi said. Achievements In his capacity of Acting President of Fiji, Madraiwiwi succeeded in brokering a truce on 16 January 2006 between Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase and Military Commander Commodore Frank Bainimarama, whose long-running feud had raised fears of civil