Why is Fiji in this mess? A Fijian Perspective.
Posted by AlexT - 01/09/09 at 05:09 pm
On the day Fiji is fully suspended from the Commonwealth, Dr. Mere Tuisalalo Samisoni, legal elected member of Lami Open Consituency in 2006, gives her thoughts:
The reasons put forward by Bainimarama for carrying out his 2006 coup provide a good parallel of Fiji’s post-coup state of instability. His justifications have been wandering all over Fiji’s political landscape and represent the height of insincerity.
These started off in 2004 with (1) ‘national security’ to get the military on side. Once that was ?done? he moved on to (2) ‘corruption’, to get the general public on side. Then when that did not work, he moved to (3) ‘multi-ethnicity’ or race, to at least keep his Indian-Fijian coup support intact. It then morphed over to (4) the Role of the Military as he began to fill the ‘civil’ service with Military Officers for their loyalty. When the lies of 2006 and the treason of April 2009 began to cause rifts amongst the troops, he again re-invented the 2006 coup as (5) the only ‘intervention’ that could right the wrongs of the killing of loyalists in the November 2000 Mutiny. Meanwhile, the public rationale for the coup has now moved on to (6) the need to fix the purported ‘damage’ of the past 20 years of alleged ‘divide and rule’ government policies (none of which has been named or explained).
The real reason for the 2006 coup is of course completely different, and is well known to people like former Police Commissioner Hughes who had the evidence to expose it in 2006, before soldiers were sent to arrest him.
The problem for institutions like the Commonwealth is that they require honesty, legality, co-operation and good faith, to be able to achieve much. It is evident from the above that the Commonwealth is unlikely to get any such thing from the Fiji Regime whose interest in subjects other than its own survival and self-preservation, are easily expendable.
Category : Democracy & Good Governance, homepage items, Human Rights, My Commonwealth
Tags: democracy, Fiji, Human Rights
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September 2nd, 2009 at 11:37 am
Fiji was suspended from the Commonwealth on 1st September. You can read the full press release about this on the Commonwealth Secretariat website here:
http://www.thecommonwealth.org/news/34580/213088/010909fijisuspended.htm
There is also an interesting piece about this on Radio New Zealand, which you can listen to here. The section on Fiji starts 4 minutes into the clip below:
http://www.rnzi.com/audio/datepac.mp3
September 5th, 2009 at 3:49 am
a brave decision by the Cth. Alghogh suspension on fiji has never been so effective. However, it was long predictable and timely decision. I read from the BBC news that "Fiji has already been suspended from the regional Pacific Islands Forum, and some European Union aid to the country has been put on hold."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8231717.stm
From the Cth’s experience with Fiji, it appears that on the part of the Fijian govt there is a serious lack of respect to the principles and values of the Cth. the above BBC article suggests that this might be because Cth is not a large donor to Fiji, so the suspension is just ‘symbolic’. if it is so, then what significant outcome can the Cth expect from this decision? How’s it gonna work? What about the human rights situation in Fiji?
in my view, suspension does not mean a gurantee of peace and democracy, rather it might turn a military regime like Fiji to be more arrogant with less or no respect at all to the situation of human rights. It has been learnt that media has been restricted since the military took over the power in Fiji. so the risk is that this decision might lead the Fiji’s human rights situation into worse.
What I would suggest is, along with the suspension and keeping the doors open for dialogue, Cth should alwys keep close eyes on the human rights situation. By suspending Fiji, the Cth has taken itself more responsibilities because it has to make sure that the suspension is really effective and Fiji returns to democray, law and order remain stable, and human rights violations are at minimum levels.
October 27th, 2009 at 9:00 am
Theres really nothing more new in Fiji except Fiji’s Military regime squeezing themselves in & taking over jobs from ordinary people. Take for instance the cane farmers who are now in the process of being evicted so that the soldiers can have something to do. Another case is the little island of Rotuma off Fiji, theres an army post & barracks there now with 25 men as opposed to 02 men. Yes thats right, we all will ask, whats going on in Fiji? Simple answer: ”Continuous SHIFTING OF GOAL POST.” Bainimarama & his merrymrn are running out of excuses. Case in point: read more from Raw Fiji News [we are told this blog is propped up by Fiji lawyers], Military preparing to evict small sugar farmers October 27, 2009 A lot of people are asking why land reform is taking so long. We all know that the sugar industry is struggling as a result of non-renewal of leases on native land. Sugar acreage is way down and this makes it hard for the Fiji Sugar Corporation to make a profit. Like any business, they suffer if they cannot maintain the through-put. So why are the FSC management team not jumping up and down about the failure of the military junta to solve the land problem for them? The answer is really quite simple. For them it?s not really a problem. For them the real problem is the fall in the price the European Union will be paying for sugar. That hits hard and they know they?ll have to lower their cost structure in the future. FSC has already spelled out the model that have in mind -large farms with mechanized harvesting. The more small farmers that go broke and leave the industry the better. Small farmers just get in the way of what they see as their future. They?ll be doing deals with landowners where landowners can expect more rent because the farms won?t be paying for labour to cut cane. Everyone has known for a long time that large farms and machinery are future of our cane industry. That?s why the European Union promised $340 million to help restructure the industry. For a lot of small farmers, the first they?ll know about what?s happening is when they realise they?re broke and no-one can help them. The regime has got the RFMF on the western side rehearsing for their role in enforcing evictions. If there?s no compensation, there?s going to be forced. You can believe the military junta when they say they support reform in the industry and they?ve budgeted funds to assist. It?s just that the funds are in the RFMF budget. And the assistance they?ll give will be forced evictions of small farmers who can?t pay the bills. To all the NFU members: if your old champion Mahen was doing his job you?d know this and be trying to get the EU funds. corruption fighter http://rawfijinews.wordpress.com
November 13th, 2009 at 7:05 am
Ballu Khan a reknowed Fiji-Indian busniess man gets brutalised by the Fiji military.
November 13th, 2009 at 7:08 am
…more on Ballu Khan’s story;
on this link below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cmF2hOxgdI
&
Amnesty International’s Pacific Researcher Apolosi Bose talks about the human rights situation in Fiji, in the launch of Amnesty’s report, Fiji: Paradise Lost.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9I1Hwn4AQw