Developments in FIJI: the
next three months will be crucial
by Dr. S. Chandrasekharan
Rabuka and the Coup:
Whether we like it or not , we have been brought together by history
and circumstances. The starting point in envisioning our future
must be that Fiji is our common home- Sitiveni Rabuka.
This was the same Rabuka who in 1989 staged a coup to oust the lawfully
elected government of Dr. Timoci Bavadra in the name of "returning
Fiji to the Fijians". In the second forced ouster of the
lawfully elected government of Mahendra Chaudhry by the thugs of Speight,
it was initially thought that Rabuka had no hand. First reports
emanating from Fiji after the incident, even praised Rabuka for
negotiating with Speight’s armed gang to release the hostages which
included Mahendra Chaudhry the Prime minister and his ministers.
Now a year after the armed take over, more evidence is forthcoming that
Rabuka was not all that innocent. Ratu Mara the then President has
said that Rabuka was involved in the attempted coup of 19th May
last year by a section of the army after the take over. The Daily Post
reported that the coup plot was hatched in November 1999 itself by Rabuka’s
SVT politicians and some military officials. Acting editor Mesake
Koros named Rabuka specifically as one of the key persons behind the
attempted coup. Yet no action is being contemplated by the Qarase
regime to bring him to justice.
Worse still, many of those who participated in the unlawful assembly
which resulted in "hostage taking", have been released.
Some have been bound but a majority of them have been released without
sentence. Not one of the Speight’s group who was involved in the
forcible take over has been sentenced.
Qarase’s new political party: Instead of healing the wounds of
the fractured community and bringing the country back to multiracial
harmony, Qarase is making all efforts to perpetuate the division. On
9th May he launched a new political party Soqosoqo Duavatanl
Lewenivanua ( SDL) with the objective of unifying all races of the people
in Fiji and maintaining Fijian Supremacy in the country. This
in effect would mean going back to the racially discriminatory 1990
constitution.
It looks that Qarase would try to restore some of the provisions of the
1990 constitution by getting the Constitution Review Commission (CRC) make
such recommendations. The CRC is supposed to give its report by 31st
August while the elections under the 1997 Constitution are due to be held
in the last week of August. Some political observers claim that the Qarase
regime does not want elections in August as its new party has very little
chance of getting enough seats to form the government. The regime
could use the excuse that a new constitution is needed before the election
and the whole process could be postponed.
Amnesty International has condemned the developments in Fiji in no
uncertain terms. While referring to the Court of Appeal ruling in March,
which upheld the Constitution and declared the government illegal, the
authorities defied the ruling by having themselves reappointed as the care
taker government. The report added that "preparations for the
elections in Fiji in August are being overshadowed by racism and
government efforts to pursue racial supremacy for indigenous
Fijians."
1997 Constitution and Elections in August 2001: There is an
imperative need to ensure that the 1997 constitution which was racially
equitable is continued as Fiji cannot continue to be divided by racial and
religious prejudices. It is equally important to ensure that
elections do take place in end August as scheduled and not postponed on
any excuse.
Speaking at the Arya Pratinidhi Sabha’s annual convention in Ba in end June this year, the Australian Ambassador Ms. Susan Boyd said
that the "1997 constitution which the perpetrators of the May 19
event sought to overturn, was a milestone in enshrining the basic concept
of social justice . . . there can be no lasting solution for the
challenges facing Fiji unless the concept of social justice is accepted by
all and enshrined in the constitution and laws. There could be no
security for the citizens of Fiji unless social justice is accepted by
everyone." Australia has offered 1.25 million dollars for election
purposes and another quarter million to work on the institutions of civil
society in the context of the elections.
Elections could be rigged: Many people in Fiji fear that the coming
elections if held will be rigged by the Qarase regime. One of the
reasons for their fear is that the regime in the preparations for the
election has allowed 45 hours between the end of voting to the start of
counting. This is unusual as counting always started the same
evening in previous elections.
The UN is sending a team to Fiji to assess the preparations going on
for elections. New Zealand has also offered 700,000 dollars towards
election expenses. Their assistance would also include an
international observer team to ensure that the elections are free and
fair. New Zealand may also press for Election monitors from the
international community to be involved in the elections. Foreign
observers in large numbers may be necessary as questions have been raised
about the impartiality of election officials who have been placed in their
positions by the Qarase regime. Media reports indicate that Qarase
has allowed three groups of foreign observers- the UN, the Commonwealth
and the EU to observe the elections.
Speight & the Indian Lawyer: Political observers of Fiji were
considerably surprised when reports indicated that on June 6 Speight had
hired an American Lawyer of ethnic Indian origin to defend him and his
brothers in the treason charge against them. The lawyer Navin Naidu
was unknown to lawyers in Fiji and there were conflicting reports about
his background.
Navin Naidu is reportedly a Singapore born, Indian, English educated
and an American resident. Under Fiji law he had to file his papers
in the courts before appearing on anyone’s behalf. The papers
filed by him on June 6 were found to be incomplete. He filed another
set of amended papers on 8th June. Naidu told the media that
he is an expert in constitutional and ecclesiastical law and has a law
firm in Seattle, Washington USA. Enquiries made did not confirm the
existence of the law firm in Seattle. Naidu was arrested on 12th
June on three counts- perverting the cause of justice, tendering forged
documents and making false statements on oath.
Another Coup? A section of the army is said to be restless and
senior officials say that another army coup before or after the August
elections cannot be ruled out. Fiji unfortunately has earned the
reputation of a country of "coups and rugby". The standing
army that it has, is more than what they need and the surplus is used in
contributing regularly to the UN for peace keeping operations.
Ethnically the entire army consists of indigenous Fijians and the
Indians had never shown any interest in joining the army. Now many
want to join, but it is said that the slightly built Indians may not meet
the rigid physical standards expected. This cannot be true and more
Indians should join the security organisations of the country.
Unless the current imbalance is rectified to some extent, the Indians
would always remain at the receiving end.
What the Fijians of Indian origin should do? Besides joining the
security organisations, the army and the Police, the Indians should also
try to move away from their over dependence on farming as primary
occupation. One of the reasons for the last coup was the fear that
the Chaudhry government would disturb the current proprietary rights of
the Chiefs and the indigenous Fijians on leased lands cultivated by
Indians. The Indians could over a period of time look for
opportunities in technical fields like computers and communications.
More important for them would be to use their votes to choose the right
candidates even if it means cutting across racial lines in the coming
elections.
(Reference may be made to Paper 226 for more
details.)
