An illegal and seditious act

FIJI democracy supporters in Britain have strongly condemned the military for overthrowing the democratically-elected government of Laisenia Qarase.

“The military has no business interfering in civil processes and should stay in barracks until required by the civil authorities,” a spokesman for the Movement for Democracy in Fiji said yesterday.

“We have had too much interference by non-elected people in our history. No good has ever come of it. On the contrary, there has been a lot of pain, tears and blood.

“It must stop,” the spokesman said. “And it must stop now, for the good of our country.”

The spokesman said that no amount of provocation could justify the criminal actions of the military over the past few days.

“Despite Qarase’s racist actions and his sometime cavalier attitude to rewarding traitors,  racists and coup supporters, it is for the people of Fiji to punish him and throw him out, not for the Army.

“We believe that the Army was doing the right thing in encouraging and ensuring the prosecution of seditious and traitorous elements in society. It was also doing the right thing in opposing the Reconciliation Bill which was a fraudulent attempt by the Qarase government to short-circuit the legal system and bypass a court system it regarded as irksome.

“However the Army’s recent seditious acts mean that it has put that record at risk and may have undermined the prosecution of suspects such as Sitiveni Rabuka and others.”

The spokesman said the Army needed to make amends. It needed to withdraw to barracks leave the civil authorities to clear up the mess.

A personal view

For once, I am in accord with the godfather of the two racist 1987 coups Sitiveni Rabuka, who warned that the greatest threat to Fiji are the Fijians themselves. But I do not agree with him, or for that matter the former Speaker Tomasi Vakatora’s remedy ... read commentator and former journalist Victor Lal's views of why the Reconciliation Bill should be opposed 

For a comparison with South Africa click here

The Reconciliation and Unity Bill 
is more of Qarase’s trickery
The Fiji government’s underhand methods at undermining law and order are surfacing again with its attempts to free imprisoned traitors and other lawbreakers, the Movement for Democracy in Fiji said yesterday.

MDF chairman Raymond Croxon QC said the so-called Reconciliation and Unity Bill was a thinly-disguised ruse to subvert the decision of the courts and of the people of Fiji, and to release criminals such as Speight and his cohorts who brought so much pain, suffering and disrepute to Fiji.

“It will neither reconcile nor unite the people of Fiji, not that the Government has made any attempt to do so so far,” he said.

“What it will do is to reduce even further any confidence people have in the institutions of the state.

“It shows the arrogance of this government that despite the massive opposition to this trickery, from all sides of political, cultural and public life, the Qarase government insists on this attempt at whole-scale deception of both the people of Fiji and of international opinion.

“Qarase may not like it, but it bears repeating that he was Speight’s first choice for Prime Minister in the tumultuous days of May 2000 before some degree or law and order was imposed,” Mr Croxon said.

Rabuka explains why
Labour will win

February 4, 2005

SHARING the spoils of “victory” can be harder than imagined, as Fiji’s retreat since the May 2000 coup has shown.
The original coup leader and traitor Sitiveni Rabuka admitted as much recently when he admitted that squabbling among the Fijian political parties was clearing the road for a Labour return to power.
In an interview with the Fiji Times in Suva, Rabuka said the FLP was the only party consolidating its vote while the parties that drew their support mainly from the indigenous sectors were fragmenting the Fijian vote.
He said Labour was “intelligently” voicing what the public regarded as concerns. He also indicated the FLP may have it easier than the government because it will not be called to account -- “they are not the executive drivers". But that does not explain the difficulties that other “non-government” parties are causing for the Qarase and his Cabinet.
In an indication of either an electoral ruse or simple geographical fact, Rabuka said the increasing migration of farmers into Viti Levu may not benefit the Fijian parties.
He said the Labour Party could still maintain its seats in the next general election even if that happened.
Rabuka’s comments come in the wake of other commentators who have consistently pointed out that the coalitions Qarase and others before him put together were basically artificial ones which would not stand the test put on them by power-hungry forces.
If the removal of all opponents of the Fijian ruling classes can be described as a victory, the spoils from it are proving difficult to share out

October 15, 2004

 A multilingual, multiracial Fiji

The start of a debate on a national language for Fiji is to be welcomed. Some may object to it for reasons of racism or whatever. The Movement for Democracy in Fiji leans toward supporting the move for Fijian as a national language. But our stand provoked quite a reaction, as you can see from these letters

Minister loses his cool

An example of the type of Ministers the Fiji government has is shown the diatribe from Minister Simione Kaitani after we questioned whether the "reconciliation" ceremonies would work. Here's his "statement" 

It was his reaction to our comments which begin below:

Reconciliation ... or just covering the cracks?

In the lead-up to Fiji Day on October 10, there were ceremonies at Suva's Albert Park, supposedly to get people to forgive and forget. In an amazing own goal, or cynical disregard for the feelings of those who have been hurt, two of the leading participants were two people -- Lands Minister and Tui Cakau Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu and Naitasiri paramount chief Na Qaranivalu Ratu Inoke Takiveikata -- who are on trial on charges relating to the May 2000 coup.
The week's ceremonies seem like a watered-down, anaemic version of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and among those raising doubts is the Murdoch-owned Fiji Times, usually a strong supporter of the government. Read its editorial here

Read our views here

A most interesting intervention has come from Military Forces chief, Commander Voreqe Bainimarama. Read why he thinks the "reconciliation" will not work

Labour's new gender-equality policy

It is innovative steps such as the ones Labour is taking to ensure equal representation that will in the end make a difference to the man and woman on the street. Read about the thinking behind the policies ... 

and our view ... 

Rabuka tries to get into the US

The Fiji authorities are trying to get the former Lieutenant-Colonel (who suddenly became a Brigadier-General in two quick coups in 1987) into the US for Fiji Day celebrations next month. This is what we think, and here's our letter to the US Ambassador to Fiji

Favouritism for upper classes will fail Fiji again                 

   Read more ...

Don’t undermine the judiciary, Qarase warned

Read more ...