The way forward for Qarase
LAISENIA QARASE
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Laisenia Qarase believes the interim Government has conveniently forgotten that Fiji has a genuine and legal Peoples CharterAgreat deal of money, effort and resources are being poured into the work of the National Council for Building a Better Fiji (NCBBF) and drafting of the proposed People's Charter.
At a time when the country is in the middle of a constitutional, political and economic crisis, which is causing great suffering among the people, the interim Government is devoting most of its energy to the NCBBF and the charter.
Everything seems to be secondary while conditions in the country continue to deteriorate. Never mind that the NCBBF and the charter concept are being rejected by large sections of the population and will, therefore, lack popular legitimacy, without wide public approval, the charter is doomed.
The interim Government has conveniently forgotten that Fiji has a genuine and legal People's Charter. It is called the Fiji Government's Strategic Development Plan (SDP) which covers the period from 2007 to 2011.
The plan is still in existence.
The charter proposed by the interim Government is, therefore, redundant and a huge waste of public funds. The NCBBF is duplicating work already carried out for the drafting and implementation of the SDP.
The SDP was the product of a democratically elected government.
It represents the combined vision and ideas of many people and organisations that took part in the extensive consultation and drafting which led to the preparation of the final document.
The process was a true and legitimate exercise in democracy built on a partnership between the community and Government.
The plan was endorsed at a national economic summit at the end of September 2006 and was given approval by Cabinet and Parliament.
It has special significance because it expresses the united views of the SDL Party and the Fiji Labour Party, through the multi-party government formed after the May 2006 election.
It draws extensively on the manifesto of both parties and consensus reached with the Labour party on issues of national importance for the achievement of a vision of a peaceful and prosperous Fiji.
The plan includes policies and goals covering the national spectrum, including national unity and identity, constitutional changes, social, cultural and economic reform and good governance.
Its scope is broad enough to include consideration of important issues such as changes to the electoral system." In trying to reinvent the wheel, the interim Government is ignoring what already exists and is creating further division in an already polarised community."
A key governance aim is to improve Fiji's ranking in Transparency International's corruption index perception index. We were focussed on moving Fiji upward from its 55th position among a survey that covered 159 countries.
A report by the Commonwealth business council has classified Fiji as one of the best five performers in 2005 for introducing measures to reduce and eliminate corruption.
The assessment was based on a survey of 32 Commonwealth countries.
Fiji was rated number 4 for the level with New Zealand for having balanced and effective business regulation.
Fiji also did well in ratings for government-business relations, free media, effective government, efficient administration and future outlook.
The SDP would have accelerated Fiji's progress in the crucial areas of national life administration. The emergence after the election of 2006 of co-operative multi-ethnic government and the public goodwill it generated, positioned Fiji for an epoch of positive change.
This would have consolidated and built on the considerable progress we had made in rebuilding Fiji after the crisis of 2000. We started the restoration of damaged relationships and achieved significant economic growth.
The workforce was expanding and wages were increasing.
The SDP, as the joint initiative of the SDL and the Fiji Labour Party in Cabinet is the vehicle to help take us further along the road of development and growth which would narrow the social and economic gaps between our communities.
The SDP stresses that achieving peace and security is a long-term commitment that must be vigorously pursued through building understanding among leaders and communities at all levels. It emphasises the Government's responsibility of achieving prosperity for Fiji's poorest, most disadvantaged and vulnerable citizens.
The strategies in the plan for higher and sustainable economic growth will create additional jobs and increasing income urgently needed to help us lift more people out of poverty.
This growth will produce additional revenue for the Government which could be channelled into development and amenities and services such as roads, water, electricity and health centres.
The plan proposes measures to boost investment.
It recognises that without this, Fiji will not be able to provide enough employment for young people and those who are without work.
The plan includes Fiji's first integrated export strategy directed toward increasing foreign earnings which would sustain growth. It has proposals for lifting efficiency, enhancing ethical values and professional standards and cutting costs in the public service and public sector. This would have raised accountability and transparency at all levels and created a cost-effective investor-friendly and service oriented environment.
The SDP is underpinned by the compact chapter of the Constitution that lays out principles for the conduct of government. These principles rate, among other things to individual community and groups rights, equality, politics, free and fair elections, formation of governments, conflict resolution and affirmative action and social justice for all disadvantaged citizens or groups.
It calls for equitable sharing of political, economic and commercial power to ensure that all communities fully benefit from the nation's economic progress.
In trying to reinvent the wheel, the interim Government is ignoring what already exists and is creating further division in an already polarised community. The best way forward is for a process of political dialogue to take place between the main political parties and the interim Government.
The purpose of this would be to find common ground for the country to return to democracy and parliamentary rule. And there has to be solutions for some of the other problems which must be addressed if we are to secure peace, certainty and stability in this nation of ours and for our future generations.
A rebuttal of Qarase's opinion article was also published in the Fiji Times, Thurs. April 10th 2008 issue. The excerpt:
Charters for the people
LORINE TEVI, DESMOND WHITESIDE and JOLAME LEWANAVANUA
Thursday, April 10, 2008
At the centre of the debate ... the people of this countryThe article by the former Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase titled "Fiji Already Has A People's Charter" argues there is no need for another "People's Charter" because his Government had already produced one. Qarase refers to the "Strategic Development Plan 2007-2011" as the so-called "Charter". There are a number of points raised in Qarase's article that we must challenge:
- [Qarase] says "a great deal of money is being poured into the work of the NCBBF and it is being wasted".
Mr Qarase has not given a comparative figure on how much it cost to produce his Governments' Strategic Plan. Was it cheaper? The budget of the NCBBF is $2.4 million which is about 0.16% of the interim Government's 2008 budget, an insignificant amount for a national undertaking. It is said that the General Election that Mr Qarase is demanding to have will cost about $35 million;
- We could spend this much on a general election and it will be a waste if the coup cycle does not end after that election. The NCBBF and the People's Charter wants to ensure there is no repeat of December 2006. It has the support of the RFMF for a new way of government under a People's Charter based on national consensus. What is the SDL alternative beyond the Elections?;
-Qarase's so called "Charter" was merely an outcome of the on-going development planning process of Government.
Fiji governments have produced similar documents every five years since independence. SDL produced one in 2000 and another one in 2006. It is nothing new. It is a document that tends to be narrowly economistic and rather "dry". So our PCCPP will be "wet". Very few people from outside government were involved in its consultation process. Qarase's Strategic Plan did not excite many to read it, it being yet another "development plan". For him to call it a "People's Charter" is a joke;
- Contrary to what Qarase says, the NCBBF is not trying to reinvent the wheel.
The State of the Nation and Economy Report, out of which the People's Charter will be drawn, is a very different process from the production of the Qarase Government's Strategic Plan document. The intensity, depth, quality and the participatory process and the sincerity and commitment of the people involve now is no comparison."his government's record was disastrous, with public debt cumulatively rising from $1.44 billion in 2000 to $2.9 billion in 2006. Within a period of six years, the Qarase government doubled public debt. Added to this, is his vote buying promise to pay public servants $300 million in 2007 and his $19 million agriculture assistance scam that helped the SDL win the 2001 Election. The Qarase government was taking Fiji towards bankruptcy, had it not been removed"
For example, the involvement of over two hundred participants representing all sections of the community in the nine Working Groups. Some members of the NCBBF and Working Groups had also been involved in the work on the SDL Government's Strategic Plan. That includes us, and we say that the Qarase Government SDP process was narrow in its consultation base and focus of diagnosis and recommendations. It does not remotely compare with the People's Charter process;
- The public consultation process of the NCBBF and PCCPP is broader, and more democratic than that of the Qarase Government.
Hardly anybody knew about the SDL Strategic Plan whereas the NCBBF's work is well publicised and aims to stimulate real discussion and debate so the people of Fiji can contribute to the SNE Report and the People's Charter formulation. It is very open and anybody can participate by attending consultative meetings, sending the Secretariat written submissions or posting their views on the website.
- The consultation on the SNE Report and the People's Charter involves people in communities at the grass roots level.
It is therefore a "People's Plan" not the "Strategic Plan" of government bureaucrats. Most politicians in the SDL would not have read it, leave alone ordinary people. So what good had the two Strategic Plans of Qarase done for the people of Fiji in the time they were in power?;
- Qarase tried to paint a rosy picture of his period in office (2000 2006).
In terms of public debt alone, his government's record was disastrous, with public debt cumulatively rising from $1.44 billion in 2000 to $2.9 billion in 2006. Within a period of six years, the Qarase government doubled public debt. Added to this, is his vote buying promise to pay public servants $300 million in 2007 and his $19 million agriculture assistance scam that helped the SDL win the 2001 Election. The Qarase government was taking Fiji towards bankruptcy, had it not been removed;
- It is also clear from this SDL Plan that there was no commitment at all to find real solutions to the expiring land leases problem that had got steadily worse under his leadership. These are only a few examples of the disastrous policies of the Qarase government. Many of these policies were ethnically divisive;
- In his article Qarase also claims the SDL Strategic Plan had drawn extensively from the Election manifesto of the SDL and FLP, but there is no evidence of this in the document.
He even claims that electoral reforms could have been embraced by his Strategic Plan and that "national unity and identity, constitutional changes, social cultural reforms and good governance" were in his plan. We have again carefully reviewed the document and have not read anything about these issues in the SDL Strategic Plan. It would appear that Qarase in desperation, is "plagiarising" the key elements of the PCCPP work and its contents now underway;
- Qarase's claim that the People's Charter is being "rejected" by large sections of our community has no substance.
Our outreach teams that have been visiting rural and urban settlements for the last six months have mainly reported receptiveness to the idea of a People's Charter. They say it is a different approach from politicians who visit only at Elections time and are never seen again for five years. It is different because people are being asked for their views. The consultative process of the NCBBF informs and empowers people to contribute to the determination of their own destiny. The People's Charter will capture the hopes and aspirations of all of Fiji's people;
- In his "opinion article" at the end Qarase calls for political dialogue to take place between the political parties as the way forward.
The days of politicians meeting and negotiating behind closed doors on the presumption they represent ordinary people's views and interests are now gone. That is what the SDL used to do in its "Talanoa Sessions" with the Fiji Labour Party and they never came to any agreement that could have been implemented;
- Any dialogue between the interim Government and political parties has to take place within the framework of the NCBBF and the work on the People's Charter.
It cannot take place separately at another level. Qarase and his colleagues must listen to the voices and learn from the people of Fiji, change their ways and follow "the New Way" of the People's Charter by listening to the people. Qarase's underlying message is that he really regrets that during his leadership, he had not thought about tackling the range of our deep seated national problems that are now being addressed by the NCBBF. Even though the NCBBF was initiated by the interim Government, it is being run as an autonomous process and we once again urge Qarase to be part of it.
The invitation of his Excellency the President to Qarase and the SDL Party to join the NCBBF remains open.
Together we can draw up a better national development plan based on real national consensus and serious commitment. We hope Qarase will reconsider and not be left behind as we move steadfastly towards the General Election.
- The writers are members of the NCBBF.
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