Fiji Sun Editorial comments on the warnings by the Fiji Police to the organizers of the Methodist Church conference.
The excerpt of the FS opinion:
Double standards at party meetings
The Fiji Labour Party meets this weekend. And the National Federation Party has its annual conference in Nadi on Saturday. It would be naive in the extreme to imagine that the subject of the draft People's Charter - the hottest topic of the hour - will not come up for discussion at either event.
The FLP will support it while the NFP is more likely to take an opposing view. The question now is what line will the Fiji Police Force take?
We know it will take a very firm line at the Methodist Church annual conference which opens in Suva today. The police do not want the charter to be discussed, it seems. They have advised the church that if the Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua Party wishes to take part it will be considered a political meeting for which the church does not have a permit.
Further, the church has been told that if the SDL wishes to use the occasion to campaign against the charter, the police will close the meeting. Police will increase their presence and closely monitor the conference. What are they afraid of?
The church conference is highly unlikely to be an occasion for any breach of the peace. If there is political activity, it won't take the form of riotous assembly or any other kind of illegal behaviour. The same can be said of the FLP and NFP gatherings. Once again we see how the police are politicised.
The once proudly independent force has become a tool for the suppression of dissent and the promotion of a political ideology. This is deeply worrying. It is no secret that this newspaper has had serious differences with the SDL and its policies in the past. We called some those policies racist then and we call them racist now. But that is our opinion which - so far at least - we are free to express.
Why should not the SDL be accorded the same right - the same right as any other political party - to put its policies and opinions before the people? What is the regime afraid of? Much of the SDL's support resides in the rank and file of the Methodist Church just as much of the FLP's natural constituency is among the cane farmers and parts of the trade union movement.
There is nothing new, abnormal or even objectionable about that. What is abnormal and completely objectionable is the use of the police to prevent one party from addressing its constituency while giving another free rein. The people who drive this kind of activity surely cannot believe that it will not be noticed by the people of Fiji or that it will somehow make dissent go away.
The fact is it will have the opposite effect. They will never admit it, but the SDL organisers will regard this ham-fisted use of the police as manna from heaven. For if the regime really wants to promote a party or even a point of view, the most effective way is to ban it. In the meantime the Fiji Police Force must assert its independence It has to enforce the law - that is to say the constitution - and not the interim (or any) government.
The Fiji Sun (FS) Editor highlights the alleged double standards of the Fiji Police, regarding the issue of political meetings.
The FS Editor claims that, since Fiji Labour Party and the National Federation Party also are holding their respective meetings; the SDL should also be free to hold theirs. That premise is correct up to a point.
What is abnormal and highly objectionable is that, SDL party is not holding their political meeting in isolation, it is being held in unison with the Methodist conference.
Sadly, the FS Editor attempts to to justify the SDL's position of hijacking the Fiji Methodist Church annual festival, despite the response of Fiji Methodist church leaders, who are distancing themselves from remarks made by certain SDL party officials, as reported in a Fiji Times article.
Church unaware of counter campaign
Thursday, August 14, 2008
THE Methodist Church says it's not aware of an awareness program to counter the People's Charter.
Church secretary general Reverend Ame Tugaue says he doesn't know who made comments about the church working with the Soqosoqo Duavata Ni Lewenivanua party during the course of the church's annual conference.
"Who is the person making these comments," he asked. "I've spoken with the Police Commissioner on this issue." Mr Tugaue denied the church think-tank was meeting members of the SDL party.
Police spokeswoman Ema Mua could not be reached for comment.
Party president Solomone Naivalu said earlier the awareness program would continue. Mr Naivalu said the campaign would coincide with the interim Government's public relations program. "We have decided in the next six weeks to counter issues affecting members of the SDL party - the Fijian people," he said.
"The strategy we have decided on is to work with Christian churches, especially the Methodist Church. Two of us (SDL executives) are part of the Methodist Church think-tank and the SDL's stand on the charter is almost the same as the church." Mr Naivalu said their view would be also distributed at the Hibiscus Festival.
Acting interim Prime Minister Ratu Epeli Ganilau said it was a pity the SDL party had opted out of the NCBBF process.
Apparently, the SDL party President, Solomoni Naivalu was quoted in the Fiji Village article, stating that religion and politics go together.
Politics and Religion Go Together-SDL
Publish date/time: 13/08/2008 [14:04]
The SDL party has today stressed that politics and religion go together as they get ready to use the Methodist Church conference to go against the draft People's Charter.
SDL President, Solomoni Naivalu confirms that they will ensure that all the Methodists coming to the conference in Suva from tomorrow know why the draft should be opposed. When questioned on whether this would see the mixing of religion and politics, Naivalu said their stand is clear on this issue.
Naivalu is now hoping that the Methodist Church standing committee will give them the green light to distribute information on why the draft Charter needs to be opposed.
Meanwhile Director of Information and Military spokesperson, Major Neumi Leweni said if the issues to be discussed at the church conference turn political, then it will be a political assembly and police need to look into the matter.
Raw Fiji News blog posting, blasts the folly of the SDL President. The excerpt of the RFN post:
SDL President a no brainer
August 13, 2008
SDL President, Solomoni Naivalu, is already proving to be another bad choice by the ousted political party. And the party’s management committee members who decided to use the Methodist Church conference to promote their anti-Charter drive are a tactless bunch of people too. No wonder they were easily toppled from power. Key players in the party just don’t have what it takes to know when and how to attack, when not to piggy back and when to be still and be quiet.
SDL party seem to lack badly in the strategic and PR side of things and it shows. The same old thinkers who think people in this day and age can be bought by their provincial, chiefly and hollyghost bullcrap are still there. People are tired and weary of all these color-barring status seekers and wouldn’t give a damn what color blood runs in anyone’s veins. Whether it’s royal blue, red, black, yellow or even pollkadot orange and purple, they wouldn’t care less. All they want is food on the table, education for their children, water from their taps and the very basics of life. SDL have a lot of strategic political learning to do from Mahendra Chaudhry, but not his lies though.
The SDL party is repeating simple mistakes that got them and the nation into soo much trouble during their reign. They are placing incapable, no brainer individuals in key positions who always end up costing them their arm, leg, leadership term and possibly an election win if they are not careful. Naivalu is one of them. He is an opportunist and didn’t hesitate to jump ship to SDL when SVT started sinking. Making an announcement on SDL’s desire to piggy back on the Methodist Church conference is not worthy an announcement at all. Not only is the scum bag letting the cat out of the bag but who really wants to know! Just get on with it and test how effective it’ll be!
The guy has no understanding of good governance and its disappointing to see that the ousted SDL Prime Minister, Laisenia Qarase didn’t raise this during their discussion. How could they put the Methodist Church into jeopardy by making such a pronouncement. And how could they even suggest it when two of their members are part of the Methodist Church think tank? Isn’t that a conflict of interest? The Methodist Church must not allow Naivalu and his uncreative SDL management committee to use them. They have a totally different agenda from that of the church. SDL is in the business of winning elections, the church is in the business of winning souls. And as for Naivalu, RFN predict he will take SDL to ruin. The guy has no credibility. No one respects him. He is a put-off.
It is selective for the Fiji Sun Editor to obfuscate the difference between a religious and a political organization and the permits issued by the Fiji police are by extension given to one entity, not both.
While the SDL party had hoped to capitalize on this opportunity, to spread their political ideology within the Methodist church conference, it came with the price of having the conference permits being canceled outright by the Police.
Unfortunately, the difference between the two organizations have been blurred by some SDL party sympathizers, who are also lay preachers, and as such these blurring of roles also come with the baggage of blurring of ideals and blurring of finances. Where does this blurring begin and where does it end?
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