Devil in the Details.

Stuff online magazine, correspondent in Fiji reports on the lack of concern among the grass roots on the come-uppance of Army Commander. In fact, a great majority have revealed their support for the Army Commander's motive for the rapid change in management in Fiji. Taking into account that, nine degrees of separation from being couped, were offered to and rejected by the deposed P.M Laisenia Qarase.

Micheal Field's opinion piece on the coup has quite a perspective, due to the overuse of the racial lens to view the unfolding political landscape in Fiji.

Despite the universal understanding of separation of Sports and Politics, Australian Sports administrator Arthur Turnstall advocates the ban on Fiji Rugby. It will be a wonderful moment of explanations for Australian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, when prompted why the Pakistan cricket team was not a target, when considering their record of having a coup and their participation in One Day Internationals.

The coverage of the dismantling of a democracy shrine in Fiji, seemed to be the only indifference of judgement, of the loaded D-word. ABC article unrealistically paints the scenario, as if it was scene out of Fallujah, Iraq. Notwithstanding the hardships faced by those living in Al Anbar province and their own difficulties faced in the wake of the 2003 invasion for WMDs; approved by the same world leaders who represent democracy.

This opinion piece published by Stuff NZ, written by Finlay McDonald presents a balanced view of realities in Fiji. Another more confronting perspective by Mathaba.net outlines the avenues that, have opened for the Fiji interim Government.

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Spheres of Influence.

Above: Cartoon from Melbourne's Age.

In light of the holiday season, the timeless tradition of sending seasonal greetings is no different with world leaders, who have had quite a good year of being honest and morally upstanding.

The Age also reports in an article that, from a strategic position which commanded the heights of morality, the Commonwealth Group officially suspends Fiji's membership.

Above image: Stuff N.Z magazine shares a depressing image of Christmas values.

The wave of change in Fiji is addressed by the various talking heads and media, both domestic and interntional. Among the leading Australian broadcast organization is ABC or Australian Broadcasting Corporation, whose online news website is quite informative at times. Their article on the widening division in Fiji, only reflects the line of social stratification that, had been dismembered from interfering with the controlling arm of Government.

Fiji Sun article covers that developments in Tavua in this article. The following is an excerpt:

Chief sealed off from army-Traditional warriors protect GCC chairman

By AMELINA NAIVALUWAQA

Villagers of Tavualevu where the Tui Tavua and Great Council of Chiefs chairman, Ratu Ovini Bokini, hails from have blocked access to him, saying they will stop the army or any group from entering the village. Village spokesman Apisalome Ulusova said they erected roadblocks at the three entrances to the village and traditional warriors had been guarding them since the military takeover.

Mr Ulusova said on Thursday evening they heard the military was coming to take Ratu Ovini after he made comments that did not support the military takeover. “The members of the bati clan, or the traditional warriors of the Tui Tavua, called a meeting and asked if they could set up roadblocks to the entrances to the village and keep a lookout for those who want to visit the turaga na Tui Tavua,” he said.
He added his traditional warriors informed the elders of the village that they had a traditional obligation to carry out as the protectors of Ratu Ovini.

“The people of Tavua cannot just stand by and see our high chief being interfered with because it is how we respect his decisions on the vanua of Tavua. We have also blocked access to anyone, or any group who will try and approach the Tui Tavua,” he said. Mr Ulusova said they called the Republic of Fiji Military Forces on whether it would take in Ratu Ovini but were told it had no intention to do this.

Ratu Ovini called off a Great Council of Chiefs meeting, saying it still supported Ratu Josefa Iloilo as President and would not take orders from the military. Army Commander Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama said he took executive authority because there were people around the President who were stopping him from exercising his powers to dissolve Parliament. He dissolved Parliament on Wednesday and said he would recommend to the GCC to endorse Ratu Josefa for another term.

Mr Ulusova warned groups who wanted to see Ratu Ovini for their own agendas, saying they would be stopped. “Anyone who wishes to see the turaga na Tui Tavua will have to go through traditional protocol and that is consultations first with the elders of the chiefly household before approaching Ratu Ovini,” he said.“His traditional warriors are also concerned with groups visiting him,” Mr Ulusova said.

He added the roadblocks would also be a sign for youths and others in the village not to take the law into their own hands because of the volatile situation experienced in the country. “In this difficult time, we will continue to protect the Tui Tavua and remove the roadblocks after everything goes back to normal. We also still believe in a democratic government led by Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase,” he said.

Ratu Ovini was resting at his home while villagers guarded the village’s three entrances from Tavua town. Mr Ulusova said the vanua of Tavua still supports the democratic-elected government and recognises the Tui Vuda, Ratu Josefa Iloilo, as President and Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi as Vice President.
“The military needs to think about what it is doing at the moment because the West have been experiencing problems such as hotels and resorts closing down as well as other sectors being affected,” he said.

With out a doubt, some frustrations have been internalized with some nobles, one particular vocalization is this roadblock in Tavua by villagers supporting their chief and Chairman to the Great Council of Chiefs, Ovini Bokini, who also warns of further foreign isolation in this Fiji Live article.

Although, Fiji Village article covers more veiled frustrations from the Fiji Womens Council(FWC), who had also surprisingly cast their vote of no confidence, with their current change in Government. Their silence with the preceeding coups of 1987 and 2000 respectively, may also point out their inadequate moral positions.

The same argurement of moral double standards was raised by the Archbishop of the Roman Catholic diocese in Fiji in retaliation the statement release by the Assembly of Christian Churches in an article published by Radio NZ. This is an excerpt of the article:

Fiji’s Roman Catholic Church condemns statement by Assembly Christian Churches

Posted at 23:31 on 08 December, 2006 UTC

Fiji’s Roman Catholic Church has condemned a statement issued by the Assembly of Christian Churches on this week’s coup as politically biased and theologically wrong.

The head of the Roman Catholic Church, Archbishop Petero Mataca, says it is hypocritical of the churches to label the commander and his advisors as "manifestations of darkness and evil" when they did not say the same of those in the May 2000 coup.

He says it is time to acknowledge that Fiji failed to learn the lessons of the 2000 coup by ensuring that its young democracy and the rule of law were not abused and misused in the last six years.

Archbishop Mataca says the Assembly’s statement should have condemned the illegal and unconstitutional removal of the Qarase government, and affirmed the necessity for democracy and the rule of law.

He says the statement should have bound the churches to a position of compassion and justice, and recognised that what has happened has its roots in 2000.

Archbishop Mataca says the Catholic Church was not consulted by the Assembly before it issued its statement which he says is theologically wrong and morally improper.

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A Narrative of Opinions.

Australian Broadcast Corporation footage (Real media) on the scenes in Suva, has captivated many by the surreal nature of this coup. Although the new interim P.M acknowledged the illegal nature of the coup, Senilagakali later summed up in an online article by ABC that, the ends justified the means.

Despite all the protests to the political shift, measuring the dimensions of all illegalities occurring in post-2000 coup Fiji will be a colossal task, even for the best paid lawyers on the globe.

To assist observers in arriving with a definite conclusion on the situation of Fiji, readers must also superimpose the reaction of Western nations to the Palestine model of democracy, with the Fiji Army's recent moral revolution.

How would the defenders of western styled democracy reconcile their cannard with the fact that, one nation's elected democracy is being ostracized by the international community along with a nation that, overthrew their elected Government?

While the coups conducted in the nations of Thailand and Pakistan, do not receive the same critical denouncements and sanctions levied by Western styled nations, as with Fiji.

This discourse has unveiled an embarrasing conundrum with the western ideal of democracy that, undeniably has failed to flower in the wilderness of third world development.

U.S Intelligence Squared forum, styled after the London original, organized a debate with podcast provided by NPR, analyzing the situation of Palestine and pondering whether the democratic elected party of Hamas should be considered by the international community, as a Government or a Terrorist organization.

Furthermore the positions of western democracies, have equivocally denied recognizing this democratic elected party, as a formal representative of Palestine.
Other observers have concluded that, the geo-politics in Thailand and Pakistan only underline the conspiracy premise that, any Government whether legal or illegal will be acceptable to the eyes of the international community, as long as it meets their agenda.


Australian P.M is interviewed on this podcast along with the snippets from the interim P.M.

The Chairman of the Great Council of Chiefs(GCC) being an unelected electoral college, misuses the appeal of democracy, to justify their inability in supporting to the interim Military Government as reported by a Fiji Times article.
Unable to redeem themselves for providing support for the 1987 and 2000 coups, the ironic position taken by G.C.C would ultimately accelerate their demise.

Fiji TV footage captures the swearing in interim Prime Minister, Dr. Jona Senilagakali including a brief interview. Included is the press conference of the head of state, Frank Bainimarama who named the new Commissioner of Prisons and Police.

CBS Survivor series may have bragging rights to surviving another coup in Fiji, as covered by this blog "Daily Dumpling".

Other dimension leading up to this management change were the concerns of the Army Commander outlined in an article by Australian correspondent, Graham Davis; whose article rationalizing with the Army commander's concerns and ruffled a few feathers.

This is an excerpt:

Fiji army chief has a valid cause

The Government of Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase, with its dangerously divisive policies, deserves no sympathy from Australians, writes Graham Davis

---

November 25, 2006

IT'S a tale of the South Pacific James Michener could never have imagined: Australian warships off the coast of Fiji and high noon in Suva between the Australian federal officer locals call James Bond, and the tough guy who heads one of the fiercest fighting units in the world.

Unfortunately it's not fiction. Australia's impotence in dealing with events on its doorstep is about to be demonstrated in a way the Howard Government would never have envisaged when it launched its policy of active engagement in the affairs of its island neighbor's.

It seemed like a good idea to send the debonair Andrew Hughes to Fiji as police commissioner. The local force was demoralised and corrupt, and criminal activity was widespread.

The Aussie import has turned the force around, putting local bovver boys on the back foot and emerging in a recent opinion poll as the country's most popular public figure. But Hughes may find himself in trouble now he's decided to go head to head with the commander of Fiji's military forces, Frank Bainimarama.

The plot goes like this: Hughes wants Bainimarama to come in for an interview over his threats to remove the elected Government of Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase. The police chief is muttering about sedition and a range of other alleged offences. But Bainimarama has instead flown to New Zealand for a christening.

Bainimarama wants the Government to drop two key pieces of legislation: an amnesty for those involved in George Speight's 2000 coup and a bill that would give indigenous Fijians the right to claim money from other ethnic groups for using coastal waters.

The military chief maintains neither is in the national interest and has garnered significant community support for his stance.

He has now added another demand that is far from popular in Suva or Canberra: the removal of Hughes as police commissioner. That must be done, he says, in the same two-week timeframe as his other demands.

And although Bainimarama is talking about a clean-up campaign rather than a coup, Australia's Foreign Minister Alexander Downer says he fears a coup within two weeks and has issued fresh travel advisories for Fiji.

The reasons Bainimarama has made the tough statements he has - crude as they may seem to the casual observer - are not properly understood in Australia.

I'm not alone among Fiji-born Australians in being perplexed at the Howard Government's support for the Qarase Government. It is a racist Government pursuing racist policies, and has in its ranks many of the shadowy figures behind the 2000 coup who are desperate to avoid justice.

Race has always been at the heart of Fijian politics, especially the divide between indigenous Fijians and the descendants of the Indians brought to Fiji by British colonialists in the 19th century.

But it is Qarase who has made race an issue in this stoush, hitherto a power struggle between indigenous Fijians - Qarase and Bainimarama - that the Indians have wisely avoided.

When a Fiji Times-Tebbut poll last week showed that most of the Indians questioned sympathized with Bainimarama, it was the cue for Qarase to play the race card. On Wednesday he told parliament: "It is deeply troubling that the majority of one section of the community seems to favour military intervention in government. This is the conclusion to be drawn. The other major ethnic group does not support this. This leaves us in a finely balanced and potentially dangerous situation."

This is classic Qarase, an oblique message to his extremist Fijian supporters that the Indians favour his removal and to act accordingly. This is tantamount to unleashing the dogs of race on the basis of a poll of only 1000 people of all ethnicities. Small wonder Bainimarama is incensed and so many Fijian citizens of all races find themselves wondering about the true worth of democracy, if this is what it delivers.

It evidently hasn't reached Downer's ears that many would prefer Bainimarama to seize power and return it to civilian hands when the country is stabilised. Jerry Rawlings did it in Ghana, Olusegun Obasanjo did it in Nigeria: both were military men who subsequently became popularly elected civilian leaders.

Bainimarama opposes an amnesty for the perpetrators of the 2000 coup - some of whom are in Qarase's cabinet - in order to stop Fiji's cycle of coups, not perpetuate it. And he opposes the qoliqoli or coastal resources bill because it is inherently racist.

Fijian law already enshrines indigenous ownership of more than 80 per cent of the land, so there is no question of Fijians being dispossessed. By giving them dominion over coastal waters, Qarase is forcing other Fijian citizens to pay to use a resource that should be universally accessible.

Already, individual Fijians have been intercepting groups of people, including foreign tourists, at sea and demanding money before allowing them to resume their journeys. Yet when the country's peak tourism body said the qoliqoli bill could spell the beginning of the end for tourism, the country's biggest revenue earner, Qarase accused it of trying to sabotage the national economy.

Unlike the Prime Minister, Bainimarama is a committed multiracialist who subscribes to the vision of Fiji's founding father, Ratu Kamisese Mara, of a nation in which Fijian rights are respected but all races are treated equally.

The military chief has many friends among Indians and other ethnic groups, having attended the multiracial Marist Brothers High School in Suva.

If Bainimarama does seize power, as Downer now expects, he'll only be taking back what he gave Qarase when he invited him to form a government after locking up Speight in 2000.

What's not appreciated in Australia is the intensity of his rage at what he sees as Qarase's betrayal of the understandings between them, especially the need to punish those behind the coup.

Instead, Qarase brought many of the coup-makers into government and now wants a general amnesty that would lead to the likes of Speight being pardoned.

The Prime Minister could be about to learn the truth of an old adage: the hand that giveth also taketh away.

Fiji Human Rights laywer provides her feedback in the Fiji Times to the opinion article contributed earlier by Graham Davis. This is an excerpt:

Flirt with the rule of law at your peril

IMRANA JALAL
Thursday, November 30, 2006

+ Enlarge this image

A policeman stands guards over ballot boxes during the May 2006 general election

I refer to the opinion piece on Fiji by Graham Davis (High Noon in Fiji) in The Australian newspaper on 25 November 2006 and in The Fiji Times 29 November.

There is little doubt that Fiji has a special place in Davis' heart and that he is sincerely motivated.

However, his opinion piece is unsophisticated, is an irresponsible piece of journalism, particularly at this time of crisis, is deeply flawed from a legal perspective and is extremely dangerous for those of us trying to build a democracy based on the rule of law.

The essence of the rule of law requires us to solve our problems using lawful processes and democratic institutions such as the courts, the police and civil society.

To suggest that an illegal alternative might be justifiable undermines the building of democratic institutions, the ultimate power of the courts to rule any proposed law unconstitutional and makes a mockery of democracy and legitimate elections.

We Fijians wish to solve our problems using the rule of law.

This might involve challenging legislation that is unconstitutional or in violation of human rights, as has been done before, or voting out a government in a general election, and not by supporting the illegal removal of a government through the rule of the gun.

That is precisely what Davis is indirectly advocating: he is feeding the coup cycle and giving succour to the military.

Using the rule of law is certainly a longer and more tedious process, one which takes time, but to dispense with it in times of trouble is courting disaster.

Flirt with the rule of law at your peril.

I am curious to know whether Davis would indirectly advocate the same method in Australia whenever Howard attempts to pass unconstitutional and anti-human rights legislation through parliament or is he willing to wait out the lawful processes including the right of Australian citizens to use the courts for their grievances?

Where is it written that in those "uncivilised islands" of the Pacific live lesser people entitled to lesser rights then that accorded Australians, namely to use democratic processes and the rule of law to hold their governments accountable?

Davis and Australia need to be reminded that it was not Commander Bainimarama who brought back constitutional democracy to Fiji following the crisis in Fiji in 2000, but a poor, marginalised (now completely disenfranchised) Indo-Fijian farmer, eventually backed by civil society, through the landmark Chandrika Prasad court case.

Bainimarama actually filed a lengthy affidavit supporting the abrogation of the constitution.

It might be prudent to remember also, that it was the Commander who the courts have said committed the final illegal abrogation of the Constitution, when he unlawfully removed our former President Ratu Mara from Office.

We should let the rule of law and lawful processes take their course without any threat or perceived threat of illegal removals of government and of coups.

Have faith in us Mr Davis. Have some faith in the ability of us Fijians to build our democracy without illegal interference.

What you must remember is that the current government was only voted in a few months ago.

Surely the electorate made its choice at that time, and whether we like that choice or not is not the issue.

The Fijian people cast their vote. Respect that.

We the citizens of Fiji deserve a country without coups. Our children and the future generations certainly do.

Ms Jalal is an international human rights lawyer, a former Fiji Human Rights Commissioner, a Commissioner of the Geneva-based International Commission of Jurists and a Board member of both the Geneva-based International Council of Human Rights Policy and the Fiji Women's Rights Movement. These views are her own and not necessarily of the organisations with which she is associated.

This is the counter response by Micheal Fields to the opinion article written by laywer Imrana Jalal.

Within the law

Imrana Jalal accuses me of irresponsible journalism in her response to my opinion piece in The Australian, reprinted by The Fiji Times.

Irresponsible journalism is journalism that suppresses and doesn't enlighten.

I did not advocate the overthrow of anyone.

I tried to explain something not widely appreciated in Australia that Commodore Bainimarama has reason to be unhappy with a prime minister pursuing a racist agenda.

I said that many Fiji citizens would prefer to be rid of the Qarase government rather than see the 2000 coup makers pardoned and the Qoliqoli Bill enacted.

Ms Jalal says Fijians want to resolve their differences within the law.

I agree with her but if the rule of law in Fiji is as absolute as she maintains, then Mahendra Chaudhry would still be prime minister.

We all want a lawful resolution to the crisis but it will not be resolved while the Qarase Government pursues policies that are to the detriment of other races in Fiji and deny them natural justice.

Graham Davis
Sydney

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Acid Test: Fiji's military coup: it's not so simple

This blog has the complex nature of Fiji politics.

Acid Test: Fiji's military coup: it's not so simple

Fiji, A Democracy of Half-Measures?

Above: Image of soldier guarding the Government buildings in Suva.

The ever widening division of opinions between the cause and effect of the coup, is reflected in local sentiments covered in this BBC article.

Similar to the calls by Pacific regional protests in this clean-up campaign, the United Kingdom, France, India , European Union and the U.S follow in quick succession. Like their feeble protests prior to the Iraq War, these nation's democratic concerns are usually shortlived, as they seriously ponder their declining market share and influence into Pacific. Some also deeply worry this Fiji coup will inevitably trigger a continuation to the Domino Theory.

This realization of such a wave of change has also been acknowledged by the U.S. Secretary of State; when asked about the developments in the South Pacific. This is an excerpt of the Condaleeza Rice interview with Sydney Morning Herald's correspondent Peter Hartcher, published by Scoop, a New Zealand news agency.

QUESTION: Can I ask you a question about the South Pacific? You might have seen in the last day or two Tonga is the last one. There seems to be --

SECRETARY RICE: Yes, a wave.

QUESTION: Yes, a modern domino theory sweeping through the South Pacific. How do you analyze the problem? How do you see the Australian approach to it? And is there any role for the U.S. directly or is it sort of an Australian sort of division of labor?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, I do think that the problems are somewhat -- you know, it is all in the same region but the problems are different. You know, East Timor has its own particular set of challenges coming out of what appear to be relatively stable evolution after independence, but then problems within the government between various figures in the government, leading then ultimately. But a situation that seems to have gotten better.

You know, a completely different situation in Fiji, where elections which Australia and New Zealand had really put a great deal into, and then this potential for a military coup. Solomon Islands, you had a different set of -- a different situation now in Tonga. I think really more of a police action. But so they're different, but they do all seem to have come in a row. I talk frequently with Alexander Downer about these, but we've greatly appreciated the willingness of Australia, and to a certain extent New Zealand, to be active in putting peacekeeping forces in where necessary and to really, I think, both reacting to the problems there and to being a deterrent to further problems.

So I don't think this is a place where American forces really are needed, but it is -- we have had very close political consultations about each of these as it's gone forward.

This recent change of managment in Fiji would also presents an opportunity for China to further their influence, especially amid the threats of expulsion from the Commonwealth group by their General Secretary. Taking into account, China's recent offer to pay-off loans for Pacific island nations including the debts of continental Africa.

Although the State of Emergency had been declared by the new head of state, Radio New Zealand's report of Fiji media being monitored, may have to be considered with other realities.

S.i.F.M neither supports this curtailment of information in Fiji, as much as condoning the over application of terrorism laws in adding layers of checks to airline transport. One may consider airline security as a necessary evil in the wake of 9/11, but why is the curtailment of one freedom more appreciated over another?

Filling this digital void of information dispersal are Blogs and certain online versions of Fiji publications exist. Among the publications at the leading edge of this transition to cyberpace are Fiji Live, Fiji Times, Fiji Village followed by the Fiji Daily Post, all of which continue to update their webpages, much to the relief of concerned overseas readers.

Other blogs that comment on Fiji's coup is The Lede, whose article had many interesting feedback posts. Other international responses has been made available by this BBC feedback question.


One Fiji Live article reports that, the senior Police officers being taken to the Queen Elizabeth barracks also highlights the racheting up effect of security.

Further contributing signals of enlarging Army security cordon was a report of the arrest of Assistant Police Commissioner and the removal of Ministry C.E.Os from their posts including the C.E.O for Prime Minister's office. As reported by Fiji Live article, all C.E.Os were subsequently released and allowed to return home. However reflecting a lagging perspective on the fluid events in Fiji, an article published by The Age may not considered the release of the CEOs as news worthy.

Above: Image of soldier entering the Fiji Parliament.


New Zealand TV footage describes the escape of Fiji PM to his island of origin and various international views. Including in the other interviews were the appeals by Fiji Prime Minister for the people to demonstrate. Concluding the interview was New Zealand's Prime Minister request for senior officers of the Fiji Army to mutiny. Ultimately this call for mutiny by Helen Clark would be weighed by political observers, against the Fiji P.M's denied request for the intervention of New Zealand and Australian troops.

With respect to the rapid deployment of ANZAC troops and police to Tonga in the aftermath of riots, inextricably those mutinous calls in Fiji's case, underline the relunctance of the Trans-Tasman guardians of democracy to back up their words with deeds .

ABC news video (Real Player) of the unfolding events in Fiji is evidence of itself. Another audio interview by ABC correspondent Emily Burke adds another layer of interviews that dissect the situation in Fiji.


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Terms of Endearment.

The fluid situation currently affecting the nation of Fiji has currents of many directions. Fiji T.V news covers the eddies of turbulence, amid the scenic back drop. Latest developments include Fiji Village's report of the Commander assuming executive control and the Fiji Live report of the President signing of the legal ordinance for the dissolution of Parliament. Pacific Beat podcast has audio of the Army Commander's press announcement and reaction by Australian Prime Minister by John Howard.

Although the Fiji Prime Minister has vowed not resigning in this article, Ministerial vehicles have also been repossesed by the military as reported by the Fiji Village article.
Fiji Army senior officer, announces the use of Nukulau to house persons whom they designate characters of ill repute. While another Fiji Live report is that, a caretaker Prime Minister has already named.
Although the Fijian series of shifting political landscapes has also angered the baby-sitting big brothers of the Pacific, Australia and New Zealand. The 1997 constitution allows a premature exit of a standing Government, as described in online version of magazine: Island Business article. However Asia Time articles quotes Fiji Prime Minister 2001 speech, denigrating the concept of liberal democracy and decries any foreign intervention in Fiji's affairs.

This is an excerpt:

Oceania

Fijian PM says liberal democracy would destroy region
By Kalinga Seneviratne

SYDNEY - A debate in the South Pacific about western liberal democracy has been revived by Fiji's military-installed Premier Laisenia Qarase, who says it is ill-suited for to the region and would "destroy" its traditional values.

Addressing Pacific leaders in Hawaii earlier this month, Qarase said Pacific island nations, where social and ethnic tensions are rising, should go slow in imbibing foreign ideas and safeguard their traditional "communal democratic" systems.

Qarase made these comments as political tension in his tiny multi-racial Pacific island nation heats up ahead of a Court of Appeal verdict later this month on the legitimacy of his regime - and amid growing pressure by countries like Australia and New Zealand for him to step down.

On November 15, Fiji Supreme Court Justice Anthony Gates ruled in favor of the 1997 multiracial constitution, which was revoked following the May 19 coup against the elected government of Indian Fijian prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry. The coup, launched by a group that said it was acting on behalf of indigenous Fijians and called for indigenous Fijian political leadership, set back efforts thus far made toward a multi-racial democracy.

The judge also called on the former president Ratu Mara to reconvene parliament. But the Qarase government appealed this verdict and Fiji's Court of Appeal will begin hearing it February 19.

With growing pressure on Qarase to give way to a government of "national unity", his comments on how western democracy does not fit Fiji comes at an interesting juncture. More so, these comments challenged the very principles of the 1997 constitution.

Qarase also used his address to appeal to the international community to stop its interference in Fiji. "Solutions for our problems in Fiji lie in Fiji and interference from outside will not solve the problem," Qarase said, in reference to criticism from Fiji's neighbors about the military installed government.

Qarase, who was Fiji's chief merchant banker before taking over the prime ministership last year, said Fiji and many other countries in the Pacific are travelling from communal democracy to liberal democracy. Fiji's communal democracy refers to a traditional chief system, under which every village or community has a traditional leader whose stature is not political but often spiritual too. These chiefs are grouped together in a Great Council of Chiefs, which meets annually or whenever they are called upon to discuss issues of national importance, such as the May 19 coup.

The council of chiefs has no legislative power, but it is considered the traditional guardian of the Fijian establishment.

Some countries, Qarase argued, never want to reach Western- style liberal democracy "because by doing so we will be embracing some of the adverse effects of some of the things that flow automatically from principles of full liberal democracy".

"There is a big problem for us as leaders because some of these principles will tend to destroy our culture and our traditional values," he added. In a communal democracy, he said, the structure is very clear. "There is a coalition within the society, there is a dialogue and there is consultation and a lot of issues are resolved by consensus among elders," Qarase explained.

He acknowledges that the chief of local communities would be the final arbitrator in such a system, but that he would be making decisions "after a lot of dialogue". Because there is no government and an opposition to argue things out like in a liberal democratic structure, this communal system of democracy will not allow much room "for divisive elements in that society", Qarase said.

Critics, however, say Qarase is invoking a false clash of concepts, perhaps to help justify the political system since the May coup.

For his part, Indo-Fijian political analyst Dr Sanjay Ramesh says that Qarase's explanation is not a correct picture of the situation in the Pacific and that what it has is often an autocratic set- up. "In Fiji, there never existed a communal system of democracy," he argued. "What did exist was a hierarchical autocratic communal system, which is in constant tension with both national and global political and economic values."

"The indigenous Fijian social structure is rigid and there is no social mobility," observed Ramesh. "That is why Western liberal democracy is incompatible."

There has been some debate on the power and accountability of the chiefs, who have a lot of authority on the local level. Qarase is not the first Pacific leader to raise concerns about the supposed incompatibility of Western liberal democracy with indigenous Pacific cultures. Many others have done so in the last few years as social tension and unrest increases in the region.

In a recent paper, Lopeti Senituli, director of tje Tonga Human Rights and Democracy Movement, argued that people's participation and accountability of leaders should be the cornerstone of good governance in the region. This, he added, should be a process and not an event, such as voting in elections. "Casting a vote in an election is an event that is meaningless without the accountability of the elected government to the people," he says.

In the Kingdom of Tonga where a "traditional" form of government exists, Senituli says that it is facing civil unrest from the grass roots because the government is undemocratic and unaccountable to the people.

Turning his attention to Fiji, where he has lived for many years, Senituli observes that the world view of the two of its major communities - the ethnic Fijians and Indian Fijians - are vastly different. "But I firmly believe that the differences can be bridged," he said.

Ramesh adds that in addition to Fiji and Tonga, other Pacific Islands such as Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu are also facing similar social and political upheavals. "It is a clash between the old and the new value systems," he argued. "Indigenous leaders throughout the Pacific have to provide a framework for social mobility and economic prosperity. That is not possible under an autocratic system."

Fiji is a special case because of its large population of Indians, descendants of indentured laborers brought over by the British to work in cane plantations over a century ago. Indo-Fijians now make up almost 50 percent of Fiji's 700,000 people, which means almost half the population does not belong to the indigenous Fijian communal democracy system Qarase speaks of. Thus, Ramesh points out that Indian Fijians will have to live "under the whims of the chiefs and their cronies" forever.

"Indo-Fijians want a system that at least give them fair representation in parliament and fundamental rights protected within a constitutional framework," he said.

(Inter Press Service)

In another Fiji Live article, New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark still in rampaging mood from the telling-off the NZ Police, bounces back and scoldingly rebuffs the office of Fiji President, for approving the dissolution even though, in a statement published by Fiji Village they report the President did not support the action.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and New Zealand P.M line up their limited assortment of sanctions, one in particular is especially designed to prevent Fiji soldiers from transiting the borders of the Commonwealth, as reported in this article.

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Not Easy Being Green.

Fiji Army spokesman denies the takeover of the Police Tactical Response Division (PTRD) headquarters in this Fiji Village report. ABC online magazine Pacific Beat podcast interviews Samisoni Pareti, a Fiji based correspondent who describes the fluid situation in Fiji and the weapons confiscation from PTRD and the subject of roadblocks.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer is also interviewed in the segment, speculated on a mutiny being brokered within the Fiji Army. This brokering may be related to the actions of the Foreign envoys who visited the Queen Elizabeth barracks whilst the Army Commander was in New Zealand. Fiji Lawyer Jon Apted is also interviewed on the situation.

New Zealand Prime Minister is equally angry with the Fiji Army and the New Zealand Police. She describes the actions of Army Commander as "Silly" in this Fiji Times article. Being in the telling-off mood, New Zealand Herald reports that the Prime Minister lambasted the police for abusing their computer assets to check on girlfriends.




Fiji Police Force Assistant Commissioner has reassured the public that there is no takeover of the PTRD compound in this Fiji Time article. It also seems the Acting Police Commissioner, Moses Driver is basking in all the attention of being constantly interviewed and his words being zipped across the globe, as seen in this article of Malaysian news outlet, Star and Australia's The Age and NZ Herald articles.
Commissioner Driver often gets carried away in the constant interviews that some of his views often conflict. Like this article by Fiji Times, warning about the weapons confiscation of the Police armory.

The standing Police Commissioner, Andrew Hughes is left to make media calls out of the lime-light in Cairns Australia where he is spending his annual leave. Another article by The Australian, ponders the case of Peter Foster which will be interesting to observe unfold and also prompts other questions.

1. Would the Australian Government withdraw all their embassy staff and abandon another citizen currently under house arrest?
2. Would the Fiji Police withdraw charges leveled against Peter Foster?
3. Does Peter Foster hold some information that would be damaging for the higher echelon of Qarase Government; which ordered his rapid arrest?

Fiji Times reports the simple confiscation of weapons that, may be considered a threat to the Army. Fiji Village article also confirms the arms removal. This confiscation of arms should be viewed as an intelligent method to diffuse tensions between the two organizations that have soured recently due to the impasse between Government and Army.

The news of the entourage of Fiji P.M using a helicopter to evade a Army roadblock is concerning. It may reflect the poor choice taken by the security details.
The evacuation may also point out a serious deficit in skills by bodyguards, for blending into the rural surroundings that is a fraction of the costs billed to the state treasury and costing a fraction of the attention. Now the issue of Government contracts for helicopter services, will surely come under scrutiny on the annual Auditor Generals report.

Taking in account the recent weapons confiscation, it may safe to assume that their Helicopter company's office telephone number is set to speed dial to the principle Body Guard's unsecured cell phone.





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Check mate or Stale Mate.

Fiji Times Editorial has remarkably chosen to snipe at the Army Commander efforts, without providing solutions to the impasse.

Although some of Fiji's public have their own ideas of democracy as demonstrated by the Fiji Times coverage of a patriotic resident, who converted his house into a shrine; these individuals may be need to update their knowledge on ethics and morality; which is the foundation which the house of democracy is built on.

It is often said that, this same house of democracy in Fiji has been contaminated by native provincial entities. The same native provinces were recipients of tools purchased under the Agricultural Scam as documented by the Kunatuba High Court trial. This Agricultural scam was openly used by the Burebasaga paramount chief and Minister, to secure support for the 2006 elections.

Fiji Village reports that provincial network has thrown their lot blindly behind their own Chief and Minister.

If vote buying is among the pillars which constitute the idea of democracy by these native institutions; then unfortunately Good Governance in Fiji is nothing more than lip service.

Lip service is a convenient device used extensively by Fiji Public Service when dealing with incompetence and chronic mismanagement and corruption. Having their input on the impasse only worsens their unbiased standing.

To question the ideals of the Army and not their lethargic mis-control of over-spending, their inability to remove vestiges of colonial styled management underlines mis-direction that has plagued the civil service and the nation of Fiji more so, than the attempts to clean up by the Fiji Army.

These hidden losses amounting to astronomical amounts occur on an Annual basis and are usually published by the Auditor General. To say the Army clean-up campaign will cost the nation, the cost of inaction on ingrained corruption in Fiji government will inextricably be perpetually.


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KABOBfest: Will Fiji Soon Be Out of the Coalition of the Willing?

KABOBfest: Will Fiji Soon Be Out of the Coalition of the Willing?
This take on the other externalities facing the nation of Fiji and the often abused ideals of democracy used by Western nations.

U.N Secretary General's take on the situation in Fiji, did not have the warnings of ramifications that was covered by this article by New Zealand Herald.

On Vice and Virtures.

Above Image: Fiji Army Commander and Vice President watching the Sukuna Bowl rugby match.

The cutting edge of Blogs over conventional news sources is now carrying over to the use of terminology. It is rather amusing for the New Zealand Prime Minister, Helen Clark to be using the word featured numerously in S.i.F.M. The word: "Coupster" is used by the P.M Helen Clark in this segment radio interview by Niu Fm describing the future intentions of Fiji Army Commander while reconciling his exemplary record, post 2000 coup. An accurate chronology of the political events has been outlined by this Reuters article.

Podcast interview by Niu FM correspondent Mike Field in Fiji, highlights that fear the unknown and lack of factual information to support rumors. Rumors, like tip-offs share a similar DNA and this Fiji Times article on Pacific Island Forum reflects stove-piped objectivity by member diplomats on their concerns for grassroots frustrations. This gate-keeping further underlines the Forum's apparent divorce from grass-root socio-political frustrations. Wasn't the Forum also caught flat-footed on such signals on pro-democracy preceding the Tonga riots?

One leading update from Fiji Village is that, Army Commander says Laisenia Qarase has lost control and the Commander further denies that an extension to the dead-line has been given.

An article by The Australian, give an element of credence to the report of the crippled nature of Fiji Prime Minister.

In another article by Fiji Village(FV), several Cabinet cabinets in hiding have been urged to keep a low profile and the F.V article quotes Radio Tarana Managing Director Robert Khan who said, the telephoned comments gave overwhelming support to the Army Commander's clean up campaign, in Radio Tarana's radio talk back show.

Although, the Fiji Prime Minister attempts to lobby the support from the office of the President in seeking dissolution of Parliament; the P.M Laisenia Qarase flaunts the words of democracy and also denigrates the system of dictatorship as the ideals for Fiji in an interview featured in this Niu FM podcast . This would be a classic example of such mis-representations of the definition of democracy applied in Fiji. Selective Democracy is a subject covered lightly by other bloggers and this Letter to Fiji Times Editor.

Kofi Annan

The recent warning by the Secretary General of the United Nations Kofi Annan, to pull out all the current Fijian peacekeeping troops should there be a military coup in Fiji, is unbelievable and unprofessional, to say the least.

Mr Annan must critically analyse both sides of the story before making a public comment.

I am surprised that a military coup can be used by the UN to pull Fiji's peacekeeping troops out.

I hope Mr Annan is not just uttering a warning to please the Prime Minister because we all know that pulling our troops out is not as easy as it seems.

It is an enormous process and is an expensive exercise to the UN as well.

Our troops in Iraq for example went there because no other country would want to face the extreme risk and the monotony of the job there.

And now that they are doing extremely well, it would be foolish for the UN to get them out at the expense of the country's internal problem.

By the way when Rawlings staged the military coup in Ghana in 1979, the Ghanaian UN peacekeeping troops were not pulled out from Lebanon.

Our troops were not pulled out from Lebanon in 1987.

Perhaps Mr Annan should treat the intricacies of Fiji's situation with the best of his tact and diplomacy and stop making unnecessary warnings.

Democracy can be very deceiving as is the case here in Fiji.

And unfortunately the UN does not have a solution to encounter situations where the ruling party manipulates the rule of democracy to suit them.

Isireli Tawake
Nakasi

The Prime Minister understands the Fijian model of democracy is infact a hybrid template using the native institutions as electoral colleges. Great Council of Chiefs (GCC) is such a entity. The same entity that has a record of contaminating the system of Governance in Fiji in the wake of the coups of 1987 and 2000.

For the Fiji Prime Minister to equate the GCC with democracy only illustrates the sleight of hand and smoke and mirrors artistically employed to cloud the judgment of observers. It is far easy to talk about democracy rather than apply its ideals in Fiji. The sentiments that brilliantly stoke the imaginations of all theorists in democracy, falls quite short in the actual verification.


Outgoing President of Fiji Law Society's remark about not taking sides in a Fiji Times article further reinforce an ambiguous platform that does no justice to either camps of the impasse.

This is the excerpt of the speech:

Don't take sides, Leung tells judiciary

Saturday, December 02, 2006

+ Enlarge this image

Participants at the Attorney-Generals conference

The judiciary should be vigilant and avoid the temptation, however, unintended to take sides or to prejudice events or personalities, former Fiji Law Society president Graham Leung said.

Mr Leung made the comments at the 8th Attorney-General's Conference at the Warwick Fiji Resort where he spoke on the topic of 'Continuing challenges 12 years after the (Beattie) Commission of Inquiry: A time for evaluation.'

He said it was very easy in the fever of the moment to point fingers.

"I do not think that at a time of political instability, that this is either helpful or wise.

"It does not contribute to solutions.

"On the contrary, it may even make things worse," he said.

Mr Leung said the political impasse that gripped Fiji over the past few weeks suggested the greatest single challenge the country faced was a consensus and common understanding on the importance of the rule of law.

He said the rule of law was vital to Fiji and history taught that when the rule of law had been assaulted or challenged, the country had ended in grief.

"Whatever justifications at that time or now, there should be little doubt in people's minds that the 1987 coup and the attempted Speight coup in 2000 were wrong.

"It is illegal and criminal," he said.

Mr Leung said the damage to Fiji since that defining event in May 1987 had been incalculable, with untold energy and resources wasted as a result of successive acts of political instability and the rape of the Constitution.

He suggested it would be a terrible mistake to ignore or forget about the important practical problems within the system of justice simply because the country was engulfed in a political crisis.

He said life must go on. "The courts must continue functioning and remain focused on the dispensation of justice independently without fear or favor, ill will or rancour.

"In the coming months they will be severely tested.

"How they respond to these wider challenges and the issues that are likely to be spawned by the political crisis will determine the future direction and content of judicial administration in Fiji," Mr Leung said.

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Parallax Error.

Above Image: Fiji Sun front page.

Update on the drama in Fiji is that, the deadlines set by the Army has come and gone placing the observers of military in episodes of infantile frustration. One vocal projectile of insanity was hurled at the Army Commander by the Prime Minister depicting hopeless expression.

The recent raid on the office of the President by the Fiji Police Force was revisited, when an official of the President's office demanded from the Police the return of those seized documents .

It also appears in this instance that the Fiji Police and Government have fallen out of favor with the President's office in the wake of the shameful raid. This division was more evident and distant, when the silence of the President's office was shattered proclaiming their avid support of the Army Commander.

Although, the Army Commander had been given clearance for audience quite readily, as seen with his 40 minute brief with the holder of the highest office in the state of Fiji; this further illustrates the loss in influence by the SDL Government and supporters. This support for the Army by the President's office, marks the stark contrast in ideals mirroring a similar fault that has also deepened with the general public in Fiji. One side for the Government and the other in Frank's camp.

This difference in opinion was raised by the Fiji Attorney General when he read the speech of the Prime Minister that questioned the silence of Fiji Law Society and their relunctance to take a position on the conflict between the Government and the Army, even though other Non Governmental Organizations had voiced theirs.

One similar view has been voiced by the iconic Human Rights Lawyer and wife of the C.E.O of Airports Fiji, Imrana Jalal whose opinion article appeared in Thursday's Fiji Times.

This is an excerpt:

Flirt with the rule of law at your peril

IMRANA JALAL
Thursday, November 30, 2006

+ Enlarge this image

A policeman stands guards over ballot boxes during the May 2006 general election

I refer to the opinion piece on Fiji by Graham Davis (High Noon in Fiji) in The Australian newspaper on 25 November 2006 and in The Fiji Times 29 November.

There is little doubt that Fiji has a special place in Davis' heart and that he is sincerely motivated.

However, his opinion piece is unsophisticated, is an irresponsible piece of journalism, particularly at this time of crisis, is deeply flawed from a legal perspective and is extremely dangerous for those of us trying to build a democracy based on the rule of law.

The essence of the rule of law requires us to solve our problems using lawful processes and democratic institutions such as the courts, the police and civil society.

To suggest that an illegal alternative might be justifiable undermines the building of democratic institutions, the ultimate power of the courts to rule any proposed law unconstitutional and makes a mockery of democracy and legitimate elections.

We Fijians wish to solve our problems using the rule of law.

This might involve challenging legislation that is unconstitutional or in violation of human rights, as has been done before, or voting out a government in a general election, and not by supporting the illegal removal of a government through the rule of the gun.

That is precisely what Davis is indirectly advocating: he is feeding the coup cycle and giving succour to the military.

Using the rule of law is certainly a longer and more tedious process, one which takes time, but to dispense with it in times of trouble is courting disaster.

Flirt with the rule of law at your peril.

I am curious to know whether Davis would indirectly advocate the same method in Australia whenever Howard attempts to pass unconstitutional and anti-human rights legislation through parliament or is he willing to wait out the lawful processes including the right of Australian citizens to use the courts for their grievances?

Where is it written that in those "uncivilised islands" of the Pacific live lesser people entitled to lesser rights then that accorded Australians, namely to use democratic processes and the rule of law to hold their governments accountable?

Davis and Australia need to be reminded that it was not Commander Bainimarama who brought back constitutional democracy to Fiji following the crisis in Fiji in 2000, but a poor, marginalised (now completely disenfranchised) Indo-Fijian farmer, eventually backed by civil society, through the landmark Chandrika Prasad court case.

Bainimarama actually filed a lengthy affidavit supporting the abrogation of the constitution.

It might be prudent to remember also, that it was the Commander who the courts have said committed the final illegal abrogation of the Constitution, when he unlawfully removed our former President Ratu Mara from Office.

We should let the rule of law and lawful processes take their course without any threat or perceived threat of illegal removals of government and of coups.

Have faith in us Mr Davis.

Have some faith in the ability of us Fijians to build our democracy without illegal interference.

What you must remember is that the current government was only voted in a few months ago.

Surely the electorate made its choice at that time, and whether we like that choice or not is not the issue.

The Fijian people cast their vote.

Respect that.

We the citizens of Fiji deserve a country without coups. Our children and the future generations certainly do.

Ms Jalal is an international human rights lawyer, a former Fiji Human Rights Commissioner, a Commissioner of the Geneva-based International Commission of Jurists and a Board member of both the Geneva-based International Council of Human Rights Policy and the Fiji Women's Rights Movement. These views are her own and not necessarily of the organisations with which she is associated.

Fiji Police Commissioner, Andrew Hughes has conveniently kept out of the spotlight recently only to give impromptu interviews if the circumstances weigh in his favor. Fiji TV 6pm news segment of Thurs. Nov. 30th quotes Sydney Morning Herald on the rumored resignation of Police Commissioner Hughes. This rumour has been flatly denied by the man himself speaking from Cairns in an inteview with Fiji Village.

Although Fiji P.M has announced that no further shifting from his position on the impasse , he is reported to be seeking cover in undisclosed locations waiting for the political storm to pass.

This is the address to the nation by Fiji Prime Minister post- New Zealand talanoa session.

This is regarding the list of demands outlined by the Army recently. Despite the early comments of the seeking the application of the Biketawa Declaration by the Fiji P.M, the older and much wiser diplomat and Minister of Foreign Affairs plays the denial card.

Pacific Beat podcast of Dec 1st, 2006 has an overview from the Pacific Island leaders forum on the impasse in Fiji. The podcast also features an interview with the Fiji Police Commissioner.

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Australian Black Hawk Crashes in Waters off Fiji.

In exercises designed to replicate rapid insertion techniques that may be used in Fiji, a Black hawk helicopter crashed landed while attempting to land on HMS Kanimbla, killing one member of the Australian SAS.
This exercise and proposed mission has jinxed the efforts by Australian Government and setting the Commonwealth back several million dollars in damages & insurance payouts.

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The Placebo Effect.

Fiji Times editorial of Friday Nov. 24th 2006 views the current impasse between Fiji Army Commander and the Fiji Government with an objective and unbiased description.

This is an excerpt:

Only time will tell

EDITORIAL COMMENT
Friday, November 24, 2006

Things are coming to a head. The announcement by Police Commissioner Andrew Hughes that army commander Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama and others are to be questioned comes as no surprise.

Image: Hughes with sunglasses and Fiji P.M on their departure to N.Z.

Mr Hughes said they are to be questioned on cases ranging from disobedience of a lawful order, plotting to overthrow the Government, sedition, removing a container of ammunition, stopping the President from instituting an inquiry into the commander's actions, the death of CRW soldiers and abuse of LPOs approval.

What is surprising is the timing of Mr Hughes' announcement, which many will see simply as a flexing of muscles after the military's call for his removal.

Even more surprising, is the announcement coming only a day after Prime Minister said the State does not regard the military as the enemy and that he believes they can sort their differences out through dialogue.

Mr Hughes' announcement that the investigation is not against the institution of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces but against the individuals involved will do little to allay fears of political instability.

He, as head of a disciplined service, knows very well that the commander is the service. To go against him is to go against an institution that all but a die-hard few will admit is last bastion of decency this country knows.

In truth, the people are fed up of the cat-and-mouse games being played by all those involved in the stand-off that is on the verge of bringing our nation to its knees.

Mr Hughes must be careful. Now people will question why it took so long to say he wants to question military officers over things like the CRW deaths, something that happened five years ago.

If there were difficulties, why was this not said before? Likewise, the military commander has repeatedly said 'he will tell all'. Well, perhaps now is the perfect time to get everything off his chest. If it helps clear the air, so be it.

If not, everyone must face the consequences of their actions.

But the nation should not have to face the consequences of the actions of a few as it has done in 1987 and in 2000.

We are fed up of that. It is time to grow up and move forward, as everyone loves to spout.

Everybody seems to want to uphold the 1997 Constitution, when it suits them. Perhaps now is the time for all of us to live the spirit of the Constitution. But, for that to happen, it must start from the very top. A token multi-party divided Cabinet is not enough.

Do we, as a nation, have the courage to shape our own future or must we always pick up the pieces behind those with ulterior motives. Only time will tell.

The Fiji Times follow up article "No one is above the law" was written with similar template of unbiased reflection.

No one is above the law

VERENAISI RAICOLA
Saturday, November 25, 2006

Many people were exposed as a result of investigations into the 2000 coup and the mutiny at Queen Elizabeth Barracks in November that year.

People such as George Speight, Timoci Silatolu, Josefa Nata, Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu, Ratu Jope Seniloli, Ratu Josefa Dimuri, the Ratu mai Namalata Ratu Kolinio Tuirakiwaimaro, Captain Shane Stevens, Ratu Inoke Takiveikata and others have served their time in prison.

Some people, however, still live freely among us and some questions have remained on people's minds since 2000 as to why has it taken so long for police to lay charges.

That is not all and the investigation is hardly over.

The impasse and war of words between army commander Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama and the Government has extended to Police Commissioner Andrew Hughes.

That was after the unlawful removal of a container of ammunition by the army without the approval of police from the Suva wharf two weeks ago.

Commodore Bainimarama later called for the removal of Mr Hughes because police said the ammunition was not cleared and the document used by the army to clear it from the wharf was falsified.

In a press conference this week, Mr Hughes said there was a need to verify allegations and misinformation which needed to be cleared for the sake of good governance.

Mr Hughes said they needed to get to the bottom of things on the latest from the commander and senior officers in the military to clean-up the Government.

"The investors and potential tourists to Fiji want to know what their clean-up means.

"I have to find out what it means in the context of my broader responsibility for maintaining law and order in Fiji," said Mr Hughes.

He said people of Fiji had a right to know what "clean-up Government" meant and it was not fair to keep making threats and then disappear overseas.

Mr Hughes said everyone have to wait for more than a week while the commander attends his grand-daughter's christening in New Zealand, which is hardly fair.

Meanwhile, the police investigation into allegations against Commodore Bainimarama has taken 28 days with effect from October 24.

The allegations include:

• Disobedience of lawful order,
• Seditious contents of public statements by Voreqe Bainimarama,
• Unlawful removal of container of ammunition from the King's Wharf,
• Alleged plot to overthrow the Government by the commander,
• Unlawful obtaining of approval from the President, Ratu Josefa Iloilo, to abort the commission of inquiry against the commander, and
• Investigations into the death of Counter Revolutionary Warfare soldiers who were allegedly murdered at the QEB during the mutiny on November 2, 2000, and

Alleged abuse of office by senior military officers in approving payments of LPOs beyond their authorised limits.

Assistant Commissioner of Crime Kevueli Bulamainaivalu said Commodore Bainimarama was supposed to be interviewed on Wednesday but he had left the country for NZ while the rest of the senior military officers were scheduled to be interviewed by Monday.

"It is important to note that the police have unsuccessfully tried to complete the investigations into the deaths of the CRW soldiers because of the difficulty faced by the instigators in securing the co-operation of the military," he said.

Mr Hughes said: "I also repeat a warning made a few weeks ago to the military, officers and troops in the military that they cannot commit unlawful acts and say I was only following orders.

"It does not wash with the CRW and will not wash now.

"Already there are five senior offices likely to face charges for committing unlawful acts in the past."

Mr Hughes said a vast majority of the service men and women in the RFMF were decent, honest and law-abiding honourable professionals.

"I do not want to see them step on the wrong side of the law; remember what happened to the CRW soldiers.

"Think of your families and I don't want to see costly mistakes happen," he said.

Mr Hughes said no one including the President could authorise anybody to commit an unlawful act.

"It is unlawful to do that and I plead to members of the RFMF to bear that in mind.

"The other thing I like to say is if there are plans out there to form an interim Government of some sort people need to be very aware of what happened after 2000 and the fate of those who committed an unlawful act.

"There were a number charged including former Vice-President Ratu Jope Seniloli. Mr Hughes warns that the same could happen again.

So he says if you have been approached and contemplating taking up a position in some interim government in Fiji, forget it.

It will not be in your interest and certainly not the country.

He said we have a newly elected democratic government and the people have voted it in.

"Remember the events of 1987 and 2000 and learn from it.

Mr Hughes said in 1987 it was widely speculated and indeed rightly so that there were people behind Mr Rabuka when he staged the coup.

"In 2000 there were people behind George Speight shadowy operating in the shadows manipulating and influencing rebels and we suspect the same applies here.

"There are individuals, groups and organisations behind this inciting and manipulating the commander and others to do what they are doing," he said.

Mr Hughes openly said the next phase was targeting these individuals and groups. In the interest of everyone in Fiji unlike what has happened in the past, these people will be dragged out of the sunlight for all to see, he said.

They will be interviewed in respect for their involvement.

"Tell everyone hiding in the shadows who were involved in the conspiracy to destabilise the Government that they need to think again because the investigation is getting closer to them," he said.

For the sake of good governance and transparency the public look up to the police force to allow justice to prevail.

At least, that way, we will still have some faith in our police force and the judiciary if not in the leaders who have failed us again and again despite our faith and trust in them.

Fiji Police responded with a hastily designed correspondence in response to the Editorial with a scathing Letter to the Editor (F/T of 25/11) that, almost questions the Freedom of Speech of the daily publication. This is the excerpt of the letter:

Only time will tell

Your editorial today (24/11) cannot not be left undisputed. The content is an example of the persisting parochialism and continuing reification of the Republic of the Fiji Military Forces and the commander as one and the same. It is not.

People need to understand that an institution such as the military as is the Fiji police, comprises of a group of individuals who subscribe to a set of values and ethos it is not beholden nor subject to any one person's whim even if he is the head of that institution.

The dignity and reputation of such institutions is a collective journey by the group to uphold and maintain those values and ethos despite influences (internal and external) to the contrary.

The game is much, much bigger than any one individual. That is the gist of what we mean when we say that our investigations are into the commander and a select few and not the military per se. I am surprised that a reputable paper such yours failed to identify and recognise that one simple difference. The respect that we, the Fiji police, have for the institution that is the RFMF remains undiminished. Its values and ethos are honourable and one that we too uphold, therefore, as I have stipulated above the RFMF as an institution is not the 'enemy' as you so plainly put it.

The even more troubling content of your editorial is that you saw fit to question the timing of the commissioner's comments at a press conference yesterday (23/11).

Where on earth have you been for the last two months? Were you in hibernation when the rest of the media (local and international) covered press conferences and statements by Commissioner Hughes with regards to the unlawful use of ammunition and sedition as well other matters pertaining to certain individuals in the RFMF?

What he talked about yesterday was an update to that. The only new thing he mentioned was the presence of those shadowy figures in the background who, for reasons best known to them, have seen it fit to advise the commander on this course of action. Yes, an investigation has started into these scurrilous few and we will, as Commissioner Hughes said, "drag these people into the sunlight for all to see". This cycle and mentality of coups must end.

As for the CRW soldiers, I personally had replied to questions sent by a reporter at Fiji Times last month regarding investigations into the deaths of the CRW soldiers and I told him that we did have difficulties because those wanted for questioning were either overseas or not at work.

I informed him that we had handed the Provost a To Do List that was given to us by the Director of Public Prosecutions and were given assurances that it would be done. So your assertions as to timing is so far off, you'd be hopelessly lost were you on a jungle survival course.

The wheels of justice may not move as fast as some would like but it does move and we, the Fiji police have managed to front up some of the more notable members of society in a court of law in relation to events of 2000. That should be proof enough that we do carry out our role without fear of favour. The law, you see is for everyone. What more can anyone expect?

Sylvia Low
Police acting director corporate communications

S.i.F.M has received an email that responds to the letter to the Fiji Times Editor by Police Acting Director Corporate Communications. The following is the excerpt:

Paradox or Placebo.

The letter penned on behalf of the Fiji Police Force to the Fiji Editor which appeared on the Sat (25/11) issue may require more than grain of salt to digest. The sentiments of the Fiji Police Force are outlined in the correspondence dispatched by their Acting Director of Corporate Communications (ADCC), Sylvia Low.

It may be prudent to analyze the correspondence and apply the same argurment raised by the Fiji Police force to their own Ad Hominem caricature of the Fiji Times editorial of Friday Nov. 24th.

“The content is an example of an example of the persisting parochialism and continuing reification of the Republic of the Fiji Military Forces and the commander as one and the same. It is not”.

Using the logic of the ADCC, the views of a head of an organization or incumbent should not be confused as being the policy for the entire organization.

To filter out the innuendos and parody built into the letter, truth is ultimately found by reversing this lampooning rhetoric and substituting it to other cases.

“People need to understand that, an institution such as the military as is (sic) the Fiji Police, comprises of a group of individuals who subscribe to a set of values and ethos it is not (sic)beholden nor subject to any one person's whim even if he is the head of that institution.”

People of Fiji understand the general concepts of institution and their inherent roles in society. They don't need to be lectured on the ideals of a democratic Government; especially when lectured by an organization that liaises with a foreign Government to import arms and men. This same agency that prides itself as law enforcement, further colludes to circum-navigate border controls of a sovereign nation under the name of security(see media reports of Australian covert soldiers overtly disembarking an international flight to Nadi airport from Sydney and spiriting away the silver cases and soldiers on Fiji Police vehicles).

The checks demanded by international conventions which the state of Fiji is signatory to, was raised before in international forums. Was it not these same foreign Governments who demanded a strengthening of these borders; in light of the events of 9/11? It demeans all rational thinking people, when these floating series of judgments actually are a premise based on falsehood. One ponders, when exactly did the Parliament give Fiji Police Force authority for border security and customs enforcement?Absence of such approvals illustrate the abuse of office, using the elements of fear and ignorance of the law.

The idea of diplomatic privileges of pouches and packages claimed by Australian Embassy and Fiji Police is only tenable if; those items are declared as such at the custom check points along with the right paper work. Avoiding these border controls at airports mandated by International conventions, only makes a mockery out of the need for border control and divisions of responsibilities. Legal precedents such as border and custom enforcement are in place for a reason; first and foremost they make it more difficult to import dangerous goods into the country.

It defeats the purpose of border controls, when the visitors are conveniently detouring these lawful checks with the assistance of local law enforcement agencies. There is much danger in relegating border enforcement in Fiji to the local law enforcement agencies. Abuse and concentrated power without checks and balances are the main pillars of concern.

The bill of goods which the Fiji Police are attempting to sell to the public is undoubtedly damaged products, with an expired shelf life. The issue of the ammunition ordered by the Fiji military not being released from Suva wharf without an import license is among those pinnacles of mis-representation.

Is it quite difficult to comprehend the process of applying for an import license with the Fiji Police Force, especially when they clearly do not have the authority to issue such import licenses or charge fees that accompany such applications.

What the people of Fiji need clarification on is, advice when these tools of Governance not living up to that same degree of excellence, they constantly hold the public to.

People of Fiji really do not need any advanced theory of Governance to understand when the wheels of justice turn only, when prompted by the influential. People of Fiji do not need a consultant to point out the ugly reality that, the financiers of the 2000 coup are yet to be brought to justice. People of Fiji have seen perpetrators of the 2000 coup being convicted and released within months. People of Fiji watch with incredulity that, the reports of abuse of funds and corruption which the Auditor General's office keeps publishing year in and year out; has become more of an annual event that reminds the public of decadence and exuberance. Auditor General's annual reports further congratulate Politicians and officials in how they have skilfully escaped the gauntlet of accountability in Fiji, yet again.

The people of Fiji have yet to understand the legality of this. The people of Fiji ask where and what the law enforcers are doing when spates of religious intolerance, corruption and coup investigations are not investigated with the same vigor, enthusiasm and inertia as demonstrated in the sedition investigation.

Similarly, when this logic is applied to the Fiji Police Force case: the perspectives entailed in the Letters to the Editor authored by the ADCC, inextricably makes those perspectives her own. This obdurated view is not, does not and should not reflect the view of the entire Police Force. Furthermore the constant interviews by Andrew Hughes, are his own perspectives and not that of the Fiji Police Force. If readers feel some awkwardness about this premise, than obviously there is an ingrained flaw of the initial logic.

“The game is much, much bigger than any one individual. That is the gist of what we mean when we say that [Fiji Police] investigations are into the commander and a select few and not the military per se.”

The game alluded to by the Acting Director of Corporate Communications, is indeed larger than one individual or one institution. Although the charges of sedition have been leveled at those individuals, the actual legal determination is absent and far from absolute.

It also paints the logos and pathos of the Fiji Police investigations into the allegations of sedition, as politically inspired. As with the idea of terrorism that one group may find a certain action closely fitting their idea of terror; yet others may consider it freedom fighting. The ruction of the 1987 and 2000 coups of Fiji reinforce this double edged sword. The Fiji public remembers only too vividly the ethno-nationalism ideals brandished by those who supported the putsch.

The extension of this rhetoric is: one party's idea of sedition could be another persons idea of freedom of expression. The danger in Fiji's case is that, the same Orwellian rhetoric is being maligned, misappropriated under these fears.

“The even more troubling content of your editorial is that you saw fit to question the timing of the commissioner's comments at a press conference.” This sentence proves that content of the editorial was pre-judged more for its timing, rather than its content.

What the Fiji Police Force determined to be troubling in the Fiji Times editorial (of Fri. 24/11) was nothing more than a sad reflection of the facts.

These dangers of impropriety, unduly manifest themselves as state policy and abuse state tools to enforce these dogmatic principles.

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