Fiji's Beta Democracy- A Moral Imperative: Video Expose

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Kevin Rudd embarrassed by 'Vietnam' insult to NZ P.M

As if wearing a brightly coloured tropical shirt and yellow beads at an international summit wasn’t embarrassing enough, the Australian Prime Minister found himself at the centre of an offending gaffe about his New Zealand counterpart this week.

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Aussie Blackhawk Helicopters Invaded Fiji's Airspace.

Blackhawk helicopters violated Fiji’s Airspace and Flight rules in defiance of CAAFI Air Navigation laws in 2006.This was during the time Australia had warships on standby near Fiji in case there was a need for an emergency evacuation in the event of a coup.

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Hells and Frankie up a tree.

A loyal reader contribution.

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BALEDROKADROKA - Fidji and the Fidjians

Pillar Two of the draft People’s Charter on August 5, 2008 called for- Developing a common national identity and building social cohesion. This draft recommendation called for substituting - Fiji Islander, the national name for all citizens as enshrined in the 1997 Constitutionto – Fijian.

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Fiji pulls out of Pacific Islands Forum

Fiji has pulled out of this week's Pacific Islands Forum in Niue and is blaming the New Zealand government and Helen Clark for its decision not to turn up.

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Religion and Politics- A Dangerous Cocktail In Fiji?

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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Fiji Times-Spelling Mistakes in Headline 2.0

In a follow up to an earlier SiFM post on spelling errors in Fiji Times online, it appears that some things don't change as seen in this FT article.

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IceNews Covers Fiji Bottled Water Controversy

REKJAVIC, ICELAND, Aug 08, 2008 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX) -- The battle between the Fiji government and the bottled water industry has attracted the attention of environmentalists and media from around the globe including Iceland-based news channel.

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Fiji People's Charter released

Commodore Frank Bainimarama is proving to be a man of his word after yesterday releasing the Peoples Charter for public discussion.The Peoples Charter proposes re-writing the gerrymandering constitution that enshrined racism into Fijian Politics. Interestingly it was Geoffrey Palmer that consulted on the racist constitution.

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Timing Is Everything-The Pacific Seabed Claims & Regional Hegemony In Fiji Politics.

In a follow up to SiFM post "Electoral Reform in Fiji-Beta Democracy 3.0" , intersects prominent issues contained in an article published in July 30th issue of Wall Street Journal Asia (WSJ-A), titled "Trouble In Paradise".

The excerpt of WSJ-A article:

REVIEW & OUTLOOK


Trouble in Paradise
FROM TODAY'S WALL STREET JOURNAL ASIA
July 30, 2008

In their travels round the globe, U.S. Secretaries of State rarely make it as far as the South Pacific. Yet Condoleezza Rice found herself in Samoa over the weekend, the first Secretary of State to land there since George Shultz paid a visit in 1988. On her agenda: the political strife in the island nation of Fiji.

Fiji has had so many coups recently -- four in the past 20 years -- that's it is better known for its political instability than for its beautiful beaches. Now, the country's military ruler is reneging on his promise to hold elections. In her meeting with Pacific foreign ministers in Samoa Saturday, Ms. Rice called for a return to democracy. "I will try to lend my voice to a very strong regional effort," she said.

Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama took power in a bloodless military coup in 2006 on the pretext of ridding the island of "racism" and "corruption." If only. Since taking over, Mr. Bainimarama has made matters worse by installing military men in powerful government positions and cowing the media. His racial policies, which favor the country's 38% Indian minority, have caused more division than reconciliation.

Fiji's biggest trading partners -- New Zealand and Australia, the U.S. and the European Union -- have responded by withdrawing aid and issuing tourism warnings. Those actions, combined with a slowing global economy, have hit little Fiji hard. The Bureau of Statistics estimates the country's economy shrank by 6.6% in 2007, and 2008 will likely be just as dismal. Since 2006, tourism revenue has dropped more than 20% and sugar production, 30%.

Yet Mr. Bainimarama is still thumbing his nose at the 16-member Pacific Island Forum, which has called for elections since the 2006 coup. Last week, he pushed back elections to March 2010, from his previous promise of 2009. Mr. Bainimarama's military government has no place in an organization whose key pillars are "economic growth, sustainable development, good governance and security."

Still, New Zealand and Australia have kept on talking -- as the locals would say, that's the "Pacific Way." Fiji's interim foreign minister was included in Saturday's huddle in Samoa. The Forum will sit down again with Fiji next month.

Fiji's disarray poses a special problem for Australia and New Zealand, which can't afford such instability on their doorsteps. If Mr. Bainimarama can get away with subverting democracy, then why can't Papua New Guinea, Tuvalu or the Solomon Islands, whose democracies are also shaky?

The longer Fiji drifts, too, the more open it will be to influence from China, which is working to expand its presence in the South Pacific. All the more reason to prod the island nation to make its way back to the league of liberal democracies.

SiFM has taken the liberty to respond to the above article, which is laden with generalizations and muddled with inaccuracies.

The largest inaccuracy of the WSJ Asia "Trouble in Paradise" article was the selective omission, of the details in Fiji's electoral system and the naive perception of the geo-political and geo-strategic dimensions.

It is true that the 2009 elections in Fiji was postponed; however, that very system was did not fit the definitions of a "liberal democracy". If Fiji's race based voting system, were applied in the 2008 US elections; it would mean, Caucasians applying for a Caucasian seat and African Americans voting only for African American candidate and so forth for other minorities.

If that is the ideal concept of true democracy, which Australia and New Zealand want from Fiji, then it is a gross fallacy, making a mockery of the very definition of democracy. Furthermore, Fiji's model, does not square up with their own electoral system (e.g US, Australia, UK), which are devoid of any racial element(s).

Fiji's interim Government had postponed the 2009 elections to 2010, so that electoral reforms can be implemented; reforms that effectively remove the racial component and communal seats, including a boundary change. All of which, are labor and time extensive exercises, which elevate Fiji's electoral system up to par with the real definition of 'liberal democracy'.

Why then are these reforms so distasteful to the interests of the US, Australia and New Zealand?

It seems that this Western 'prodding' to get Fiji to hold 2009 elections (in the first quarter)has much to do with the discomfort of these Trans-Tasman egalitarians and their neo-colonial agendas, plucked straight from George W Bush's imperialistic play book.

US Secretary of State, Condoleeza's Rice recent visit to the region, including a stop in small fry Samoa, underscored that urgency to get the ball rolling in establishing full spectrum dominance of the Pacific, by proxy; simply because the US itself has not ratified the Law of Seas.

The major underlying reason in Fiji's case, is literally that; meaning it has more to do with Pacific seabed claims and according to the U.N International Sea Bed Authority, several Pacific island nations have until May 2009 to claim a part of the sea bed, if proven to be an extension of their own continental shelf. All this jockeying was outlined in an earlier SiFM posting "The Rush To Mine The Pacific Seabed".

Australia and New Zealand want Fiji to have a claim submitted by a so called 'democratically elected' government (note the time constraints), regardless if the Fiji's electoral system used racial communal seats.

The Trans-Tasman plan, is to just get the Fiji elections out of the way, to feign legitimacy and roll out the demands for seabed negotiations that could cement no bid oil contracts with Trans-Tasman companies. These same companies have financial backing from Wall Street, whose venture capitalists are desperately trying to ring up a profit, after such devastating losses, due to the moral hazards of Mortgage-backed securities, creating the credit-crunch that sent the US banking system into a nose dive.

Fiji's maritime boundaries is extensive and many studies have indicated conclusively that it contains large volumes of oil, natural gas and exotic minerals. Case in point, Fiji Govt has recently issued exploration licenses to three companies (2 Australian, 1 US)for oil extraction in Bligh waters, covered in a Fiji Live article.
The excerpt of the FL article:

Oil companies to explore Fiji waters
23 JUL 2008
Three offshore oil companies have been given licenses to explore large oil reserves found in Fiji’s Bligh Waters, according to the Department of Mineral Resources.

Two of the companies are from Australia and one from the United States.

Department Director Venasio Nasara is confident there is a substantial amount of oil in Fiji‘s territory to allow for rigging. He is hoping that more companies show interest in Fiji’s oil reserves. However, he cautions that all the right steps should be taken to ensure the appropriate policies are in place.

According to Nasara, there have been other sites with oil reserves identified within Fiji waters but no exploration licenses for these sites have been issued yet. The Mineral Resources Department also confirmed that other undersea minerals have been found in Fiji.

“There has been no environmental impact assessment done yet because there has been no need for it. But we will carry one out before the Government decides on mining.” He adds: “We are hoping that if an oil industry is realised, it will not only provide relief to rising fuel prices, but also to employment and foreign reserves.”

Fijilive

It appears that Australia and New Zealand want a piece of that pie before China comes in and outbids their puny capital, especially considering its huge energy appetite. In addition, current world prices of oil has made this Pacific option, a considerably attractive proposal and the icing on the cake, is that the region is far removed from the calamities in the Middle East and East Africa.

Undoubtedly, all this banter about accelerated democracy on specified time horizons, critically hinges upon Fiji's unquestionable obedience to the orders of Australia and New Zealand, both nations acting on instructions issued from way up the chain of command and global pecking order.

An interesting article published in "The Daily Telegraph" sums up this global pecking order, with regards to the seabed claims.

The excerpt:

Oil crisis triggers fevered scramble for the world's seabed

Last Updated: 10:52pm BST 30/05/2008


Record prices drive secret underwater land-grab as old enemies capitalise on colonies. Ambrose Evans-Pritchard reports

A fevered scramble for control of the world's seabed is going on - mostly in secret - at a little known office of the United Nations in New York.


Bemused officials are watching with a mixture of awe and suspicion as Britain and France stake out legal claims to oil and mineral wealth as far as 350 nautical miles around each of their scattered islands across the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans. It takes chutzpah. Not to be left out, Australia and New Zealand are carving up the Antarctic seas.



Turtles at Clarence Bay at sunrise on the north west side of the Ascension Island and the view from Green Mountain on the Acension Island (image above)


Dusting off the relics: Ascension Island, once known for its turtles, could be vital to the UK's future energy needs if a bid to claim the seabed surrounding it is successful

The latest bombshell to land on the desks of UN's Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf is a stack of confidential documents from the British Government requesting an extension of UK territorial waters around Ascension Island, St Helena and Tristan da Cunha.

The three outposts between them draw big circles in the Mid and South Atlantic, covering unexplored zones that may one day offer deep reserves of crude oil and gas.

A similar request has already been made for eastward expansion from the Falklands and South Georgia - much to the fury of Argentina. "If the British do not change their approach, we shall have to interpret it as aggression," said President Nestor Kirchner, before he handed power to his wife Cristina.

Ascension Island - famed for its enormous green turtles - is a dusty cluster of 44 volcanoes, covered with cinder. It is barely big enough to host America's "Wideawake" airfield and a tracking station for Ariane 5 space rockets. First garrisoned by the British in 1815 to keep an eye on Napoleon, it now boasts 1,100 hardy souls. St Helena - the "Atlantic Alcatraz" - is yet more remote, if greener.



The forgotten relics of the Empire make Britain a player in the marine race. There are the waters off the Falkland Islands and South Georgia, already home to a clutch of oil exploration companies; the Pitcairn Islands in the Pacific; Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean; and a string of outposts such as Montserrat, the Caymans, the British Virgin Islands, the Turks and Caicos, and Bermuda.

The French "Outre-Mer" is a bigger network - from the Isles Crozet to Saint-Paul and Kerguelen in the southern seas, to Clipperton off western Mexico. They too have been busy at the UN, requesting an extension of their zone off French Guiana and New Caledonia.

All the maritime powers are nibbling gingerly at the edges of Antarctica, though the Antarctic Treaty bans fresh claims on the world's last pristine landmass.

The two-page summary of Britain's submission to the UN gives little away. It merely notes that the UK is providing information on the limits of shelf "beyond 200 nautical miles", adding that there will be further requests. A Foreign Office spokesman said the motive was to "protect the environment".
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Greenpeace demurs. "It is a grab for resources. These countries are in a panic about commodity prices and now view the seas as key to their national security," said Charlie Kronick, the group's climate chief.

The Law of the Sea allows the maritime powers to claim 200 miles of waters around their islands. They can win an extension to 350 miles if the geology of the seabed fits a set of complex technical conditions.

The requests are studied by a panel of world experts, and usually granted on a strict scientific basis. This is not conducted like the Eurovision Song Contest, where imperialists score "nul points".

The deadline expires in May 2009, so there is now a rush to stake out claims. If countries waive their right, the area from 200 to 350 miles automatically returns to the world community: claim it now, or lose it forever.

In a sense, the system is deeply unfair. China gets virtually nothing. Poor landlocked countries get absolutely nothing. Yet the old powers - after enjoying the fruit of imperial rule for four centuries - enjoy a second bite of the cherry. "The sea goes to the most powerful states that were able to colonise the remote parts of world. That's the way the law is," said Martin Pratt, head of the international boundaries unit at Durham University.

Nobody has ever explored these regions thoroughly for oil and minerals, although Mr Pratt said there was a burst of interest 20 years ago in "polymetallic nodules" - boulders of manganese, and such, on the sea floor. Commodity prices did not stay high enough to make it worthwhile investing, and the waters were mostly too deep.

That calculus is now changing fast as oil futures contracts for 2016 vault to $135 a barrel. The International Energy Agency warns that world output will fall far short of the estimated 116m barrels per day by 2030 unless there is massive investment.

The technology of deep-water drilling is improving in leaps and bounds. Three-dimensional seismic imaging can look through the salt canopies that cover up reserves and play havoc with exploration.

The ageing North Sea rigs drill to around 3,000ft: the Jack 2 test well, run by a consortium of oil companies, plunges through 7,000ft of water and 20,000ft of sea floor into the entrails of the earth below the Gulf of Mexico. The state-of-the-art fields off Angola may soon be routinely drilling at near 9,000ft. It is no longer far-fetched to imagine rigs drilling as deep as 15,000ft, once oil companies learn to cope with crude gushing out at temperatures of 300C.

Shell and Lasmo explored the Falklands in the 1990s, but gave up when crude prices crashed to $10 a barrel. Nothing much came to light. Desire Petroleum, Rockhopper, Borders & Southern and Falkland Oil and Gas are all probing again. Desire plans to start drilling this year. "A working hydrocarbon system in the North Falkland Basin has been established," it said.

Dr Phil Richards from the British Geological Survey - who helped to prepare the UK's extension claim - doubts stories that the area could hold 60bn barrels of oil (Saudi Arabia purports to have 260bn). "That is not credible. It is based on how much oil the rocks are potentially capable of holding. We won't know how much there is until we actually drill. All we have so far are educated guesses," he said.

Mr Richards denies that the Government is privy to secret discoveries. "There are no vast reserves that we know about. But who knows, it may come good for our grandchildren," he said.

Is it in the interests of mankind to tap deep-sea reserves? We may have no choice. The world has consumed one trillion barrels of oil already. The second trillion is located but not yet tapped, and will take us to 2035 or so. The third trillion eludes us. Any suggestions?

New Zealand which lies to the immediate South of Fiji and has it's own continental shelf claims which impinge upon Fiji's area, that lies adjacent to the Kingdom of Tonga, also facing the same seabed deadline claim, covered in an article in Islands Business. The excerpt of I.B article:

Seven Pacific countries race against time as deadline to claim extra ocean space draws near

Fiji along with Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, Tonga and Papua New Guinea have a credible claim to more than 1.5 million square kilometers of additional space beyond their current 200 mile Exclusive Economic Zone.


Pacnews
Mon, 12 May 2008

SUVA, FIJI ---- Fiji and six other Pacific island countries are beginning to feel the pressure to complete their submissions to the United Nations (UN) to claim extra ocean space, with only one year remaining to the May 2009 deadline.

Fiji along with Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, Tonga and Papua New Guinea have a credible claim to more than 1.5 million square kilometers of additional space beyond their current 200 mile Exclusive Economic Zone.

This is being made possible under Article 76 of the International Law of the Sea.

A week long workshop on the preparation on the country’s submission on Extended Continental Shelf (ECS) begins today in Fiji and is coordinated by the Pacific Islands Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC) and Geoscience Australia (GA) and the UNEP Shelf Programme.

SOPAC, GA and UNEP would help these countries to complete the activities required to delineate the outer limits of their continental shelf. These countries are currently faced with the costly and complex work of data identification, collection, analysis and submission preparation.

Due to limited technical and financial capacity they may not be able to complete the submission process without considerable external support, both technical and financial

Scientific studies have revealed the access to extended continental shelf could mean more access to mineral rich resources previously outside our EEZ. It’s the first time the pacific region is combining their efforts in its bid to extend their exclusive economic zones.

SOPAC Director Cristelle Pratt, said countries are committed to working together to improve lives in the Pacific.

“Securing greater maritime sovereignty can provide increased revenue for Pacific States and deliver significant economic and social benefits from access to ocean resources that occur on the seabed and within the subsoil.

Ms Pratt said that assessments have identified strong grounds for these Pacific countries to extend sovereignty over their continental shelves.

“These Pacific Island Countries recognise that determining the boundaries of their Exclusive Economic Zone beyond 200 nautical miles is critical to securing exclusive ocean development of potentially rich non-living resources, such as oil, gas, gold and silver, as well as living organisms that live on and beneath the seabed,” Ms Pratt said.

Submissions to claim an extended continental shelf must be based upon sound technical data and meet requirements prescribed within Article 76 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 (UNCLOS), to secure an extended Continental Shelf beyond the 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone.

It is undoubtedly a Machiavellian template, applied by Australia and New Zealand to get the Pacific Island states vis a` vis the Pacific Forum, and pressure Fiji into 2009 elections, indirectly creating divisions among the ranks of island states. The ultimate objective: scooping the seabed treasure, right under their collective noses of Pacific island states, too occupied with petty rivalry and bickering.

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Electoral Reform in Fiji- Beta Democracy 3.0

An exceptionally honest opinion article from New Zealand based writer regarding Fiji's political landscape, which was published in a Fiji Times article.
The excerpt:

Are we ready for elections

THAKUR RANJIT SINGH
Wednesday, July 30, 2008

What we learn from history is that we do not learn from history. I have said this before and reiterate that in the case of Fiji our leaders and politicians have short memories.

What we should have learnt from the 2000 attempted coup is that no political interests should be involved in any interim government. Qarase and his motley crowd used the interim period to use and abuse tax-payer resources to trump up their political parties and political career. Fiji paid a heavy price in the Agriculture Scam and a shady government. One would have thought we learnt from our mistakes.

When Frank Bainimarama made his move in December, 2006, one would have thought that he had learnt from the escapades of the SDL Party as interim government.
Therefore, we thought that the interim government of 2006 would be made up of apolitical people who would not aspire for political position or opportunity or abuse their positions to drum up political support and because of this may be placed in a conflict of interest situation. This conflict could arise between what is good for the country and what is good for your political party.

The interim Government has more than one leader and politicians from active political parties and this has given the interim regime some disrespect, disrepute and some actions and decisions that may be deemed to border on political-fertilisation rather than something that is good for the country.

With daily happenings in Fiji now, people like me have become very embarrassed. This is because when Frank took power in 2006, some considered it as God sent, and a saviour who had come to rescue democracy from irresponsible and racist leadership.

People like us in New Zealand went public and supported his actions, attracting a great deal of contempt from friends and relatives. However, the news of military personnel gaining financially from their positions embarrasses people like me who had regarded the military as a saviour. There appears to be a situation that all those who are in power have a habit of putting their fingers in the till.

It appears the military has lost its plot, and the sooner it is put on track the better it is for the nation as a whole, and for people like me to redeem our respect for supporting the initial assault on a so called democracy.

However, despite the antics of military and its political cabinet ministers, there is one thing that I still agree with Bainimarama and the interim Government that Fiji is not yet ready for elections.

I agree we have many problems that need to be sorted out before we can be ready for elections. Calls for early and premature elections in Fiji by the so called bigger brothers (and bullying ones at that) are unreasonable and unwarranted, and undue interference. These countries have achieved their political development and destiny of democratic civilisation without external interference that Fiji is facing from these countries.

Fiji is at a political metamorphosis where Britain was some 600 years ago, USA was some 250 years ago, Australia and New Zealand were some 150 to 200 years ago and India was about 70 years ago.

All these countries have gone through various stages of political development involving wars, civil unrest, partitions, racial wars, penal colonies, massacres and many upheavals before they achieved the democracy that they are proud of and chiding Fiji to emulate.

At least the consolation is that Fiji has been spared the loss of lives that others suffered; nevertheless it has been facing political unrest since its independence some four decades ago.

So many elections since then have not been able to solve its problems, so what makes them think that election in March 2009 will solve Fiji's problems. These countries need to understand that even in the past elections, real democracy had never been achieved. It had merely been a sham of democracy; in many instances autocratic leaders used their traditional powers and influence to masquerade as democratic leaders.

The international community has to realise and learn that democracy measured by election is not a solution. Despite so many elections, Fiji's problems remain unresolved. Every coup exposes wounds that need to be healed and the deep underlying problems that need to be attended to.

Before Fiji can gain stability and effectively return to some degree of democracy a number of serious issues need to be addressed and resolved.

While Father Kevin Barr, in his earlier writings, has already spoken of them, I wish to repeat them here. Among them is the agenda of the nationalists who want Fiji for Fijians and Fiji as a Christian state. Another issue is the racially explosive mix of fundamentalist religion and extreme nationalism found in Assembly of Christian Churches in Fiji, which has a strong influence on the political and social process.

In addition, the inherent conflicts and tensions within Fijian, chiefly between families and confederacies, are a smouldering volcano, ready to erupt.

There is a need to remove the race-based politics and election and an electoral system and process that gives same weight and importance to every vote. The current system is flawed in this respect.

For example, while Peni in Kadavu is one of the three thousand voters who elect his representative, his cousin Viliame on the other hand is one of the some eighteen thousand voters who elect his Member of Parliament in Nadroga. What this means is that Peni's Kadavu vote is worth some six times more than Viliame's Nadroga vote.

There are numerous other examples of such anomaly, discrepancy and lack of fairness that smacks on the face of democracy which promotes same value for all votes. Therefore, Fiji's elections cannot be really called fair unless this problem is sorted out.

The other lament is influence of chiefs over their voters and conflict of democracy with the ascribed chiefly status.

While some chiefs and their followers have been crying for constitutional rule and rule of law, they did not blink an eyelid to prevent the Charter team free access to deliver information to Fijian villagers. I wonder whether they knew about the constitutional requirements and provisions on freedom of movement and information.

It is essential for Australia and New Zealand to understand how democracy works in poor Third World countries. They need to realise how the leaders in such countries can exploit it for their personal and political gains while showing all the niceties of a democratic government. Does Mugabe come to mind?

Deposed Prime Minister Qarase is already on record that he would bring back the controversial Qoliqoli Bill and other racially biased controversial laws that country like New Zealand has already thrown in their parliamentary trash bin.

What then, will New Zealand rescue Fiji from its democracy that the new government would have got through an unfair electoral system and a racially entrenched ultra-nationalistic slogan?

What then, who or what will then prevent the military from repeating its action and how long will the yoyo coup rule Fiji?

Mere timetables for elections are not permanent solutions to Fiji's problems. What we need is serious consideration and strategies to address the fundamental problems with a view to eradicating the coup culture.

We have gone so far towards looking for a solution that we are at a point of no return. We have suffered more than enough in search of a solution; we shall strive to find it. Fiji should be allowed time to resolve its problems, once and for all, at its own pace and in its own time.



- Thakur Ranjit Singh is an Auckland-based political commentator on Fiji issues, an advocate of good governance and a proponent of democracy that delivers social justice to all its people.

E-mail: thakurjixtra.co.nz

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