The End Crowns The Work.

L
owy's Institute blog "The Interpreter" featured a post titled"Fiji: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back", authored by Jenny Hayward Jones, who remarked about the
amendment (PDF) to the Public Order Act of 1969:

It is too early to know the impact of this new decree or indeed the real impact of the Media Industry Development Decree, both of which appear to be aimed at enshrining in law most of the temporary powers available to the Fiji Government under the Public Emergency Regulations.

Jones continued later in the same post, arguing that the new found accolades for the recent removal of the Public Emergency Regulations (PER) in Fiji, were incompatible with the new amendments to the Public Order Act:

However, the fact that [Bainimarama] felt he could shun the plaudits he won from lifting the Public Emergency Regulations through(sic) the new restrictions on freedoms promised by the Public Order Decree suggests he continues to have little regard for the opinion of the international community.

While, it has been widely accepted that Fiji is still trudging in its own pace, on the road towards democracy; it would be rather naive at best for observers to assume that Fiji had arrived in its moment in the sun and claimed the status as described in former US President Reagan's historic speech of "city on a hill".

SiFM

"On one hand, Fiji is not a democracy; yet the shortfalls in media freedom is to be expected. On the other hand; the United States has been fully fledged member of the democracy club; yet the lack of media coverage of such mega erosion of civil liberties; does point to some degree of censorship in their newsrooms.

Is it the same international community that welcomed Fiji's removal of PER; have hypocritically acquiesced to the erosion of civil liberties in America?"

Comparatively, when considering the fore-mentioned amendment to the Public Order Act in Fiji (an infant in terms of democracy) and contrast that with America (hundreds years of being a democratic republic); the news of  the recent passage of the NDAA bill, now signed into law by US President Obama only highlights such a dichotomy in democratic ideals and those who profess them incessantly.

The Guardian newspaper article underscores such hypocrisy:

President Barack Obama rang in the New Year by signing the NDAA law with its provision allowing him to indefinitely detain citizens. It was a symbolic moment, to say the least. With Americans distracted with drinking and celebrating, Obama signed one of the greatest rollbacks of civil liberties in the history of our country … and citizens partied in unwitting bliss into the New Year.

In the same "City on a hill" speech in 1974, Ronald Reagan highlighted the uniqueness of the US Constitution:

The culmination of men's dreams for 6,000 years were formalized with the Constitution, probably the most unique document ever drawn in the long history of man's relation to man. I know there have been other constitutions, new ones are being drawn today by newly emerging nations. Most of them, even the one of the Soviet Union, contain many of the same guarantees as our own Constitution, and still there is a difference. The difference is so subtle that we often overlook it, but it is so great that it tells the whole story. Those other constitutions say, "Government grants you these rights," and ours says, "You are born with these rights, they are yours by the grace of God, and no government on earth can take them from you."

The world certainly knows fully well now, how things have changed in America.
The Guardian article further illustrates the scale and magnitude of how such civil liberties have been eroded and also points fingers at the mainstream media for not highlighting such major assaults on the U.S Constitution:

The almost complete failure of the mainstream media to cover this issue is shocking. Many reporters have bought into the spin of the Obama administration as they did the spin over torture by the Bush administration. Even today, reporters refuse to call waterboarding torture despite the long line of cases and experts defining waterboarding as torture for decades.
On the NDAA, reporters continue to mouth the claim that this law only codifies what is already the law. That is not true. The administration has fought any challenges to indefinite detention to prevent a true court review. Moreover, most experts agree that such indefinite detention of citizens violates the constitution.

It was even suggested in Jones' latest blog post in "The Interpreter", which ironically has the image of Ronald Reagan on its website, that the International Community were willing to look past the sins of Fiji:

Nevertheless, there are still opportunities for the international community to look past the sins of Fiji's Prime Minister and help the people of Fiji achieve their aspirations for democracy.

Regardless of Jones' authority to speak on behalf of the International Community,  it is highly questionable if the same international community Jones speaks of, routinely outlined the important role of the media in society and welcomed the PER removal in Fiji.

Jones also did point out the fact in a previous post that, during Fiji's PER had censors in the newsrooms:

Although Government censors may no longer patrol news rooms in Fiji after next week, it would be a brave editor who published overt criticism of the Government, given the strict punishments outlined in the Media Decree. Importantly, the Fiji Government now feels secure enough to commence discussions on a new constitution.

Unfortunately, the dichotomy which was highlighted earlier, does seem to widen and become much more embarrassingly apparent, in the context of Fiji and the U.S.

On one hand, Fiji is not a democracy; yet the shortfalls in media freedom is to be expected. On the other hand; the United States has been fully fledged member of the democracy club; yet the lack of media coverage of such mega erosion of civil liberties; does point to some degree of censorship in their newsrooms.

Is it the same international community that welcomed Fiji's removal of PER; have hypocritically acquiesced to the erosion of civil liberties in America?

In fact, other commentators have pointed other misuses of the fourth estate in the U.S.

Posted below is a video of such manipulations in the media, that the ubiquitous international community, mainstream media outlets and think tanks like Lowy Institute have silently tolerated. While Fiji is understandably moving one step forward and two steps back, as pointed out by Jones; it is not moving in circles and preaching that democracy is the be all and end all to everything.





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