"There are conditions which hedge it around: the conclusion of commerce and navigation treaties; agreements for economic co-operation; the right to meddle in internal finances, including currency and foreign exchange, to lower trade barriers in favour of the donor country’s goods and capital; to protect the interests of private investments; determination of how the funds are to be used; forcing the recipient to set up counterpart funds; to supply raw materials to the donor; and use of such funds a majority of it, in fact to buy goods from the donor nation.
These conditions apply to industry, commerce, agriculture, shipping and insurance, apart from others which are political and military. So-called ‘invisible trade’ furnishes the Western monopolies with yet another means of economic penetration. Over 90 per cent of world ocean shipping is controlled by me imperialist countries.
This commentary, through historical perspectives, analyses the flight of Bainimarama’s former right hand man, Ratu Ului Mara to Tonga and the disappointing role of media. As the Air Pacific’s French built turbo prop ATR 42 glided into Apia’s Faleolo International Airport, I was overjoyed with the prospect of visiting Nukualofa. The year was 1988, in the aftermath of Sitiveni Rabuka’s coup in Fiji which had an interim government. I was an internal auditor with the Carpenter Group of Companies which owned Morris Hedstrom (MH) stores in Fiji, Apia (Molesi), and Nukualofa. I, together with my fellow auditor Chattur Singh was scheduled to audit MH Nukualofa after the Apia stop.
T. R Singh On NZ Govt. Policy
"New Zealand Government and John Key should take heed of this revelation. They have been warned not to bend rules to welcome Ratu Ului, who still has connections with the Military personnel in Fiji, thus further distancing and provoking Fiji."
However, this dream of visiting Tonga was dashed when Tonga imposed a racially discriminatory rule that Indo Fijians from Fiji were prohibited from entering the Kingdom. Then, Fiji’s interim Prime Minister was Ratu Ului’s father, Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara who was defeated in 1987 Fiji’s elections by Dr Timoci Bavadra’s Fiji Labour Party. Bavadra’s government was overthrown on 14 May, 1987 in a coup executed by Rabuka just after a month in power.
It had been widely speculated and also exposed by Rabuka that Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara was aware of the coup and had given his blessings for the rape of democracy in favour of indigenous superiority and ethno nationalism. Mara Senior claimed he accepted the position of Fiji’s Interim Prime Minister because he could not stand by and watch his house burning.Ratu Sir Kamisese remained silent and failed to raise any objection against this blatant racism by his cousins in Tonga against half of his subjects in Fiji. It therefore should not now come as a surprise at accusations that the Tongan government aided and abetted the escape of Ratu Ului to Tonga by breaching Fiji waters, supposedly in a sea rescue mission.
The evidence from the murky waters suggests that Ratu Ului may be less than honest about his escapade. His checking into a hotel under a false name, hiding his identity, the customary protocols of fishing alone by a chief, and the failure of respective New Zealand and Fiji navies to detect any distress signals indicate that the truth is somewhere out there.This case also exposed New Zealand mainstream media’s blind dependency on a political blogsite, Coup Four Point Five, which hardly resembles a respectable, free and independent media. This site has anonymous and faceless publishers and editors whose credibility has been under scrutiny by various academics and this author because of their selective, unsubstantiated and unbalanced news-postings.
This is Qarase’s SDL Party site tasked with getting the racist régime back into power under the sham of democracy. It is such questionable blogsite that the mainstream New Zealand media, including NZ Herald and TVNZ, have relied upon as a source.The Indo-Fijian bashing angle is used once again. With Tonga’s history of racially humiliating Indo-Fijians in 1988 with ban on entry, it is no wonder Ratu Ului had a field day in using the race card as well, where he said that Aiyaz Saiyed Khaiyum, Fiji’s Indo-Fijian Attorney General was solely calling the shots in Fiji.
What a gullible media fails to realise is that Fiji’s military is 99.95 per cent indigenous Fijians. Of the 21 Permanent Secretaries, only three are Indo-Fijians, only two ministers are Indo-Fijians and other top echelons of the civil service comprise of some 80 per cent indigenous Fijians. Yet, Ratu Ului, supported by NZ media, wishes us to believe that one Indo-Fijian had Frank Bainimarama in a trance. Ratu Ului is degrading and shaming his own race by saying that Khaiyum single-handedly manipulates Fiji’s administrative, political and military machinery dominated by indigenous people. This is the biggest insult hurled on indigenous Fijians since the unceremonious flight of Ratu Ului’s’ father from the Government house.Ratu Ului’s defence of the Great Council of Chiefs (GCC) and the Methodist Church as saviours of democracy is highly laughable.
These two institutions have been the biggest threat to democracy, human rights and social justice in Fiji. I still remember, how in 1987 after Rabuka’s coup, the churchgoers from the Methodist Church used to go and man the roadblocks which were put in place to persecute non-Christians. During 2001 Fiji elections, the Assembly of Churches, led by the Methodist Church, took out paid advertisements, urging indigenous Fijians not to vote the heathens and non-believer Indo-Fijians into the leadership of the nation. Is this the Methodist Church which is now identified as the defender of democracy? The Chiefs were so immensely engrossed in politics, supporting ethno-nationalism of George Speight that the non elected GCC lost all its credibility, respectability and neutral advisory status. The GCC which had been an initiative and legacy of the British colonists had been banished by Bainimarama after 2006.
Its absence had hardly been felt by the rank and file indigenous people in the last five years.Ratu Sir Kamisese’s son, now absconded to Tonga, appears to suffer from memory loss. In 2000, the GCC and the Methodist Church hierarchy fully backed George Speight in cruelly removing his esteemed father, Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara as President of Fiji.
In a hugely undignified manner, Ratu Sir Kamisese had to flee in the night, fearing for his life. He was transported by navy boat to the safety of his home in the Lau Group, never to recover from this humiliation. He died a very sad, bitter and lonely man. What Mara’s son Ratu Ului forgets is that this was the unkindest act of betrayal by the Fijian chiefs against one of their greatest chiefs.
Today, for convenience and expediency, Ratu Tevita Mara has heaped insult to the memory of Ratu Sir Kamisese by embracing and praising those who had disgraced, humiliated and indirectly exterminated Fiji’s greatest political leader– his own father.Nowhere in the NZ media has there been any reports that other prominent businessmen, bureaucrats, civil servants and chiefs have gone through Fiji’s justice system, so what was particular about Ratu Ulai who absconded. There is hardly any mention of investigations and alleged fraud of $3 million from Fiji Pine Commission.
New Zealand Government and John Key should take heed of this revelation. They have been warned not to bend rules to welcome Ratu Ului, who still has connections with the Military personnel in Fiji, thus further distancing and provoking Fiji. Any such action less than six months before the Rugby World Cup, in which Fiji plays, and the general elections, are not advisable. With a sizable Indo-Fijian population and Indians and Asians sympathetic to Fiji’s cause of self determination, Key needs to play his cards wisely, before officiously embroiling in a domestic squabble of Pacific relations.
NZ needs to be reminded that despite history bestowing him with this honour, Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara had not really been that last bastion of multiracialism and social justice in Fiji. Neither is his son Ratu Ului Mara.
(Thakur Ranjit Singh is a political commentator and had been through Rabuka’s and Speight’s coups. During the latter, he was the publisher of Fiji’s Daily Post newspaper, which has since been closed because of past government interference. He was AUT/PIMA Pasifika postgraduate scholar in 2009/10).
In a follow up to a March 2008 SiFM posting, that highlighted the issue of Fiji veterans regarding their claims. The veterans were subsequently hung out to dry during the 1956 "Operations Grapple" .
Video of actual Operation Grapple, posted below.
Recently, the Fiji Veterans of the Christmas Island won their legal battle, according to a Fiji Times article. The excerpt of F.T article:
Veterans win case
By SAKIASI NAWAIKAMA
Sunday, June 07, 2009
Justice at last ... Jone Tabaiwalu with his wife, Kacaraini Bolalevu, and daughter Lanieta Valeloloneirokotuibau at their Nasinu home yesterday. Picture: SITIVENI MOCE.
FIFTY years after the British conducted nuclear tests on Christmas Island, surviving Fiji veterans will be compensated after a British court decision ruled in their favour for compensation for ill effects they suffered.
The 60 survivors from the 289 servicemen who took part the tests between 1952 and 1958 will converge in Suva on Tuesday to decide on compensation.
"It's been a long struggle and many have gone. This is the first time for Fiji and the world where we can sue a government for the ill effects of such tests," said Jone Tabaiwalu, president of the Fiji Nuclear Test Association.
Delivering his judgment on the case at Room 73 of the London Royal Court of Justice on Friday (Fiji time), Justice David Foskett rejected arguments by the Ministry of Defence that the claims should be thrown out because they were outside the three-year time limit.
Nuclear test veteran Pita Rokoratu was accompanied by association counsel Adi Lusiana Sivo Ganilau to London earlier this year to testify in court.
The British Government were also recently forced to acknowledge the plights of retired Gurkha soldiers and allowing them to reside in the United Kingdom, according to the Guardian newspaper. The excerpt of the Guardian article:
Gurkhas win right to settle in UK
Lumley campaign succeeds as Home Office rewrites rules to give veterans with four years' service permanent residency
Gurkha veterans were today given the right to settle in the UK after an extraordinary campaign led by the actor Joanna Lumley.
The home secretary, Jacqui Smith, completed the expected U-turn by confirming that veterans who had served four years or more, their wives and dependent children could apply to come to Britain.
She said the move "recognises the unique nature" of the soldiers' service and was consistent with the government's broader immigration policy.
Lumley, who joined with Gurkhas outside the Commons to hear the announcement, praised Gordon Brown for his "brave" decision on behalf of "the bravest of the brave".
"A great injustice has been righted. The Gurkhas are coming home. ..It is a day of such exhilaration. I can hardly believe it."
Lumley, who had been briefed on the announcement in advance, visited Brown at Downing Street earlier and met Phil Woolas, the immigration minister last night, said: "It is wretched that the government has taken so long but we must remember that this is the first administration to take action. Consecutive governments ignored us, so we owe a lot to them."
Smith will reverse government guidance issued last month that made the obstacles to entry almost insurmountable for many ordinary Gurkha soldiers, who are traditionally recruited from Nepal.
Smith is changing the rules to allow entry into the UK for Gurkhas previously excluded because they retired from the regiment before 1997, provided they have served with the British army for at least four years.
She promised 1,400 outstanding applications would be processed "as a matter of urgency''.
Smith told the Commons: "Generations of Gurkhas have served the United Kingdom with great courage, sacrifice and distinction and they continue to make a vital and valued contribution to our operations around the world."
Smith said she expected up to 15,000 Gurkhas would come to Britain over the next two years, but they would not get the same pension rights as those who retired after 1997.
The Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg, whose Commons motion led directly to the rapid change of heart by ministers, said: "Gordon Brown has finally woken up to the principle that people across Britain understand instinctively: if someone is prepared to die for this country, they must be allowed to live in it.
"Tragically this decision will come too late for many of those brave Gurkhas who have been waiting so long to see justice done.
"Gordon Brown's claim of a 'moral compass' rings hollow when, on every issue from Gurkhas to expenses, he has to be dragged every inch of the way towards doing the right thing."
Chris Grayling , the shadow home secretary, said: "First and foremost this case has been about basic decency. People from around the world have to come to live in this country in the past decade.
"There was never a justification to deny that right to a group of people who have lived long in the nation's affections, and who have risked and often given their lives for its protection.
"It is just a shame that the government had to be dragged kicking and screaming through the courts and then through the crowds of Gurkhas outside parliament before it finally did the right thing."
The turnaround came after the government suffered its first big defeat last month by 21 votes, as 27 Labour rebels joined the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats in demanding equal residency rights for all Gurkha soldiers.
Al Jazeera news footage (posted below)capture the elated reactions of the retired Gurkhas, once the news of the decision became public.
The British Government is also not the only country forced to re-look and re-engineer their policy on veteran's welfare and related affairs. US veterans are in no better position than their Atlantic allies, considering the Walter Reed fiasco. A Waco Tribune article reports that an army veteran is living in a shed.
In 2001, the French Government was also forced to examine the past injustices on migrant soldiers from Africa, according to a BBC news article.
The French case of injustice to veterans were dramatized in a wonderful movie titled "Days Of Glory". The trailer of the movie is posted below.
While the issue of pensions have been addressed by the UK and French Courts. What is interesting, is the subject of pensions also intersects the abuse trust and finances.
On The Media (OTM) podcast titled "Grade Inflation" examines the role of Ratings Agencies and their role in the sub-prime fiasco, where numerous pension funds had invested in, on account of the flawed AAA ratings, allocated to the mortgage backed securities. Podcast available on player below.
This American Life (T.I.A)podcast also raises the issue of trust among those rating agencies, that seemed to have grossly failed on many different occasions and many different levels; resulting in the most catastrophic economic meltdowns in the world's history.
Trust was a commodity in short supply, as the economic balloon began inflating; as the banks and mortgage brokers went on a high-stakes binge, fueled by the greed of Wall Street and the collusion of Federal regulating institutions. US President Barack Obama is keenly aware of the failure of regulation and his latest proposal to reform the financial industry, was unveiled by Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geitner.
CQ Politics article outlines the role, some of Obama's financial advisers played in the creating the perfect storm of economic calamity.
According to Los Angeles Times article, Wall Street is not buying it; Wall Street are also wary of their reputation among the middle class who have seen their equity and pension plans wither before their very eyes.
The subject of trustworthiness of regulators, as T.I.A outlined in the podcast, also has bearing in Fiji; with respect to 283 pending cases against Fiji Lawyers, as a Fiji Live article reports.
The excerpt of the F.L article:
New unit to probe Fiji lawyers
June 12, 2009 08:20:49 AM
A special unit within the office of the Chief Registrar will be set up to investigate the 283 pending cases against lawyers.
This follows the downgrading of the Fiji Law Society to a voluntary body with the issuance of the Legal Practitioners Decree.
Acting Chief Registrar Ana Rokomokoti said her office receives five complaints per day on average against lawyers. “Some of the complaints lodged against lawyers dates back to 2000 which were pending before the Fiji Law Society for action,” she told FijiLive.
The complaints against lawyers include malpractice, misconduct, deliberate attempts to delay cases, trust fund account violations, incompetence, negligence, discrepancy with costs charged to clients, failure to follow client’s instructions and failure to communicate with clients.
Raw Fiji News blog posting, also raises the issue about Twitter and its use in Fiji, implying that Iran's situation was similar to Fiji.
In a rather adequate response to that RFN claim, was neatly addressed by a Michael Madden's post on Salon.
Not long ago, Republicans were talking about attacking Iran. Now they think Obama doesn't love Iran enough
Undeniably, those like the Republicans, are queuing up to capitalize on Iran's domestic situation, to shore up their own political position in Fiji; which raises the trust issue yet again.
Croz Walsh latest blog posting, addresses the issue of Trust, in deciphering the intentions of the Trans-Tasman nations, as friendly or unfriendly in their engagements with Fiji. An OP-Ed by World Press.org has accurately outlined the back ground story of Fiji's political situation.
One concerning aspect of the recent foreign policy of both Trans-Tasman nations, is their incessant megaphone diplomacy in the region; as if the island states within the area were
an extension of their empire and more recently NZ Foreign Minister had to poke his nose into the recent developments in Iran.
The neo-colonist interference by these Trans-Tasman bullies is multi-faceted. One thrust is to poison the Sino-Viti bi-lateral relationship, as reported in Australian Network News article.
The other, constant hectoring through the media-the Australian and New Zealand media.
If criticizing Fiji was a favorite past time, both Trans-Tasman nations would take the prize as being the most vocal and belligerent.
Even Micheal Field the disgraced journalist, was among those echoing the news of S & P down grading the investment ratings of Fiji. Ironically, it was S & P among other agencies, which gave the Mortgage backed Securities an AAA rating and the end result is the quantitative easing, of the Global Financial Collapse. This whole affair brings us back to the question of Trust and the abuse of it by these ratings agencies.
Although, both Australian and New Zealand's Foreign Minister were quoted in NZ radio web article, as being concerned about Fiji's economy, because it was allegedly on the decline; what was omitted was that, their own economies are also being disintegrated by the Global Financial Collapse, according to Bloomberg.
What is not being questioned, is the Trans-Tasman moves to fast-track the highly controversial PACER-Plus negotiations for a Free-Trade deal with the Pacific Islands.
An ABC Australia web article quotes from Australian Trade Minister, Simon Crean who has a pollyannic outlook on the PACER-Plus negotiations in Apia and often used the buzz words: "level of trust", "capacity building", "genuinely desire to make this work".
These sultry words are almost equivalent to the one-liners, used by Wall Street Brokers to sell junk bonds to the unaware. Undoubtedly, the Australia Trade Minister, Simon Crean comes across in the ABC interview; as the type of person, who sells steak knives and food processing equipment on late night TV.
The excerpt of ABC article:
Varied reaction to PACER Plus negotiation timeline
Crean is strongly in favour of Pacific free trade negotiations. [ABC]" title="Australian Trade Minister Simon Crean is strongly in favour of Pacific free trade negotiations. [ABC]">
PHOTO
Australian Trade Minister Simon Crean is strongly in favour of Pacific free trade negotiations. [ABC]
Samoa's Associate Trade Minister Jo Keil says all the Ministers at the Pacific Trade Ministers meeting in Apia are happy with the decision to recommend that negotiations for a PACER Plus trade agreement begin this year.
A joint statement issued by the Ministers stressed the importance of progressing PACER Plus as a means of underpinning the economic security of the region.
Samoan Minister Jo Keil said all the ministers were happy with the decision to recommend negotiations start this year.
"Very friendly and very good," he said. "I was there, we were there the whole time and we got along very well - the ministers were all friends." Pacific Australian and New Zealand civil society organisations represented in Apia say the Pacific ministers conceded too much to Australia and New Zealand.
Spokesperson Maureen Penjuelli said none of their concerns had been addressed. The organisations will ask Pacific leaders to use their meeting in Cairns in August to delay PACER negotiations.
ABC podcast (posted below in MP3 player) interviews the Samoan Associate Trade Minister, Joe Keil and PANG Coordinator, Maureen Penjuelli. Both interviewees were present at the Apia Trade talks. However, Penijuelli who met with several other Trade Ministers found a sense of disappointment among them. The PANG Coordinator also disputes the label of general concensus, as described by the Australian and Samoan Trade Minister.
Fiji, one the largest economies in the region was recently excluded from the recent talks held in Apia, Western Samoa as reported in Fiji Live article, including the reaction from the Interim Attorney General.
The excerpt of F.L article:
Fiji regrets trade talk exclusion: AG
June 20, 2009 03:21:01 PM
Fiji’s Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum has labeled as “regretful” Fiji’s exclusion from regional trade talks in Samoa, which ends today and questioned the motives of big brothers Australia and New Zealand.
“Fiji’s exclusion from regional trade talks has the potential to adversely impact on the country’s economic development by affecting its regional trade and economic integration, thereby hurting its most vulnerable and disadvantaged citizens,” Sayed Khaiyum said today in a statement.
“Fiji is a party to PACER (Pacific Closer Economic Relations) having signed and ratified the Agreement in 2001. The decision to exclude Fiji from discussions under PACER is a violation of her rights under the treaty," he added.
"Any decisions reached by the Forum members in the absence of Fiji on PACER are legally challengeable under the principle of ‘consensus’ espoused by the treaty and the Pacific Islands Forum in general and will not be legally binding on Fiji.
European Union funded trade talks among members of the Pacific Islands Forum had kicked off in Samoa on June 6, a two weeks event which excluded Fiji. This was a direct result of its suspension in April from Forum membership. Sayed-Khaiyum said it was a regret that Fiji, being one of the founding members of the Forum, had to be excluded from these talks.
Whether or not these neighbours are genuinely concerned about the welfare of the inhabitants is highly questionable. What these Trans-Tasman nations have banked their hopes on and the recovery of their own domestic economies is, the trade with Pacific Island nations and the most convenient vehicle to back their budgetary projections on, is cementing these free-trade deals with the Pacific Island states, whether they want it or not.
Crean is strongly in favour of Pacific free trade negotiations. [ABC]" title="Australian Trade Minister Simon Crean is strongly in favour of Pacific free trade negotiations. [ABC]">