Asia-Pacific, Development & Aid, Headlines, Human Rights, Indigenous Rights

SOUTH PACIFIC: Bracing for Fiji’s Planned Coup

Neena Bhandari

SYDNEY, Dec 1 2006 (IPS) - Uneasiness prevails in the South Pacific as a 24-hour deadline for a military takeover from the democratically-elected government in Fiji passed Friday afternoon.

As the military’s coup deadline loomed, the Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF) chief, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, only made a flippant comment while going to watch the annual sporting fixture between the police and army rugby teams at the national stadium in the capital of Suva. “I maintain my demands and the deadline still stands, and I will make a commitment to my stand after the rugby match. When I will do something, I will let the people know,” he was reported by Fijian media as saying.

In Sydney, foreign ministers from the 16-country South Pacific Forum were holding talks on the crisis. The secretary-general of the Forum, a regional group that includes Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and other Pacific nations said, “Any unlawful overthrow of a democratically elected government has wide implications for the entire region.”

The other members of the Forum are the Cook Islands, Nauru, Tonga, Western Samoa, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Kiribati, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands and Vanuatu.

Fiji’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and External Trade Kaliopate Tavola said, “We don’t take any threats lightly. The deadline of today has come and goneà nothing happened, so there’s some anxiety as to what will happen on Monday.”

There have been conflicting reports emanating from Suva with one report saying that Bainimarama has extended the takeover deadline to Monday noon and another refuting this.

Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase and his cabinet ministers have repoprtedly gone into hiding. Qarase told the Reuters news agency: “The deadline has now passed. I have been informed that the new deadline is Monday midday.”

“Nobody knows what he wants. We are just keeping our fingers crossed that he won’t go ahead. He has got all the firepower and the rest of the population has got nothing. God works in mysterious ways, and he might be working on it now,” Qarase told Fijian radio.

The foreign ministers attending the Forum ruled out any military intervention in Fiji.

However, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said, “We wouldn’t rule out the using our military to evacuate Australians and some other nationals, of course, foreign nationals if they were to get into difficulties, if the security situation was to deteriorate to such an extent that there would need to be a militarily-assisted evacuation from Fiji, particularly of Australians. But also we would help other nationalities, as well, particularly those that are represented here. But we would rule out declaring war on Fiji. Of course we’re not going to do that”.

Under the so-called Biketawa Declaration, members of the Forum can come to another state’s aid in times of unrest – if a government requests it. Bainimarama’s saber-rattling military exercise in Suva on Wednesday night has been seen as sending a message of no intervention to Australia and New Zealand.

At the meeting, an ‘eminent persons group’ was set up to negotiate with the warring factions was set-up to bring the crisis in Fiji to an end through consultation and mediation. Downer said, “In terms of the composition of the group, that’s not been worked out yet, but it might be that it will include some people with some defence backgrounds from the region and other distinguished backgrounds and also distinguished, probably retired but not necessarily retired political leaders. From Australia, perhaps a retired general might be a possibility”.

One of Bainimarama’s demands has been the ouster of the Fijian Police Commissioner Andrew Hughes, an Australian who has since returned here. He said, “I have not resigned. I’m still the Commissioner of the Fiji police. We, through intelligence sources, received very credible and specific threats against me and against my family. My family were repatriated to Australia a few days ago, and that’s another reason why I’m here.”

In Suva, people were reported queuing up at automatic teller machines to withdraw cash, stocking up on food and essentials as the uncertainty in the Island country continues. Businesses, schools and the university were closed as people heaved a sigh of temporary relief as Qarase urged Fijians on national radio to “stand up” and oppose the military’s threats. “People of Fiji do not want a dictator. We want democracy”.

If Bainimarama, who had threatened to stage a coup after accusing the Prime Minister of stalling on a pledge to scrap controversial legislation, goes ahead with his plan, it will be the fourth coup in Fiji in 20 years. Bainimarama was a target of the 2000 coup, a short-lived attempt to install a government of ethnic Fijians.

The first ethnic Indian prime minister and leader of the Fiji Labour Party (FLP) Mahendra Chaudhary was ousted in 2000 in a coup engineered by businessman George Speight. In 1987 a coup by indigenous Fijians overthrew the elected, Indian-dominated coalition.

Indians were first brought to Fiji as indentured labour by British colonials between 1879 and 1916. Joined later by traders, the Indian population on the island had overtaken that of the indigenous Fijians by the mid-1960s. But following Rabuka’s 1987 coup over 100,000 Indians have emigrated to countries like Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Canada.

Fiji’s total population is now estimated to stand at 900,000 people. There has been no census conducted in the last 10 years but Fiji’s statistical bureau estimated Indo-Fijians to be forming 38 percent of the population in 2004.

Downer said the Forum’s meeting shows that countries in the region want respect for the rule of law and democracy and “thirdly and very importantly, it does illustrate that throughout the Pacific there is real concern about the impact of this behaviour on the reputation of the whole region.”

The delegates commended New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, who had facilitated a meeting between Qarase and Bainimarama in Wellington on Nov. 29. Qarase said he was prepared to review and eventually abandon the laws that have provoked Bainimarama, but the RFMF chief dismissed the meeting as a “failure” and questioned Qarase’s readiness to act on his pledge.

Bainimarama objects to legislation put forward by the Prime Minister that offers pardon to people involved in the 2000 coup and allocates the ownership of coastal land to ethnic Fijians.

Qarase had earlier appeared to back down by agreeing to suspend work on the laws, one of which would grant amnesties to those involved in a 2000 coup. He also hinted that possible sedition charges against Bainimarama could be dropped, and Fiji’s police chief’s work contract might not be renewed when it expired.

The United Nations Security Council has also urged Fiji’s military leadership “to exercise restraint and respect the rule of law.” U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he was “alarmed” by the possibility of a coup, which he said would damage Fiji’s international standing.

The United Nations is likely to stop using Fijian soldiers for its peacekeeping operations around the world if the military goes ahead with a coup. For many soldiers in Fiji, not participating in the U.N. Peacekeeping duties, would be a setback to their careers – financially and from the point of view of prestige. For example, there would be implications for the 2,000 Fijians employed by the British army.

Downer said, “If the military mounts a coup, there will be substantial implications. We would automatically suspend any defence cooperation with the country”. Many young Fiji officers are trained at Australian defence academies.

Time and again, democracy in Fiji has come under threat, leading to political and economic instability. If the democratically-elected government in Fiji is removed, it will have dire consequences for the entire region’s commerce, travel and services.

 
Republish | | Print |

Related Tags



fiction 2021 epub