‘Anxiety, uncertainty, and fear in our land’: 1 fiji's road to military coup, 2006
2007; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 96; Issue: 389 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/00358530701292447
ISSN1474-029X
Autores Tópico(s)Climate Change, Adaptation, Migration
ResumoAbstract On 5 December 2006 Commodore Frank Bainimarama, head of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces, staged Fiji's fourth coup since its first in May 1987. The flashpoint came after a long drawn out confrontation between the military, overwhelmingly indigenous Fijian, against a predominantly Fijian-led government of Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase. The military accused the government of breach of faith and of giving succour to politicians who had been variously implicated in the George Speight-led coup of 2000, rewarding them with ministerial portfolios. The introduction of controversial bills, promising amnesty to coup convicts, and the government's curious unwillingness to take the military's threats seriously, compounded the problem. The coup deposed a democratically elected government but it also in the process dealt a severe blow to the influence of some of the most important institutions of Fijian society. A military-appointed interim administration, with Bainimarama as prime minister and Labour leader and former coup victim Mahendra Chaudhry as finance minister, has been installed and has promised to hold Fiji's next general elections in 2010. Key words: Fiji coup 2006Commodore Frank BainimaramaSDL governmentGreat Council of ChiefsTruth and Reconciliation BillMahendra Chaudhry Acknowledgements I am very grateful to Doug Munro, Hank Nelson, Vicki Luker, Stewart Firth and Ashwin Raj for their stringent and astute comments on a draft of this paper. But they are not responsible for its contents; I am. Notes 1. These words are from Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase's ‘Address to the Nation/Comments at Press Conference’, 1 November 2006. A copy of the speech is widely available on numerous websites, such as http://www.fijilive.com. 2. Ian Milner, ‘A conversation with Charles Brash’, Landfall: A New Zealand Quarterly, 100, 1971, p. 349. 3. The Great Council of Chiefs is an entirely indigenous Fijian body traditionally of hereditary chiefs, whose role has been to advise governments on matters pertaining to the Fijians. It appoints the president and vice president, as well as 14 of the 32 members of the Senate (Upper House). 4. The Fiji Times, 14 January 2007. 5. God's name, it has to be said, was invoked by virtually every major player on all sides in the crisis. 6. See The Review Magazine, 15 July 2003, which described him thus: “Although he shuns the limelight, Bainimarama can come out firing if he believes he is being underestimated or unappreciated. He is said to be a ‘silent thinker’ who thinks long-term. To his credit Bainimarama always seeks the advice of his officers—and also taps on the experience of those who have held office before him. He is definitely not a Yes-Man.” 7. The Review Magazine, 1 June 2004. The allegation proved in the end to be true. 8. Brij V. Lal, Islands of Turmoil: Elections and Politics in Fiji, Canberra: Asia Pacific Press, 2006, pp. 185 – 231; and Lal, ‘Fiji's constitutional conundrum’, The Round Table, 372, 2003, pp. 671 – 685. 9. He was a self-acknowledged key player in the 1987 coup and a silent supporter of the one in 2000. 10. Who watched while Suva was looted and burned by Speight-supporting mobs. 11. Who had also drafted a decree abrogating the constitution soon after George Speight's coup in 2000. 12. Interview, The Fiji Sun, 1 November 2006. It is not strictly true that Speight actually ‘made’ any policies, although he did advocate hard-line pro-Fijian sentiments, many of which were appropriated by the government. 13. The Fiji Sun, 1 November 2006. 14. From ‘Address to the Nation’. 15. All bills presented to the Fijian parliament are available on the internet and on the websites of the Fiji dailies. The third bill, the Indigenous Land Tribunal Bill, was also on the military's list but did not get much airing. 16. Radio New Zealand International, 21 November 2006. 17. See The Fiji Sun, 1 November 2006. 18. Address by Laisenia Qarase to the Great Council of Chiefs, 9 November 2006. 19. The Fiji Human Rights Commission, in a 32-page report released in early January 2007, generally endorses the military line. It is also highly (hyper)critical of the policies and practices of the Qarase government. 20. ‘Address to the Nation’. 21. Lal, Islands of Turmoil covers this subject. The 2006 election is discussed at pp. 251 – 264. Another piece, Lal, ‘Chance hai: impressions from the campaign trail’, will appear in Jonathan Fraenkal, Stewart Firth and Wendy Tubman (Eds), Polarisation and Power-Sharing in Fiji: The Paradox of the 2006 General Election, Suva: University of the South Pacific, 2007. 22. Including the Commonwealth Secretariat and the South Pacific Forum in Suva. I should note that both the Human Rights Commission and the military allege that there were irregularities in the election process, although no evidence has so far been produced before the courts. 23. The 1997 constitution provides that any political party with more than 10% of seats in the House is constitutionally entitled to be invited to serve in cabinet. 24. Section 3 (b) of the Declaration, a copy of which was subsequently published as a Parliamentary Paper. 25. This is based on conversations with some of the Labour Party members in cabinet. But see also Maika Bolatiki, ‘FLP crisis poses threat,’The Fiji Sun, 19 September 2006. 26. The Fiji Times, 17 October 2006. 27. The Fiji Times, 3 November 2006. 28. The 2004 Review argued that the Republic of Fiji Military Forces was “too top heavy and cumbersome for the size of the force and will need drastic revision once the options outlined above are decided. The rank structure is also grossly distorted, for example there are 80 warrant officers class 1 and 159 warrant officers Class II in a force that would justify no more than 10 and 30 respectively at that rank. The same applies for officers. There are 8 colonels and 23 lieutenant colonels when half that number would be excessive in the current force.” I am grateful to Professor Stewart Firth for this information. 29. Fiji Times Online, 25 November 2006 (available at: www.fijitimes.com.fj). 30. The Fiji Sun, 11 November 2006. 31. Fiji Times Online, 25 November 2006. 32. This bill's purpose is to enable Fijians to present cases concerning long-standing grievances about the alienation of some of their ancestral land and to seek compensation or return. Around 500 claims have been lodged thus far. 33. Address to the Great Council of Chiefs. 34. Land which is deemed vacant or without an owner, as decided by the Native Land Commission set up after Cession in 1874. 35. See also Maika Bolataki, ‘Fijian state versus Fijian army’, The Fiji Sun, 11 November 2006. 36. Fijilive, 12 November 2006. 37. The Fiji Sun, 15 December 2006. See also the editorial of 20 December, where the paper asked: “Are we seeing the beginning of the end of a chiefly system unable to integrate with this rapidly evolving world in which we live? Probably not. But we may be witnessing the first signs of a society unsure of its changing relationship with its history as the outside world inexorably alters the way in which we see ourselves and our place in it.” Further, “there is a strong case for arguing that the chiefs have diminished in status as a result of the GCC's stand-off with the army commander and it is difficult to see how they can reverse that.” 38. Budget Speech, 22 November 2006. 39. The Fiji Daily Post, 3 December 2006. 40. The doctrine authorizes the executive to intervene if the government is unable to discharge its responsibilities in the event of an emergency such as massive civil disorder. But the doctrine is limited in its scope, and the executive is obliged to return power to the government once the emergency is over. 41. From the Press Release of the meeting, issued on 13 January 2007. 42. The other awardees were Sir Allan Kemakeza of the Solomon Islands and Ham Lini Vanuarora of Vanuatu. 43. Subhas Appana, ‘Can't blame our Indians now’, Fiji Times Online, 22 December 2006. 44. Paulo Baleinakorodawa, Kevin Barr and Semisi Qalowasa, ‘Crisis brings uncertainty: what about opportunity?’, The Fiji Sun, 17 December 2006.
Referência(s)