The Real Survivor Fiji – Payin’ The Piper

Sunset Wallpaper, Coral Coast, Fiji - A Photo of an amazing sunset over palm trees on the Coral Coast of Fiji, set for use as desktop backgrounds or wallpaper [the best way to see Fiji while the military is still in control]. It has been resized, scaled at 1152x864 pixels - perfect for backgrounds or wallpaper for your desktop. Go to link - right click the image and select - "set as background" - Image Credit: Alistair Watters

The Real Survivor Fiji – Payin’ The Piper

Drop a stone into a pool of water and watch the ripple wave transverse across the calm surface.

For every action taken in haste, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Please tell this to the soldiers of Fiji who lost their guaranteed government jobs because the government is not bringing in enough money.

A nation under military siege is not a country people really want to visit. There are other beautiful Pacific Ocean island destinations that offer culture, gorgeous weather, and serenity that do not have a Commodore as its supreme leader in the middle of an action that will show itself as a major mistake.

I am sure that in another week or two, the former soldiers who are now citizens (and still others who will be on a rations diet) will see the light and wonder … what the heck did we do, and what were we thinking when we illegally took control of a democratically elected government?

In time, everyone has to pay the piper for the tune he plays.

This item from Reuters -

Fiji's military blows budget on coup, cuts troops
Source: Reuters - 16 Oct 2007 01:41:12 GMT

Coups can be expensive. Just ask the Fiji military, which has been forced to cut troop numbers and slash rations after breaking its 2007 budget due to the extra costs involved in toppling the government.

The South Pacific island nation's military was allocated F$80 million (US$57 million) for 2007, but a bloodless December 2006 coup and subsequent "mobilisation" [read "clamp down" and "control"] were not budgeted for, the army told local media.

The army has now reduced rations by more than half, slashing a soldier's daily pay from F$7 to F$2.50, to sustain operations, the news Web site fijilive.com said.

"Yes, we did bust our budget, but that was a national necessity for us," Military Land Force chief of staff Lieutenant-Colonel Mosese Tikoitoga told fijilive on Tuesday.

"We had to ask for an extra provision but we were not given any so we had to look from within. We had to cut on our rations."
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To trim costs the army said it made soldiers redundant because it could not pay their wages, disbanded its reserves in July and cut a lot of training programmes.

"We did not buy any vehicles this year. We had to go borrow all the government vehicles. There were a lot of cost-cutting measures," Tikoitoga said.

The army is in talks with the country's interim government, headed by coup leader and military chief Frank Bainimarama, on a new budget, which will be announced in November.

Bainimarama staged Fiji's fourth coup on Dec. 5, toppling the democratically elected government of Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase, arguing his government was corrupt and soft on those involved in a 2000 coup. (F$1 = US$0.7152)
Reference Here>>

The phrase in the article we, at MAXINE, like the most is ... "To trim costs the army said it made soldiers redundant" ... Hey, what is a military coup without military soldiers or the rations (slashed by more than half) to maintain them?

Why don't we just make the coup effort REDUNDANT?

Can anyone say ... "Reverse Coup?" ... we knew you could.

The Real Survivor Fiji – Nurses & Teachers Go “Industrial”

Teachers strike in solidarity with Nurses in Fiji (see video at link below). Image Credit: TV3 News, New Zealand

The Real Survivor Fiji – Nurses & Teachers Go “Industrial”

Life is hard under an illegal military rule and despotic regime.

The economy begins to tank, people do not want to visit, citizens have trouble supporting the Commodore’s agenda, and eventually someone … everyone has to pay the price.

In the latest round of “payments”, the nurses and teachers are having their pay cut and their retirement paired back in an effort for the Commodore’s government to be able to meet its obligations.

Does it need to be stated? … Would the Fijian economy and its ability for the government to meet its obligations be in this position if Commodore Frank weren’t so selfish and cavalier in his actions to have the military perform a coup and oust a democratically elected government?

This from TV3 News, New Zealand –

Teachers join nurses striking in Fiji
TV3 News - Thu, 02 Aug 2007 06:23p.m.

Another sector joined the striking nurses in Fiji today as turmoil in the public sector continued.

About 1000 teachers took industrial action in the form of a peaceful sit-in.

But Fiji’s Police Commissioner urged unions and all Fijians to remain calm and act within the law.

At the teachers’ union headquarters in central Suva, striking took the form of unity songs, speeches from union reps and kava.

After threats from the military and warnings from police, union organisers ensured the protest was peaceful.

The teachers were joined by some striking nurses whom police tried to stop at the gate.

1400 nurses are still on strike after a week of industrial action.

300 public works, water and sewerage workers also took industrial action today.

Just after December’s coup, the interim government slashed pay for civil servants by five percent, and the retirement age from 60 to 55.

The unions want both restored and a further 10 percent payrise.

Last night union leader Taniela Tabu was returned to his family after being detained by army and police, and other union leaders have been targeted.

Fiji's Police Commissioner told a news conference today their presence at hospitals and schools is not meant to intimidate.

The strikes are due to continue tomorrow.
Reference Here>>

Video Report Here>>

Detentions were not meant to intimidate ... yea, right!

The Real Survivor Fiji – A Neighborly View

“My hand was forced,” says Commodore Bainimarama. “In November, when I was in New Zealand, three high commissioners and ambassadors went up to the [army] camp to convince my troops and senior officers to stop following my orders - they were inciting mutiny. If they were successful, we would be fighting one another in the camp. But my troops knew what action they must take. They warned me immediately.” - Interim Prime Minister of Fiji, Commander Frank Bainimarama. Image Credit: Dev Nadkarni

The Real Survivor Fiji – A Neighborly View

The United States, much like Fiji, has a lot of problems. Our nation states are suffering from a force of insurgency.

In the United States, the insurgency takes the form of twelve to twenty million people who are not here under a process of legal assimilation. This has the effect of hijacking the sense of fairplay and the dilution of the rule of law our country is known for. This problem also may result in our country becoming less safe from the threat of terrorism.

In Fiji, the insurgency takes a more sinister form in that the country has already lost its Government. The military hijacked any sense of fairplay and the rule of law through its “bloodless” coup when it ousted the freely elected democratic Government of the people. As for the threat of terrorism? ... the terrorists are already in charge!

In both cases, a minority illegally holds the culture and processes of the rule of law hostage to their selfish demands. The main difference here, however, the United States still has its Government (barely) whereas Fiji has lost any of its Governmental legitimacy through the demands of one headstrong military leader.

This view from the neighboring nation of New Zealand -

The Mapp Report: The Fijian Banana Republic
Friday, 15 June 2007, 5:04 pm - Press Release: New Zealand National Party

The coup in Fiji continues to cause problems, which is not surprising. Let's be clear; the current regime in Fiji is not a legitimate interim government, it is a military dictatorship.

And of course, they are acting just like military dictatorships always do. They rule by decree; they use fear and intimidation. The so called 'chats' with pesky journalists at the Queen Elizabeth barracks do not involve cups of tea and cucumber sandwiches; beatings and abuse are more the order of the day.

Military dictatorships hate hearing an opposing view to their own; that not everyone is actually keen on the end of democracy, freedom of speech and the ability to hold the government to account.

The New Zealand Parliament – on a fully bipartisan basis – is united on this issue. We want to see the end of Bainimarama's dictatorship, and the return to democracy. Because, as Winston Churchill said, "No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise.

Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time." The Fijian dictatorship is certainly demonstrating the truth of that proposition.

They claim to have taken power to end corruption, rebuild the economy and protect the constitution. It really is a bizarre claim – the rule of the gun to protect constitutional government!

There does appear to be an element to all of this that we may be missing in New Zealand. The ostensible reasons for the coup simply do not stack up on any objective assessment. Normally when such coups take place, there is some desire on the part of the coup makers to ensure some level of normality is restored. But that is not happening in this case. People continue to be arrested and taken to Queen Elizabeth barracks.

The coup leaders seem quite enthusiastic to deliberately irritate the major countries in the region. They have been resistant to the efforts of fellow Pacific Island countries to defuse tension, and restore normality. There would seem to be other factors not readily apparent that are keeping tension at a high level.

But at some point Fiji will have to return to constitutional government, and this is clearly in our interests as well as Fiji's. New Zealand will always want a good relationship with Fiji, but it is not unconditional. The Fijian regime needs to understand New Zealand will not just look aside, irrespective of the actions of the coup leaders.

When they want something from New Zealand; be it aid, transit visas, support in the UN; then the rules of good governance are among the tests we should apply.

Right now Fiji is failing those tests. The Fijian interim government needs to start thinking about how to yet again re-establish itself within the Pacific family of nations.
Reference Here>>

The Real Survivor Fiji - Frank Hates People's Opinions

Commodore Frank Bainimarama, Commander of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces - Image Credit: Wikipedia

The Real Survivor Fiji - Frank Hates People's Opinions

In a move that can only mean the worst has yet to come, the self-appointed (he would never have been elected - not bright enough) leader of the nation of freedom loving island peoples, Fiji, is attempting to shut down the ... get this ... The Internet!

Of course, this act is beyond hubris. It reminds me of the boast that Al Gore made during the run up to America's 2000 presidential elections (to paraphrase) "I invented the Internet!"

What does Commodore Frank Bainimarama plan to say ... "I killed the Internet!"???

To which the collective response should be ... "Was that before or after you killed the country and peoples you forcibly took rule over?"

Frank hates people's opinions so that is why we at MAXINE do not really care for Frank.

This from All Headline News -

Fiji Military Moves To Close Down Blogging Sites
Richard Bowden - AHN Staff Writer - May 11, 2007 7:01 p.m. EST

Suva, Fiji (AHN) - The Fijian ruling military junta has moved to close down blog sites critical of the regime after unsuccessful attempts to find those responsible for the sites.

Senior military commander Colonel Pita Driti told Pacific Radio Friday that access to the sites would be closed yesterday.

A spokesman for Fiji's only internet provider FINTEL confirmed they had been asked to shut down the web sites by the Government "for security purposes."

"They asked us to address a few things. We have given them some options to consider, because we can't just go into the web and stop access. It would be unfair to the general public," the spokesman said.

He said if the military directed them to block the offending web sites the provider would have no choice but to agree.

"If the directive is to block, then we have no other option but to comply. ... we are seeking authorization on that from our administration," he said.

Three blog sites which have published stories which have embarrassed the military Government since their coup in December 2006 are Intelligentsiya, Resist Frank's Coup and Discombobulated Bubu.
Reference Here>>

Hey Frank! ... BLOCK THIS!

Security reasons ... who's security, Frank?

And Frank thinks to himself, "This is all such an embarrassment."

Hey Frank, GET OVER IT!

To the folks over at Intelligentsiya, Resist Frank's Coup, and Discombobulated Bubu - If you all get shut down, write to MAXINE and we will publish what you have to say. Frank can't shut us down here in the sunny Southland of the good ol' USA!

UPDATE May 17, 2007:

Fijian free speech websites have been inactive for approximately one week. Maybe the writers have "gone to ground" or is Frank and his weak kneed military followers slamming the free speech door shut?

This from Fijilive.com -

Anti-military blogsites become inactive
Thursday May 17, 2007

All activity on the controversial "resistfrankscoup" blogsite has stopped with the last entry now glaringly standing at May 9.

Last week, the Fiji Military Forces had said it was talking with Fiji International Telecommunications Ltd (FINTEL) to stop blog spots on the Internet which it claimed were a threat to national security.

But FINTEL spokesperson Iowane Koroivuki says they haven't done anything to the blogsite.

"If somebody has done something, then it is not us. It has got nothing to do with FINTEL," he said.

"If we had done something we would have told the truth anyway."

The army commander Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama told Fijilive.com that he has informed his people not to waste their time on blogs.

"The blog will take you back its not going to do any good for us.

"It's meant to depress us, it's meant to tell people anti-military stories. It's all lies and there is no use reading it," said Bainimarama.

Another blog site "Intelligentsia" shows no activity either.

Last week, Land Force Commander, Colonel Pita Driti had said they were trying to close all anti military sites namely, Intelligentsia.com, Resistfrankscoup and Fijishamelist.

He claimed the blog spots have continued to annoy the public with their lies and racists comments and they must be stopped.

"We are doing everything we can to put an end to these deceitful rumors by people behind this blogs because they are creating more problems for us and the country," he had said.

"How can we move forward when we have people like this destroying the peace and citizens of this country would be stupid to read their site and fall into their trap?"
Reference Here>>

WHAT TRAP??

You, Frank, have taken upon yourself to DEPRESS the future of your whole country by force and you think, through your EGO colored glasses, ALL decisions and opinions that are made by you are the ONLY opinions that are valid.

Very sad, this!

We, at MAXINE, say - Frank is the problem and as his name suggests --- Frank IS the BAIN of the Fijian people!

The Real Survivor Fiji - A Restricted Press

The Real Survivor Fiji - A Restricted Press

Each by each, Fiji’s democratic institutions are suffering a gradual assault.

Basic freedoms and human rights are being over-run by the all to powerful and illegal acts of an out-of-control Commodore dictator.

The next freedom to suffer is the freedom of the press to operate unhindered.

Now Commodore Frank will try to catch Jell-O by attempting to shut down a website ... an offshore website!!

Excerpts from AAP via Fairfax Digital’s, The Age –

Fiji's coup leader clamps down on media
Australian Associated Press (AAP) - March 8, 2007 - 7:14PM

Fiji's coup leader has warned journalists the military will haul them in for questioning if they are deemed to have filed "irresponsible" reports.

The warning came after the general manager of the Fiji Daily Post and the news director of Fiji Television were detained separately over reports the military objected to.

The Fiji Television report detailed the death of a man after he was allegedly detained and assaulted by soldiers during a drug raid on his village in the east of Vanua Levu, Fiji's second largest island.

Fiji Television has since retracted the story and apologised after the military insisted that soldiers were not involved.

Last week, Fiji Daily Post general manager Mesake Koroi was detained twice for what the military called "anti-military" articles and editorials, the Fijilive online news service reported.

Also on Thursday, the military said it was trying to establish the identities of journalists behind a weblog launched to expose alleged human rights abuses since Commodore Frank Bainimarama's December 5 coup.

Bainimarama, who has appointed himself interim prime minister, told Fijilive that he supported media freedom.

"... it lends credibility not only to the interim government but also to the military, the force behind this interim government and we want it," Fijilive quoted him as saying.

But he issued a warning to journalists, saying there would be consequences for those who made up stories.
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Fiji Military spokesman Neumi Leweni confirmed efforts were underway to establish exactly who was producing material posted on the intelligentsiya weblog, established by journalists to document alleged rights abuses following the December coup.

The site was launched in January and has used it to publish allegations against the military regime, including several deaths it says resulted from bashings by soldiers.

The accounts have angered the military, which says it has not been given the chance to respond to the claims.
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A statement posted on the blog on Thursday said the development was worrying.

But it added: "Should anything happen to Intelligentsiya, it would only serve to canonise the blogsite if the authors were captured and taken up for `re-education'."

"There is no shortage of Intelly Agents.

"We'll keep you posted ... and we continue to stand firm, fearlessly."

Webmasters, a Fijian website company, said the domain indicated the website was based overseas.
Read All>>

UPDATE 3-09-2007:

This from fijivillage.com -

Games up for Intelligentsiya
Army tracks cyber critics
Thursday March 08, 2007

The Fiji Military says it has identified a top educational institution in Suva that is being used as a base to run a controversial website that has been branded by the army as a 'pushover' against the interim regime.

Military spokesman, Major Neumi Leweni confirmed that they have identified a group of people operating from the institution.

"We have made major progress in our efforts to apprehend these people who have been reporting negative things about the military and we have been tracking them for quite some time now," he said.

Major Leweni says that the website recently made defamatory remarks against military and is portraying a negative image of the Interim Government.

"This time they have gone too far and we will be making arrests soon because we know who they are," he added.
Reference & Additional Comments Here>>

Additional Comment Update:

Bainimarama has a go at reporters
NewstalkZB - 11/03/2007 8:32:02

First it was the politicians, now Frank Bainimara is threatening to have a go at Fiji's journalists.

The country's self-appointed Prime Minister says reporters who write what he believes to be false or malicious stories will be taken in for questioning.

He says unbalanced and provocative reporting could create unnecessary fear, anxiety and reaction.

The commodore is unhappy at reports on websites claiming as many as four people have died after being taken into custody by the Fiji military since last year's coup.

He says freedom of the press is not limitless.
Reference Here>>

The Real Survivor Fiji – Point-Of-Order Process Pursued

Laisenia Qarase (born February 4, 1941) was Prime Minister of Fiji from 2000 to 2006. After the coup that led to the removal of Mahendra Chaudhry was quashed by the military, Qarase joined the Interim Military Government as a financial advisor on 9 June 2000, and was subsequently appointed Prime Minister on July 4. He subsequently won two parliamentary elections, but was deposed in a military coup on 5 December 2006. Caption & Image Credit: Wikipedia

The Real Survivor Fiji – Point-Of-Order Process Pursued

It had to happen and after nearly three full months since the head of Fiji’s military, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, faces action in the island nation’s court system.

The hope, through this point-of-order process is to highlight the illegitimacy of of the Commodore’s actions.

This from Associated Press via Zee News (India) -

Fiji military coup to face court challenge
Associated Press - Suva, Mar. 02, 2007

Fiji's governing party that was ousted in a coup three months ago launched court action today to try to have the military chief's actions ruled illegal, increasing pressure on the commander to restore democracy in the country.

The case, if successful, is unlikely to force Commodore Frank Bainimarama to give up power because he controls Fiji's security forces. But it would undermine his claim to be operating within the country's constitution.

Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase's Soqosoqo Duavata Ni Lewenivanua Party formally applied to the high court on Friday to hear its claim that Fiji's military forces illegally removed the democratically elected government on Dec. 5 last year.

In the putsch, Bainimarama removed the government, closed the Parliament, proclaimed himself interim President and imposed sweeping emergency powers on the country. He claimed his actions were within the 1997 constitution, and that he would call elections to restore democratic rule at an undecided future date.

Acting Chief Justice Anthony Gates gave the two sides till March 28 to file detailed affidavits of evidence and defense to the court.

Gates also asked the military not to interfere with Qarase's lawyer and the courts commissioner of oaths traveling to the outlying island of Vanuabalavu to execute affidavits and have them signed by Qarase.
Reference Here>>

The Real Survivor Fiji – Military, And The Human Toll

Japanese tourists from left Nanako Ota, Megumi Fukaya and Matko Yamazaki enjoy their stay in Nadi yesterday. Tourism in Fiji is far from normal, warns stakeholders. Image Credit: Fiji Times Limited

The Real Survivor Fiji – Military, And The Human Toll

Let’s see, what are the positives of the coup? Increased military checkpoints equal reduced crime – that’s good for tourism, right?

The large tourist developments that congregate around the airport are isolated from the rest of the civilian life activity – that hides some of the ugly side of running a military rule country, right?

Most of the touring world located in Europe and North America haven’t plugged into the political issues that are stifling the island nation – so ignorance is bliss, right?

Well in a country the military has taken over since December 5th, things are grinding to a halt and it doesn’t look good for future either. The human toll under the present set of circumstances is increasing and it doesn’t look like it will get any better soon. After all, the innocent citizens of Fiji will not even be able to have a say (vote) until 2010 if the Commodore is to continue to have his way.

Excerpts from the New Zealand’s National Business Review -

Commodore country
By Nevile Gibson, Editor-In-Cheif – National Business Review (NZ) 1-Mar-2007

The holiday conundrum: Fiji Island resorts allow you to get away from the everyday environment of work, household duties, telephones, television, even newspapers.

Yet since the December 5 coup, Fiji’s resort holiday business has nosedived. And personal experience over the past weekend indicates nothing has changed for the holidaymaker.
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Patrols concentrate on gatherings of young people, who are leading suspects for street crime, burglaries and drug abuse. A new crime in the statistics, threats and swearing at military officers, has boosted the number of arrests to 1200 from Dec 5 to February 15.
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Monday’s editions of both papers this week led with the story of the death of a 19-year-old, who had been assaulted by soldiers and police a month ago when taken into custody. The Times reported this was the second such death and the story is attracting international attention.

The Times also reports an unnamed organisation has documented 200 cases of official human rights abuse while the Fiji Human Rights Commission has 20.

No doubt some heavy-handed treatment is being handed out but the media reporting, particularly in the just-mentioned report, shows a heartening degree of robustness.

Fiji has a five-star holiday industry grafted on to a third world economy.
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The main source of tourists is Australia and New Zealand, where news of the coup has been widely reported and where the governments have imposed travel bans.

But elsewhere in the world, I was told, the news has not filtered through, mainly because little of note has occurred and perhaps there is a greater tolerance of these tourists to hot country politics.
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But the industry is far from healthy and it will fall well short of its aim this year to exceed $F1 billion in turnover. Hotels Association president Dixon Seeto was quoted at the weekend as saying, “We have to face the reality here that things are not normal.”
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The effects on employment are palpable, as full time workers were still on reduced hours and casual staff are jobless.
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A costly coup

While the day-to-day impact of the coup is largely invisible to visitors, the economic impact is already considerable, if not as bad as previous ones.
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Latest Fiji Reserve Bank forecasts show negative economic growth of 2-4 per cent in 2007, mainly from the decline in tourism. RBF governor Savenaca Narube also confirmed in his latest statement that the key industries of sugar, fishing, forestry, agriculture and mining were also faring badly.

Government budgets are being shrunk and each day brings news of sackings from the public sector. But the finance minister, Mahendra Chaudry, who was himself overthrown as PM in a previous coup, is using the crisis to create a new future for Fiji based on an open economy.

At the weekend, he revealed a programme to remove all state business monopolies, notably in aviation, electricity, telecommunications and television. The companies affected are Telecom Fiji, Fiji Electricity Authority, Fiji Television and Air Pacific.

Quoting from the Rogernomics textbook, he promised a better deal for consumers from greater competition and choice. This is radical stuff for a nation in the Pacific, where land ownership remains largely communal and therefore is unlikely to attract the kind of investment or productivity that can take agricultural output to its full potential.
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