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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The Real World Survivor Fiji – No Civilian Rule

Commander Frank Bainimarama toppled elected Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase in a bloodless coup on Dec. 5, claiming Qarase's largely indigenous government was corrupt and too soft on those responsible for the previous coup in 2000. Image Credit: fijivillage

The Real World Survivor Fiji – No Civilian Rule

Back in early December 2006, the military commander of Fiji (Commodore Frank Bainimarama) decided that the legally elected Government of Fiji wasn’t handling affaires to his liking – so, he ordered the military to take over the Government and oust the Prime Minister.

Since this event, Fiji’s economy has plummeted, the country has been suspended from its participation in networking trade organizations, and the coup has been roundly rejected by the United Nations and Fiji’s neighbors.

The latest development of this coup saga has the now Interim Prime Minister Commodore Frank Bainimarama, stating that he would retain both the Interim PM and Commander's positions to ensure that the interim government's mandate is properly implemented - Government and Military as one.

Further, “He” had laid out a "road map" to democracy which included plans for a constitutional review, a census of Fiji's 900,000 people and an examination of electoral boundaries in the next two years.

"Under this roadmap, Fiji will be ready for a general election and a full restoration of parliamentary democracy in 2010," Interim Prime Minister Commodore Frank Bainimarama said in a statement.

Excerpts from a posting at fijivillage -

Commander Has No Faith in Civilian Rule, Will Remain Interim PM
By fijivillage - Feb 21, 2007, 12:53

According to the Pacific Islands Forum Eminent Persons Group report obtained by Village News, Commodore Bainimarama has said the RFMF holds the view that it does not have confidence in any civilian authority to conduct the exercise unsupervised.

While the EPG has said that the December 5th takeover was unlawful and the Commander should vacate the position of Interim PM, it also said that it recognizes that the legality of the events must ultimately be determined by the court of law and the EPG does not presume to preempt such decisions.

The report also states that the EPG heard conflicting opinions on the level of support for the interim government and the ousted government. It said that the support for the ousted government amongst the Indigenous Fijians reportedly remains strong while the interim government seems to have gained support among other communities.

The EPG report also said with the national census, review of the constituency boundaries, voter education and registration and the implementation of an electronic voting system, the interim government believes that the next elections could be held within three to five years.

The EPG said it recognizes that political issues in Fiji are complex and have a long history but it has restricted its report to the key events immediately leading up, or directly relevant to the events of 5th December 2006 and since.

In its recommendation, the Eminent Persons Group clearly states that the next democratically elected government of Fiji should be encouraged to examine the roots of Fiji's coup culture and the steps that need to be taken to eradicate it.
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