Cogito, ergo sum. I think, therefore I am. (René Descartes, mathematician and philosopher,1599-1650)

Saturday 30 May 2009

(o+) The 55+ Retirement Age, the Fiji National Provident Fund, and Pensions

As with most Government announcements these days, the decree making 55 the compulsory retirement age (except in some circumstances) is seen by some as a diabolical act with horrendous consequences. This post seeks to provide a more balanced account.

Government says the move is to save Government expenditure by reducing the size of an over-heavy civil service; create job opportunities for some of Fiji's 1,000 unemployed graduates and other young unemployed people, and encourage some of those retiring to start their own business or otherwise enter the private sector. A Fiji Times editorial on March 15 agreed with the Government decision.

Anti-Government Bloggers, however, say the money saved will be spent on the military, and the decree will be used as a way of getting rid of civil servants the Government does not like. NZ Public Service Association Nat.Sec. Richard Wagstaff, who lives in a country with longer life expectancies and far lower levels of unemployment, says it's a "deplorable" move that discriminates against age and breaches fundamental human rights. [I wonder who thought his opinion relevant to Fiji?]

Some Government opponents have also expressed concern that the Fiji National Provident Fund could be bankrupted, not just by the retirees claiming their pensions, but because nominees of an "unelected military clique" have taken over the FNPF and, apart from general mismanagement, are using the funds to service recurrent government expenditure and debt, military over-spending, and unwise investments such as the purchase of BP Pacific and several tourist ventures - the Natadola and Momi developments, and the restoration of the historic Grand Pacific Hotel in Suva. The Fiji Times "circling wolves" cartoon (above) neatly summarizes this view.

Prof. Waden Narsey wrote of "people's life savings being under threat." This, and the fact that commercial banks, unlike the FNPF, had "wisely" decided not to lend to Government, is one of the points in Professor Wadan Narsey's Fiji Times May 13 article "Coup Wolves Circling FNPF." Unfortunately, the FNPF was not invited to respond. Instead, it was obliged to take out a full page advertisement to respond to Narsey's attack.

Prof. Narsey saw "nothing wrong per se with FNPF financing the Fiji government's budget deficit" but with an unelected government in place "we are unlikely to see the required economic growth, income and increased tax revenues, which could repay the loan. All that is likely to happen is an increase in the money supply, increased imports, reduced foreign reserves, bigger public debt, and an upward pressure on inflation." The FNPF replied that it was not the normal function of private banks to lend to governments; that budget deficits are often used in recessionary times to stimulate economic growth; the Funds bond investments were earning more than the inflation rate; that the FNPF cannot become insolvent because, unlike banks, there cannot be a "run" on its money, and that it always has significant cash reserves. The Fund is thought to have assets worth more than $F3 billion. Readers wishing to follow these arguments further are referred to the Fiji Times and FNPF links above.

For the record, the FNPF was established in 1966 to provide financial security for workers when they retired aged 55 (sic!) Membership is compulsory for state sector employees who contribute 8% of their wages or salaries to which Government adds another 8%, and interest accrues to these contributions. As of June 2005 there were 317,000 members and 9,000 pensioners whose average monthly pension was $F372. Since 1976 members have been able to opt for a single or joint (with spouse) pension in lieu of a lump sum payment. The average single pension was $F407 and the joint pension $F322.

The 55-year old pensioner living in rented or mortgaged housing in Suva, with no other savings and with dependent children, will certainly not be well off, but he or she will be much better off than the female garment worker earning less than a dollar an hour; the estimated one-in-three people in Fiji who are living in poverty -- and the many unemployed graduates without a job. There is no unemployment benefit in Fiji.

Friday 29 May 2009

Snippets: Police Brutality; ACP and Vanuatu Support; Fiji Live; Corruption Comment; I Sometimes Get it Wrong; My Biases


(o) Brutal Assault on Fellow Police Officer
In what looks like an initial revenge assault followed up by sheer police brutality, Police Officer Raj Shavendra Prasad was so badly beaten up by assailants, including senior police officers, during the weekend of 16-17 May, that he spent six days in hospital. Coupfourpointfive understands that he has received a letter terminating his police appointment and, despite a magistrate ordering the assault be investigated, no investigation has yet been made by the police. For a full account and disturbing photos of Prasad's injuries, click here.

The incident has nothing to do with the political situation or with race (both Fijian and Indo-Fijian officers were involved in the assault) but in not insisting the incident be made public and in abolishing the Fiji Human Rights Commission, Government must assume some responsibility. The abolition of the FHRC means there is now no avenue for complaint against government servants unless a complainant can afford to take his or her case to court. Government can ill afford such a situation to continue if if wishes to "win the hearts and minds." In this case, Prasad should be granted leave on full pay and the senior officers allegedly involved should be suspended until the case is fully investigated. If found guilty, they should be dishonourably dismissed from the service as an example to others -- and as evidence that this Government means business when it talks about justice. P.S. June 10 2009. Coupfourpointfive reports the officer has been reinstated. No explanation was given.

(o+) Bainimarama at ACP Meeting, Appeal Supported by Vanuatu
Radio Fiji reports that PM Bainimarama addressed the 89th ACP Council of Ministers on Thursday. He told the Council of the necessity of Abrogating the 1997 Constitution following the Appeal Court ruling on April 9th. There was no other way of continuing the reforms "supported by a maajority of Fiji's population" encapsulated in the People's Charter for Change, Peace and Progress. He again called on ACP and the EU to assist Fiji "to bring about a lasting resolution to the political situation in Fiji and support the implementation of the necessary reforms for the welfare and economic wellbeing of the people." [See "Background Material", left column, for his full address.]

The PM's statement was supported at the Council by the Foreign Minister for Vanuatu, Bakoa Kaltongga, further demonstrating that not all members of the PI Forum support the inflexible "do this or else" approach of Australia and New Zealand in dealing with the Fiji situation. PI Forum countries who have called, or who more recently have called, for dialogue with Fiji include PNG, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Kiribati, Tuvalu and Tonga.

(-) Fiji Live Off- and On-line
This on-line news service mysteriously went off-line yesterday, to resume today with no explanation offered. Bloggers think the situation was caused by Government censors who objected to photos Fiji Live had published of an incident involving a bomb scare hoax in Suva. Fiji Live is the one service that has continued to supply some news of politically-related incidents since the mainstream media, and particularly the Fiji Times, objected to censorship as authorised under the Emergency Regulations.

My own view is that Government is exceedingly unwise to persist with tactics that can only encourage the spread of rumours to which it cannot respond. Some accommodation with the media is urgently needed.

(o-)My Recent Posting on Corruption
Readers are urged to read comments to postings by clicking the very small "comment" at the bottom of each posting. Special attention is drawn to Jon's valuable comment on my recent corruption posting.

... and I Sometimes Get it Wrong, and I'm Baised
Readers are also reminded that the symbols (+, -, o, etc., see Notices at the bottom of the page) indicate pro-, anti-, neutral positions towards the Interim Government. This is the only blog to signal likely bias, and one of the few to publish informative, reasoned commentary, on the Fiji political situation. But, of course, I don't always get it right, and I'm limited in my ability to check the validity of all sources.

I also have my own biases. I sometimes give the Bainimarama team the benefit of too many doubts. I think NZers, our politicians and media, have too little knowledge of the Pacific. And I think NZ's policy is misguided and unhelpful, because it is too inflexible; it gives succour to the Fiji Government opponents, driving Bainimarama even deeper into a corner, and its influence internationally has helped cause a worsening of the situation in Fiji.

Thursday 28 May 2009

(+) Corruption Charges Proceed

A little reported event in early May was the three-day visit to Fiji of a UN delegation there to assess Fiji’s compliance with the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC). The team is reported to have said the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC) showed promise and needs government support.

Papua New Guinea and Australia are also parties to UNCAC from the Pacific, but only Fiji has volunteered to be part of the pilot review programme.This is probably because getting rid of systematic corruption in the civil service was a major reason given for the 2006 military takeover.

Government opponents have ridiculed this motive, and made much of FICAC's lack of success in obtain convictions against those charged with corruption. As previously stated, this an incredibly difficult task without forensic accountants, that only countries like NZ could have supplied. But last week (22 May) we reported on one case under the heading "Corruption Charges and Pitiful Waste."Since then charges have been laid against a Cakaudrove Provincial counsellor for allegedly receiving a four-wheel drive vehicle in exchange for supporting a contractor's bid for major roadworks. And today's Fiji Sun reports an FICAC application for a retrial against former Fiji Ports Corporation Limited chairman, Sialeni Vuetaki, who allegedly approved payment of $177,000 to the Ports CEO without authority of the Board or Higher Salaries Commission.

The Government entity most charged with corruption is the Ministry of Works (the old PWD) where over $300,000 has been allegedly misappropriated. In the past two years 27 employees have been dismissed for various offences and a further 12 employees are under investigation. The Ministry investigation team, working in cooperation with the FICAC, thinks there has been a drastic reduction in corrupt practices and believes that by the end of this year it can confidently claim to have curbed corrupt practices. Fiji Daily Post. For further information about FICAC and its website, click here.


Wednesday 27 May 2009

(o) Fiji's New Legal Decree Shares Much with Australian States' Practice


[This post looks at what one blogsite said was said about the new Legal Practitioners Decree, what was actually said, how the decree compares with the practice in some Australian states, and what the decree might - and might not- mean for Fiji. It is written because people in Fiji need a more balanced assessment and because more uninformed comment will soon reach the international media, if it has not already done so.]

There's more than a semantic difference between the Coupfourpointfive headline "Australia Law Council Condemns New Decree" and what Coupfourpointfive wrote on what ALC President John Corcoran actually said. He is reported to have expressed "grave concerns about the future independence of the legal profession in Fiji after the interim Government yesterday issued a decree removing the Law Society’s power to issue practicing certificates ...this could be the first step in the interim government's attempts to control the country's legal profession, by not allowing lawyers who oppose the regime to practise law." These are legitimate but worst scenario concerns about what the decree might mean in the future; not what it actually means now. The difference is important.

Corcoran was also concerned there was "no prior consultation with the Fiji Law Society or Fiji’s legal profession." Had FLS-Government relationship been better, there might have been consultation but with the FLS still urging lawyers not to take up appointments as judges, consultation was unlikely. However, a number of lawyers must have been consulted, if only to write the decree. Corcoran's main concern is one we all share: “Without an independent legal profession, a vital ingredient in upholding the rule of law in Fiji would be missing."

But he did not -- and indeed could not -- condemn the decree provisions because justice does not simply hinge on a law society with compulsory membership that registers lawyers and hears public complaints against fellow lawyers-- as the different systems operating in Australian states demonstrate.

Australian Comparisions*
In Western Australia, for example, membership of the Law Society is voluntary, a Legal Practice Board registers lawyers and a separate Professional Affairs Committee hears public complaints, (whereas in NSW, Victoria and Queensland the Legal Service Commissions hears complaints.) Membership of the WA Legal Practice Board (that registers lawyers) consists of the Attorney-General, the Solicitor-General (both government positions), Queen's and Senior Counsel, and 12 legal practitioners elected by all registered lawyers.

In Victoria the Legal Services Board consists of a Chairperson and three lay persons, nominated by the Attorney-General and appointed by the Governor in Council, and three legal practitioners elected by lawyers on the Board's electoral roll.

The Law Institute (similar to Fiji Law Society)is a separate body with voluntary membership to which the Board has delegated the responsibilities(to act "of behalf of the Legal Services Board") of issuing and renewing practicing certificates, maintaining the registers of legal practitioners and disciplinary action."

So, depending on the State, a law society may have nothing directly to do with lawyer registrations and complaints but it may be delegated one or both responsibilities. Law society membership is voluntary. All its members may have a say in its delegated responsibilities, or these may be decided on by a vote of all registered lawyers, whether or not they are members of the society.

Perhaps more important, the Attorney-General is the ex officio Chairperson or member of the Legal Service Board and in one of the two states the A-G appoints other members of the Board.

* I am not a lawyer but this is my understanding as obtained from the relevant official websites.See also my previous post : The Legal Practitioners Decree 2009: Fact and Opinion.

Monday 25 May 2009

(o+) The Legal Practitioners Decree 2009: Facts, Opinions

A new Presidential decree, the Legal Practitioners Decree 2009, makes the Registrar of the High Court responsible for the registration of lawyers, and complaints by members of the public will be dealt with by a new Independent Legal Commission. These roles had been the responsibility of the Fiji Law Society from 1996 to 2009. All legal practitioners will need to re-apply for their practicing certificates with the Chief Registrar before their licences expire on June 30th.

Details of the decree differ in detail from previous media reports and blog speculations that had the Attorney-General responsible for these two functions, and the disbandment of the Fiji Law Society. The Decree sets out the establishment and continuation of the Society but with voluntary membership. Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said the role of investigating complaints against lawyers was given to the new Independent Legal Commission following public complaints of delays when investigated by the FLS.

The decree also helps explain why the Registrar of the High Court took files which contained complaints against lawyers from the FLS offices last Saturday. Sayed-Khaiyum said FLS secretary, Afrana Nisha, "was shown the decree, handed over the keys of the office and practically went down herself to show the Chief Registrar and her officers where the files were." It was not true that she had been forced to hand over the complaint files, as claimed.

Earlier, another judge, Justice John Bryne, was sworn in by the President and reappointed to the Fiji High Court. There are now four High Court judges, and the Court was reopened today. Further appointments to the judiciary are expected soon. Sittings of the Fiji Court of Appeal and Supreme Court have been rescheduled to the end of the year.

NZ Lawyer Reactions to the Decree


John Marshall QC, of the NZ Law Society said: “In New Zealand, the Law Society issues practicing certificates to lawyers. The Fiji Law Society has done the same for the last 12 years. We are very concerned to learn that the Fiji Government, through the Chief Registrar, will now decide who should hold a practicing certificate.

But, according to fellow lawyer and former MP Stephen Franks, this is not quite accurate. He also is concerned about the new decree but writes: "The NZ government in 2006 took over control of lawyer registration and discipline in New Zealand. So the NZLS can’t match Peter Williams QC’s claim that the Fiji legal system is now like that of Hitler’s Germany. Peter explained that the Fiji government will now control even the Society’s handling of complaints about lawyers by the government itself. That’s been the case in NZ since the 2006 Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006 came into effect last year."

So, it seems the decree and new judicial appointment do not of themselves mean the end of an independent judiciary in Fiji. Different countries have different systems, and they change over time : the FLS's authorities only date back to 1996. Was there no justice before then?

What is important is that the judiciary must impart justice fairly and be seen to do so.
The implementation of the new decree, and the judgments of judges, will be closely watched.


(o) "Michael Field, Pacific Journalist"


This once respected journalist on Pacific Affairs seems bent on destroying his own reputation for independent, informed and balanced commentary by a stream of one-sided, highly personalised articles on Fiji. He also seems to have launched himself on a personal crusade against Bainimarama.

Witness, for example, his latest comment "Warrant to Arrest:Fiji." This could have been an informed account of the Fiji Registrar of the High Court taking files from the offices of the Fiji Law Society. It could also, legitimately, have used words such as "raided," "seized," "in plain clothes," and linked the incident to post-Abrogration clamp downs, including Government's surprise last-minute cancellation of Mahendra Chaudhry's meeting with cane farmer unionists in Labasa, reported on Coupfourpointfive. With Field's past knowledge of Fiji and Chaudhry, his opinions on possible reasons for this cancellation, and the one earlier in Lautoka, could have left us better informed on the intricacies and minefields of Fiji politics.

Instead, he starts his "comment" with a hyperbolic comparison between Bainimarama and Burmese generals, Robert Mugabe and Augusto Pinocet, dictators responsible for the deaths of many thousands. He then proceeds to warn Bainimarama, who like Pinochet apparently also suffers a heart condition, that he may soon be unable to travel overseas for treatment. These -- one would think irrelevant -- side swipes lead to an short account of the Court Registrar, Ana Rokomakoti, uplifting Fiji Law Society records for investigation. Field claimed to know she had no valid search warrant, and seemed to infer that because she was an army lawyer she should not also be the Registrar. This is an important story that may (or may not) be further evidence of unnecessary (or necessary) Government clamp-downs, Fiji Law Society intransigence, or both or neither. The opportunity was lost. Field preferred venom to vigour.

Here are three examples of the sort of argument and language he used. "She does this, nominally at least, as Registrar of the High Court. But no one is overlooking the fact that she is a Major in the Fiji Military and is subservient to its head, the self appointed dictator of Fiji ..."

"When the military are raiding lawyers, there is no justice left ..."

"... sending some major into lawyers’ offices is military routine."

Read the whole article on Field's website or on Intelligentsiya's blog.

This man, with many years of Pacific experience, produces a warped view of an important event, and not for the first time. Last year the NZ Broadcasting Standards Authority agreed his comments against then Fiji attorney-general Christopher Pryde on a March 7 broadcast were an "uneducated, ill-informed, deeply biased, unbalanced, and false account of recent events in Fiji." For more such comments, most of which contain highly personal, insulting, and one would think libellous remarks about almost every current pro-Government figure, click this page of his website.

This is what he says about himself in his blog (my underlining):

"Published author on the Pacific, including the definitive account on Samoa’s independence struggle and Fiji ’s coup culture.

Radio New Zealand National Radio commentator on Pacific affairs and sought by international media for an intimate knowledge of the history, politics, characters and issues of the region.

It is not a pleasant task pulling someone down from their former high heights, but New Zealanders need to be better served by their journalists if they are ever to understand even a little of what is happening in Fiji. Field's personal attacks on individuals may befit a blogger, but not a responsible journalist.

P.S. Please click on the comments from Alterego criticizing parts of this post. The photo above is the "real" Mr Field. Thanks, Alterego.

(o) ACP "Concerned ...Calls for Inclusive Political Dialogue"

The Committee of Ambassadors of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States has issued a statement on the political situation in Fiji, in which it expressed serious concern about recent events and called "for the opening and strengthening of inclusive political dialogue with all parties concerned with a view to quickly restoring constitutional order and holding democratic elections as soon as practically possible."

The announcement, while expected, will come as a disappointment to Government, and PM Bainimarama who attended a ACP meeting in Guyana and an ACP-EU meeting in Brussels in the hope of achieiving a more favourable outcome, particularly with regards to EU aid to the Fiji sugar industry and subsidised sugar exports to EU countries

(-) Sydney Fijians March Against Bainimarama Government

Sunday's march in Sydney against the Interim Government, organized by the Fiji Democracy and Freedom Movement, attracted a crowd of between "more than 150" (Sydney Morning Herald) and "up to 500" (the FFDM website, under the heading Fiji Democracy Marchers Bring Sydney Traffic to a Standstill.)

Marchers were addressed by Ballu Khan, NZ-resident businessman, Pramod Rae, National Federation Party, and Ted Young, a former minister in the Qarase Government. Marchers urged Australia to put more pressure on Fiji so that it will "return to democracy."

Sunday 24 May 2009

(o) Wherefore Art Thou Romeo? The Non-Specific Mr Smith

I wasn't going to report this item. In terms of substance it contained nothing new. But I changed my mind when I reflected on the lack of substance, the choice of words, and learnt more about the speaker.

ABC Online reports that Australia's Foreign Minister Stephen Smith (photo) says Australia is prepared for the "long, hard, tough battle" to restore Fiji to democratic rule. "We will do everything we can to return Fiji to democracy and we'll do that in conjunction in the Pacific. We'll also do it in conjunction with our friends in the Commonwealth."

Curious to know more of the Minister's background, I visited his ministry's website to learn what he knew about foreign affairs, the Pacific and Fiji. Mr Smith, a lawyer from Perth, Western Australia, has at various times been the Australian Labor Party's shadow minister of Trade, Resources and Energy, Communications, Health, Immigration, Industry and Infrastructure, Industrial Relations, and Education and Training! A long, varied list but he appears to have no expertise in foreign affairs. [This reminds me of many years ago when a NZ PM, struggling to establish the credentials of his pakeha (European) Minister of Maori Affairs, could only drum up: "He went to school with Maoris!" Sorry. I couldn't resist that.] In fairness to Australia, NZ Foreign Minister Murray McCully, also a lawyer, is no better qualified.

In both countries there seems to be be an unfortunate gap between the hands-on ("been there; done that") knowledge of the Ministers and their presumably better informed advisers.

Australian Aid to Fiji 2009-10

Australia, whose policy continue to cause severe economic damage to Fiji, paradoxically is offsetting some of this damage with its ongoing aid programme, although it accepts no responsibility for Fiji's plight and passes blame (in rugby it's called a hospital pass) totally onto the 2006 Coup and the global recession.

RealFijiNews (a pro-Government blog) reports:

"Australia’s aid to Fiji for the 2009-10 year is increasingly focused on mitigating the economic and social impacts of the 2006 coup and the global economic recession on the ordinary people of Fiji, according to Australia’s Counsellor for Pacific Development Co-operation, Judith Robinson, speaking in Labasa. The aid ... estimated at $48 million in 2009-10 ... will be directed at maintaining essential health and education services, and small and medium enterprise development, including contributing to efforts to make financial services available to the wider population, in particular poorer rural areas."

Australia previously gave $3million in flood relief, and "$A895,000 has been allocated to the agriculture sector for the procurement of vegetable seedlings, provision of veterinary antibiotics to prevent disease outbreaks amongst livestock herd, clearing debris from farms, improvement to on-farm infrastructure such as farm sheds and repair of farm access roads and irrigation ... As much as possible, Australia’s aid to Fiji seeks to make a practical difference to people’s lives. For example, through the National Centre for Small and Micro Enterprise Development, 20 new small businesses were started as a result of income generation training” said Ms Robinson.

The aid, of course, does nothing for Fiji's two largest industries, tourism and sugar production, the two industries that Australian political policies have helped undermine. This is not to denigrate aid, but bitsy, piecemeal, micro aid policies "tread water": they never resolve the bigger problems caused by rich-poor nation inequalities.

Saturday 23 May 2009

NOTICE: A "Must" Read on the Cafe Pacific Blog

Readers are urged to visit David Robie's blog Cafe Pacific to read "A Case for Change, Peace and Progress," a report by someone who attended the meeting hosted by Victoria University at which Jone Dakuvula and John Samy shared and receive audience feedback on their views.

Also, click here to read Samy's full address. This is an extremely important paper, detailing work on the NCBBF, the People's Charter, "promises" to the PI Forum about elections, and NZ Australia, SDL, Methodist heirarchy, and mainstream media opposition to the Interim Government's moves. I have also placed it among "Background Material."

(o+) Justice Gates's Moral Dilemma

A moral or ethical dilemma is a situation that often involves an apparent conflict between moral imperatives, in which to obey one would result in transgressing another. Resolving moral dilemmas is seldom simple.

I think Anthony Gates faced such a dilemma before accepting his reappointment as Chief Justice. Having once stated that the 1997 Constitution was Fiji's supreme law and only Parliament had the power to amend laws, his reappointment now rests on a Presidential decree and the Abrogation of the Constitution. The blog Coupfourpointfive and some other commentators whose opinions I respect question his motives.

But what does CJ Gates himself say? Speaking on the afternoon of his reappointment the Fiji Sun reports him as saying “There is no doubt in my mind that the judiciary must continue. Academic commentators may expatiate on the indelicacies of our situation, the constitutional dislocation itself, the present impossibility of constitutional compliance over appointments and many other niceties. What is of far greater significance is that the judges must act as judges. They need no other command. They must do the right thing. Few if any judges throughout the world will ever have to face the dilemmas we shall face; to be intellectually honest and yet to be efficacious."

“The task ahead for those judicial officers who have agreed to serve again will not be easy.They are to be commended for their courage and for their determination to continue to provide judicial services to the people of Fiji. I know that others will come forward to serve as judges, indeed some have already so offered. In time the judiciary will prosper and an adequate number of judges will be available and appointed. Some will come from Fiji and some from overseas.”

Fiji Village
further reports him asking what would happen if Fiji has no judges, and why no one* (see footnote) questioned the legality or validity of the court rulings after the 1987 coup. Asking whether the right decision had been made, he said he has been through five coups in Fiji and he truly believes that the judiciary has to continue operating for the people of Fiji. Judges must act as judges and the judiciary has to continue with its work. He said he was confident that Fiji's judiciary would prosper and the right thing to do in this case is to ensure that the judiciary continues functioning.

Fiji Daily Post reported him adding that in the 1987 coup most of the magistrates and judges refused to swear an oath of allegiance in new order. He now believed judges like himself who refused to swear an oath of allegiance after the 1987 coup were mistaken. They would have done better to have continued to serve and play a crucial role in Fiji. “That is why I and others have decided to stay on and why I believe more should in time offer their services both from within the Fiji Bar and from overseas to re-create the Fiji judiciary.”

The interview with CJ Gates was reported by the Fiji Sun, Fiji Village and Fiji Daily Post. Unless I am mistaken, the prestigious Fiji Times made no report of the interview, presumably in protest against media censorship. But, having criticized CJ Gates in the past, they surely should have given him a "right of reply."

Victor Lal, writing in the blog Raw Fiji News, makes an important point: "The people of Fiji will only have trust in the judiciary if Gates is willing to go on record to state that the courts must be allowed to hear legal challenges to the Presidential decrees, actions and appointments. If not, the Fiji judiciary will be nothing but a mere rubber stamp of the illegal regime – with Gates as its master puppeteer and Pathik, Goundar and other judges likely to crawl out of the gutter as his orchestra."

I would not go that far. Given the present Fiji situation, litigation on the legality or otherwise of the President's decrees is better left until after a new democratically elected government is formed. Now, more than ever, calmer conditions are needed to get the opposing sides to talk with each other. But litigation on alleged abuses of human rights arising from the decrees should be allowed -- and it would increase the CJ's mana if he said so, or at least worked behind the scenes to ensure justice is done in these cases.

* In fact, many questioned the court rulings. I think Gates means "no one who supported the 1987 coups."

(o) Judiciary Begins to Return to "Normal"

New Zealander Anthony Gates (photo) has been reappointed as Chief Justice and Davendra Pathik and Daniel Gounder as puisne judges. Sosefo Inoke is a newly appointed puisne judge to the High Court. Lawyer Mary Muir has joined eight other magistrates sworn in earlier in the week. [For negative and possibly libellous-by-inference profiles of the appointees, obtained from unnamed "legal sources," see Coupfourpointfive.]

The country’s high courts have been out of session since April 10, when all judicial appointments were revoked as a result of the Abrogation of the 1997 Constitution. More judicial appointments are expected to be made soon. Nazhat Shameem, former Director of Public Prosecutions and Fiji's first female judge, has so far not been reappointed.Click here for full report.

Meanwhile,blog Coupfourpointfive reports in "Lawyers Put Pressure on Naidu" that some Western Division lawyers are urging Fiji Law Society President Dorsami Naidu to allow lawyers to be appointed as judges, but Naidu has refused to change his stance.

Prior to the Abrogation of the 1997 Constitution, the FLS was represented on the Judicial Service Commission on whose recommendations the President appointed judges, magistrates, justices of the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court, and the Chief Justice. As reported earlier, the FLS is also likely to lose its role as the licencing authority of lawyers. This function is likely to be taken over by the Attorney-General. To more fully understand the significance of these changes, readers are urged to read my May 10th post, "How Independent is the Judiciary?" --Post based on FijiLive and Fiji Times releases.

Friday 22 May 2009

(o+) Corruption Charges and Pitiful Wastage

STOP PRESS.
"According to a Fiji Sun article, additional corruption charges also have been filed against the former General Manager of Native Lands Trust Board (NLTB)Kalivati Bakani and former permanent secretary for the Infrastructure and Public Utilities Ministry, Anasa Vocea."
Source http://stuckinfijimud.blogspot.com/


Corruption and gross Government inefficiency were among the reasons given by Bainimarama for the 2006 Coup, and many in Fiji were supporters of his "Clean Up" campaign.

The Fiji Independent Commission against Corruption (FICAC) was established soon after the coup but unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your viewpoint) no charges of major corruption (and certainly none involving major players) have yet been proved in the courts, much to the apparent delight of Government opponents who claimed the campaign was merely an excuse for the coup. They conveniently forgot that instances of corruption were common knowledge and even the Fiji Times had accused the Qarase Government of "rampant corruption".

Bringing offenders to justice, however, has proved difficult for a government lacking forensic accountants, and exposing corruption has also proved difficult for a media lacking investigative journalists.


Rewa Provincial Council Former Head on Corruption Charges

The appearance today in the Nausori Magistrate Court of Savenaca Kamikamica, former Roko Tui Rewa (the executive head of the powerful Rewa Provincial Council) on corruption charges is therefore of major interest. He was detained under a Bench Warrant arrest because he had failed to appear in court for another matter, and charged by the FICAC of obtaining goods by false pretense. The charges alleged that in December 2005 he obtained goods from Suncourt Hardware under the pretence that they were for the Rewa Provincial Council Office under the Development Assistance Scheme,when in fact they were for his personal use.

Kamikamica pleaded not guilty and was released on a $3000 bail. The case has been adjourned till July 1st. Kamikamica is also facing another charge of larceny by servant. The judge agreed with FICAC Prosecutor Paul Madigan that bail conditions state he is not to interfere with the witnesses,surrender all travel documents, and pay an additional . $5000 bail fee. For the full report, click here.

Cakaudrove Provincial Council Report Wastage of Public Money

The Fiji Times, in an article "Aid in Ruin: Projects in Waste Four Year On" by journalist Theresa Ralogaivau, reports on another unrelated but relevant situation.

At yesterday's meeting the Cakaudrove Provincial Council was informed that project material provided by the Qarase Government under the Development Assistance Scheme that its office manages -- $100,000 annually -- "such as bags of cement, concrete blocks and pipes [intended for flush toilets and footpaths] are eventually reduced to ruin in the rain and sun, four years after they were first supplied to the village[s]."

The Commissioner Northern said it's a "sad waste materials for flush toilet projects at some villages were not used;" the Council chairman said the squandering of materials would only make it difficult for villagers to secure funds for future development; and a Council member thought the wastage "just [sic!] a reflection of poor leadership at village level..."

The situation, thought not to be confined to Cakaudrove, highlights the sorts of wastage of Government money under one of the affirmative action schemes promoted by the Qarase Government. Such schemes are needed, but people "redirecting" public money such as Kamikameca (if he is found guilty); and people, at all levels of central and provincial council administration, who are not doing their job to see that public money is not wasted, should be brought to account.

Responsibility starts at the top. It will be interesting to see if the present Government is any more successful in stopping such wastages than its predecessor.

(o) Fiji Troops to Stay: UN


Fiji Sun reports that Fiji soldiers used by the UN in countries like Iraq will not have their contracts terminated as was hoped by former UN Sec.Gen. Kofi Annan, and numerous opponents of the Fiji Government who were concerned about UN moneys being paid to Fiji for the use of its soldiers. The announcement was made by UN Peacekeeping Chief Alain Le Roy who said, “Fijians are needed in Iraq.” The UN was working out ways to replace them but no other country wanted to take up the posting.

The announcement will be a relief to the many Fiji military families that rely on wages and remittances from their sons and husbands.

Thursday 21 May 2009

(o-) NGOs Concerned About Presidential Appeal Limitations on Abuses of Human Rights


Several Presidential decrees gazetted since the Abrogation of the 1997 Constitution are causing concern to human rights organizations in Fiji.

The decrees include the assumption of Executive Authority by the President in which he appointed himself Head of State until a Parliament is elected in accordance with a Constitution yet to be adopted (by the people of Fiji in such manner as the Government of Fiji may in the future determine); his powers to appoint a Prime Minister by decree, appoint other ministers on the advice of the Prime Minister, make laws “for the peace, order and good government of Fiji by decree in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister and Cabinet; the Emergency Regulations, and the revocation of all appointments to the country’s judiciary.

The most recent decree is on the Fiji Human Rights Commission.Under this decree the commission is to educate the public about human rights, but is not to receive complaints to investigate or question the legality of the abrogation of the 1997 constitution or other presidential decrees. This latter provision is in line with similar limitations placed on earlier decrees.

Tupou Vere, Director of the Pacific Resource Concerns Centre, "question[s] what’s the point of having a human rights commission in the country when any semblance of human rights is virtually nil. At the moment in Fiji when we have decrees such as this one, we don’t see any relevance of having any mechanism, a human rights institution in the country.”

Akuila Yabaki, CEO of the Citizens’ Constitutional Forum (photo), describes the curtailment of its status and powers as "unfortunate," but reminds citizens the international human rights mechanisms can still be utilised under the various human rights declarations and conventions. Yabaki called on the Caretaker Government to restore the 1997 Constitution and>the judiciary, so that those arrested or detained under the State of Emergency regulations have a chance of fair treatment from the law.

“The decree prevents the FHRC from receiving complaints against, investigating, questioning or challenging the legality or validity of any Decrees made by the President. It is interfering with the independence of the FHRC,” he said. “The FHRC will now be unable to perform the key role of acting as a watchdog of the government as it is no longer allowed to make recommendations on the implications of any proposed law or policy that may affect human rights. However, Fiji’s government is still accountable to the international human rights bodies and has obligations to protect and respect core human rights and provide progress reports to the international community represented by the various treaty bodies. Fiji, as a member of the international community and a recipient of aid money, has obligations to uphold core human rights. Concerned citizens can still utilise the international mechanisms available – such as the reporting and complaints procedures available through the Optional Protocols and the UN Committees for human rights conventions and declarations.”

Rather less moderately, long-standing Government opponent Attar Singh, did not think the statement strong enough: "Is this all that can be said about it particularly by an organisation funded by foreign funds? I would rather keep shut than to make such feeble attempt just to go on record."God save us! Thanks anyway and have a nice day. Attar."[Hmm!]
--Sources: FijiLive; CCF; Pacfemlinks.

Wednesday 20 May 2009

(o) Justice Needs to Be Seen to Be Done: Let Them Blog

Two partners in the law firm of Munro Leys, Richard Naidu and Jon Apted, have been taken in for questioning. Both have been associated with legal cases against the Government and Apted is a former Supervisor of Elections.They are alleged to have broken the Emergency Regulations by posted blogs on the anti-Government blog Raw Fiji News. Another anti-Government lawyer, Tevita Fa, has also been detained.

This news comes on the same day that Attorney-General Aiyaz Khaiyum announced a further delay in the appointment of new judges (they will appointed "in due course"); and deferment "until later in the year" of sittings of the Supreme and Appeals Courts. Only the lower, Magistrates Court, is functioning -- with one magistrate for each district!

It is over one month since April 10th when the Abrogation of the 1997 Constitution nullified judicial appointments -- far too long, in this writer's opinion, for the country to have in "incomplete" judiciary.

Earlier in the week, lawyer Niko Nawaikula, a former MP in the Qarase Government, struck the right chord. Many lawyers have refused to have anything to do with the Government since the Abrogation. But Nawaikula called on his colleagues to take up appointments to avoid further backlogs and to avoid further delays to justice.

For its part, Government needs to strike a similar chord by displaying "urgency" about judicial appointments and seeking some accommodation with the powerful Fiji Law Society that, incidentally, hopes to meet this week to discuss developments -- if it can obtain a permit to do so!

Government may have good cause for its actions, and inactions, but there is a far more compelling reason why it should ignore the bloggers, speed up the appointment of judges, and allow the FLS to meet. Government needs to quickly reassure the informed public that its own cause is just.

Justice needs to be seen to be done. Blanket clamp-downs convey the wrong message, and deprive Government of the feedback, advice and opinions it needs to achieve its longer-term goals. In today's Fiji, unrestrained opposition and totally gagged opposition are both equally unhealthy and equally dangerous.

Monday 18 May 2009

(o) Rudd and Key Should Call Bainimarama's Bluff & Visit Fiji

STOP PRESS NZ has removed its travel ban on Fiji sports teams.
All speakers on a Radio Australia programme agreed that Australia and New Zealand needed to change their approach to Fiji. Ati George Sokomanu, former Vanuatu President, thought PMs Rudd and Key needed to sit down with Bainimarama face-to-face over a bowl of kava. Bainimarama had earlier offered an open invitation to Rudd (photo R) and Key (L) to come to Fiji for talks. The offer should be take up. Others questioned were Bruce Haigh, former Australian diplomat (a "soft touch" is needed); Derek Brien, Deputy Executive Director of the Pacific Institute of Public Policy, and journalist Graham Davis. All agreed a more open and flexible approach is needed.

(o) Australian "Authority" on Lasaro Arrest

Dr Keith Suter of Macquarie University, billed as an authority on military governments, believes that the detention of Reverend Lasaro is a sign that the Fijian military regime is panicking.

He may well be correct but he seems ill-informed on the Methodist church and the Rev. Lasaro. Here are two extracts, followed by my comments, from his 15th May ABC interview:

Suter: "This [Lasaro's detention] is a very significant development because not only have they taken on a religious figure, but he is actually one of the most important religious figures in Fiji ... the Commodore is concerned that he's not enjoying the support of the [Methodist] religious leadership ..."

Walsh: It is important not to tar all the Methodist hierarchy with the same brush. Some, like Lasaro, supported the 1987 and 2000 coups, led by extreme Fijian and religious nationalists.These people opposed the 2006 military takeover that called for the equality of all races. Lasaro is an "important figure" but I doubt he has much support among moderate Methodists, and he was unsuccessful in his bid for President last year. Overseas Methodists would have difficulty reconciling the Methodist beliefs they know with the practices of Lasaro and his like.

A more "significant development" is the report that Lasaro was planning an anti-Government protest march, during a national state of emergency. Government also fears he may try to use the church's annual conference for political ends (see below).

Suter: "And in previous difficulties we've [sic!] had, the religious leaders have not been arrested in this way. So it does represent a new chapter in church-state relations in Fijian politics."

Walsh: There was no need to arrest them. They were prominent supporters, and it is highly likely Lasaro was directly involved in the planning of the 2000 coup.

The Methodist Annual Conference

The conference, from 18-29 August, will be attended by up to 10,000 people from all over Fiji. The venue, at Lomanikoro in Rewa province, could not be worse placed from Government's viewpoint. It lies at the heart of the Burebasaga confederacy headed by Ro Teimumu Kepa, a prominent member of the Great Council of Chiefs, former Minister of Education in the Qarase Government, chairperson of the Rewa Provincial Council, and a fierce opponent of Government. The combination of Lasaro and Ro Teimumu at a Conference of 10,000 -- and its proximity to Suva -- could provoke major political unrest. I would not be surprised if Government calls for its indefinite adjournment.

(o) How to Win Friends in Fiji: EU Cancelled Sugar Allocation Will Affect One-Third of the Population ... and Some


The European Union's 2009 Sugar Allocation for Fiji, worth €24 million (F$70m) has been cancelled. Commissioner Louis Michel said the cancellation was due to the "absence of any indications that a legitimate government will be in place in 2009."

The announcement came as PM Bainimarama, unaware of the announcement, left to attend a ACP (Asia-Caribbean-Pacific) ministerial conference on Sugar in Guyana, South America. Before leaving, the PM said he knows Australia and NZ are pushing hard to ensure Fiji is not assisted by the EU, the United Nations, the Commonwealth and the Asian Development Bank.

Australia, NZ and the US are reported to be talking about "targeted sanctions." Nearly one person in three in Fiji is involved in some way in the sugar industry. It is hoped the Australian, NZ and US aim will be more accurate than the Europeans -- or there will be no one left to aim at. I doubt any of them would try the same tactics on China.

Sunday 17 May 2009

(-) Anti-Government Bloggers Show Their True Colours

Readers unfamiliar with anti-government blogs could well make an exception and read three recent postings which say much about their thinking, and their concern for the ordinary people of Fiji.

Intelligentsiya seems delighted the EU has reaffirmed financial aid to Fiji is suspended. This is bad news for the tens of thousands of people dependent on the sugar industry.

Raw Fiji News welcomes the possible withdrawal of Forsters from the Fiji Stock Exchange. This will mainly affect the wealthy.

Most seriously, Fiji Uncensored, welcomes the prospect of a mass Methodist parade against the Government, and the horrific consequences this could bring. There are three posts "Maths and Methodists","March, at Any Cost?" and a report based on supposedly inside information, "Democracy Movement Says Army under Orders to Shoot Civilians," from the Australian-based Fiji Democracy and Freedom Movement website.

POSTSCRIPT.19 May 2009. I am assured by the author of the Fiji Uncensored post that he does not "welcome" the march and is fearful of the consequences should one take place. Click the Fiji Uncensored blog to see his comments and my reply.


Saturday 16 May 2009

(+) Government Helps Rotuma Development: Trade Links with Tuvalu



This week is an important one for Rotumans. Some 128 years ago, on May 13th, its chiefs ceded the island to Britain. The occasion was fully reported by the Fiji Times but there was only perfunctory mention of the island's export developments. Compare its report, that makes minimal comment on "positive" Government's role, with the exuberance of the Fiji Daily Post, and the comments made by Rotuman Maj.Gen. George Konrote. Click map to enlarge.

Fiji Times: Rotuma Builds Up to Export Market
Dalo, cassava and kumala will be among the first exports from Rotuma to Tuvalu expected to begin in July. And to boost capacity in the lead-up to that date, the Rotuma Island Council has been given $100,000. Commissioner Eastern Tomasi Tui, who is on the island at present, confirmed the grant would be used through the Rotuma Island Council. This after the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries recommended the council set up a business arm to, among other things, operate as an exporter and act as the agency for the trade between Rotuma and Tuvalu. Director of Quarantine Hirangi Foraete said the business arm would also help farmers obtain export licences.

Fiji Daily Post: My extracts from a larger report

Remote Rotuma (click map to enlarge), 465 km north of Fiji proper, with no significant exports other than people, is to open trade links with even more isolated Tuvalu, a country of eight almost soil-less low atolls, and one of the smallest members of the UN. The link has been made possible by a new Rotuma wharf, the declaration of Rotuma as an official port of entry, encouragement for a business arm of the Council of Rotuma, Agriculture Extension Division support to plan a consistent supply of dalo, tavioka and kumala, a Government $100,000 grant, and the construction of quarantine, immigration and customs offices and accommodation by the RFMF Engineers Corp.

Major General George Konrote, former Fiji High Commissioner to Australia and a former cabinet minister in the Qarase Government, speaking on behalf of the Council, told the visiting Government delegation that Rotuma was grateful for Government’s efforts to boost economic development on the island. “In just a short time span," he said, "the Government has turned its focus on Rotuma’s development and this can be seen through the number of commitments it has undertaken here ....Please convey to the Prime Minister our thanks and gratitude for all these developments.”

Information notes added by me
Rotuma,
a soil-rich volcanic island of about 43 km2, has a population of about 2,000 and a further 10,000 Rotumans live in Fiji proper. Prior to the 2006 Coup, the Council of Rotuma appointed three members of the Great Council of Chiefs and one member of Senate. Rotumans elected one communal MP, and shared an open electorate with Lau and Taveuni. The Council of Rotuma comprises two elected representatives and, ex officio, the traditional chief of each of its seven districts. Many Rotumans have occupied senior positions in government, the army, and the professions, and some, like Maj.Gen. Konrote, have retired to Rotuma. Others have been succesful in business (Walsh 2006). The deposed former Chief Justice Daniel Fatiaki was a Rotuman.

Tuvalu, independent since 1978, consists of nine atolls totalling 26 km2. The highest point above sea level is 5 metres. Its main island and capital is Funafuti. The population is 12,000, making it the third smallest members of the UN. With virtually no soil and limited crops of breadfruit and giant talo, the main sources of livelihood are fishing and remittances, $4 million in 2006. One in six adult men work on foreign ships. Other income comes from fisheries royalties, royalties from the lease of its ".tv" internet domain name ($US50 over 12 years), stamps, coins and very limited tourism. Substantial income, however, is received annually from the Tuvalu Trust Fund (TTF), established in 1987 by Australia, NZ, and the UK and supported also by Japan and South Korea. TFF,worth $77 million in 2006, supplements government budgets.

(+) Why Shouldn't the Government Have an Assured Media Presence?

Reactions to the Government announcement that it will start a TV channel and purchase pages in the Fiji Sun have, predictably, been blown out of proportion by journalists. They could, of course, be correct in seeing these ventures as 'sinister, 'a desperate act', and 'ruining this industry,' but it is just as likely that the Fiji Government wants to get its message across to the public, believing that, judging from the Fiji media's record, it is otherwise unlikely to be given a fair go.

Click here for the opinions of Australians Tim Pankhurst, Commonwealth Press Union's Media Freedom Committee, and deported Fiji Sun publisher Russell Hunter, RNZI interviewer Kerri Richie, and Government spokesman Neumi Leweni answering her questions.

The Government TV channel will be on air for seven hours a week. Fiji has one free-to-view channel, Sky Fiji's three channels, and Sky Pacific's umpteen channels. If viewers are bored or annoyed with what Pankhurst called 'government propaganda and material' they do have choices.

Government's up to 20 pages a week in the Fiji Sun is not a "takeover" as Hunter claims. They will be paid for, just like advertising and, as with the TV, readers have a choice. Fiji has three hard copy English language newspapers, and Fiji Live is available for those with computers.

Ritchie told Leweni "There's been criticism that by doing this, the Fijian interim government is using the media to push its own aims and objectives." Leweni said, "Well you tell me, you tell me.What other government doesn't? Australia has got Channel 7." Pankhurst had to agree: "all governments push their own viewpoint. Our Government does that with hordes of press secretaries and coms people, but at least here we have a free and rigorous media to balance that."

So what's wrong with a Government media presence? Australia does it, all governments do it, and it all may have been unnecessary had the media not been so anti-government in the first place. The media has rarely been a "rigorous" reporter of political events in Fiji; it has been key player. It has helped make Fiji the way it is now. And, arguably, the foreign media has been worse.

Friday 15 May 2009

(-+) Media Bias? Decide for Yourself: Two Reports on Development at Navai Village

Two journalists, Geraldine Panapasa from the Fiji Times and Robert Matau from Islands Business, both visited remote Navai village, close to Nadarivatu in upper Naitasiri, last week. They travelled together, listened and spoke to the same people, and wrote reports so different you'd wonder they were describing the same village. Geraldine's title "From Potatoes to Kava" dwells on landscape, social commentary and events in the 1960s and mid-1970s, with a some hints of government action and inaction in 2009. Robert's "Turning Nadarivatu into a Green Bowl" also has some "lighter" content but his main focus is on today's Government initiatives to foster green vegetables production and Navai development.

Compare also Geraldine's report of what villager Lepani Mudu had to say:

"Two years ago, the Minister for Agriculture, Jainend Kumar visited the village and told us he would provide assistance to help us with agriculture production for export ...Somewhere along the line, dirty politics prevented us from attaining a market for potato export," he claimed. "We were told our potatoes had insects and there was no market for it."

with Robert's report:

But one name they will never forget is that of the late Jainend Kumar, former interim agricultural minister, who tirelessly braved the highlands of Nadarivatu to help the farmers. It was on Kumar's insistence and foresight that a phoenix has now been resurrected from the so-called ashes in the highest plains of Viti Levu. "This is why this is our government. They have offered us an alternative in vegetable farming," said Mudu.

Geraldine wrote vaguely of "more government assistance." Robert wrote of the purpose of their journey, the Nadarivatu project: "... part of government's Import Substitution and Export Promotion Project to encourage farmers to increase production so that it does not have to spend millions to import vegetables from overseas. Government has provided capsicum, lettuce, English cabbage and tomato seeds to about 75 farmers in a bid to help them with food security as well as a source of livelihood.These farmers plant vegetables on 25 hectares of land in Navai and Nadrala and have recorded various results in harvesting but with high quality yields."We anticipate better production now that we have been promised the coolers," said Mudu.

Robert went on to describe Fiji's dependence on vegetable imports (F$218 million vegetables and vegetable products in 2008) and the importance of the Government project for the tourism industry. Geraldine wrote nothing on either. Whether her report had government-positive content edited out or whether this was just her style, there's no way of knowing, but there's no doubt which report is more informative.

I shall provide a Rotuma example of Government development initiatives and further media omission in my next post, (+) Government Helps Rotuma Development

* Thank you Son of Fiji for your comment to my post (+) Media Restrictions: Like it or Not, the Govern...": that drew my attention to these two stories. Click for the full Fiji Times and Islands Business stories.

Thursday 14 May 2009

(+) Media Restrictions: Like it or Not, the Government Does Have a Point

Breaking News: Radio NZI reports that the Fiji Government will soon sign an agreement with Fiji TV for a government channel to broadcast from two to seven hours a week. Government also plans to sign an agreement with the Fiji Sun to include a 12-page weekly report on Government policies and programmes. A new media law decree is also likely to be introduced when the emergency regulations expire next month.

Government stands internationally condemned for its "infamous" Emergency Regulations -- and restrictions on "media freedom" that were the main purpose of the regulations. Pacific Freedom Forum (PFF) would even like to see the Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) remove its offices from Suva because of current press censorship.

There is no question that, in normal circumstances, the media should be free, and no question either that in all circumstances the media should publish fair, honest, informed and balanced reports. Anything less is media negligence, media licence or sheer propaganda, not media freedom. It is not enough for people within the media to protest. Freedom has to be earned. Others, outside the media, will decide where the pendulum rests between "freedom" and "licence."

My crude "contents analysis" of the Fiji media since this blog started is that it often fell short of its stated goals. Its idea of balance, as stated in earlier posts, was usually to publish one statement from the Government and one each from up to five Government opponents, making the tally not 1:1 but 1:5. Its selection of news was also biased, focusing far more frequently on what someone said Government got wrong than on what the Government was trying to do.

While not in agreement, I have some sympathy, therefore, for Permanent Secretary of Information Lt. Col. Neumi Leweni when he said: “If I was given the choice, I’d leave [the censorship controls] there for the next five years, ” thereby making it clear that Fiji media should not expect to go back to reporting the "irresponsible" way they did prior to April 10 when the Public Emergency Regulations were enacted. He said the controls would be lifted if media organizations agreed to willingly follow the direction that was being set by his ministry.

While this may seem Orwellian and outright draconian, Leweni does have a point. Much reporting, he said, "constantly focused on the negative ... [and] carried one-sided and sensationalized stories in its coverage of politics, crime and most other events.'

"The government’s position," he said, " is you feed the public with bad things and it registers. In some instances it could lead to people doing whatever is being published. You’d be surprised if you asked the police for statistics on people breaking the law. They’ll tell you it’s dropped tremendously in the past month. It’s to do partly with the media. You feed the public good things and shape public perception with positive things, they will react accordingly. When you dish out negative issues and a lot of other things like crime, etc, it gets to people and in the end they produce those sorts of activities themselves.”

“From my discussions with people on the streets, they actually appreciate the news more now with a lot of positive issues being addressed,” he said. "... and it’s also come from government departments that they’re now getting calls from reporters on positive stories whereas before, a lot of them were reluctant to answer questions because it was based mostly on negative issues.”

“It [is said] bad news sells [but] the media is still selling their newspapers....and there are a lot more positive issues being addressed in the media now."

(+) Rev. Manasa Lasaro Detained: Let All the Worms Come Out of the Woodwork


Today's Citizen's Constitutional Forum (CCF) press release condemned "the arrest and detention of people by the police and military, including "a Methodist preacher." I agree with their general position, but on the CCF's "Methodist preacher" and NZ journalist Michael Field's "churchman" we should be better informed of the man whose human rights we seek to protect.

"Lasaro," Field writes, "is a well known indigenous nationalist linked to the Taukei movement which supported the first coups [in 1987] of Sitiveni Rabuka. He played a key role in getting Sunday observance as compulsory during Rabuka's era. He has also called for the creation of a Christian state, expelling ethnic Indians."

But Lasaro's story does not start or end there. He helped organize the protest parade that "coincidentally" coincided with Rabuka's storming of parliament. He became an important Rabuka "lieutenant" and mentor. Later, Rabuka personally ordered his release from jail, on a community service order (sic!), when he organized roadblocks to protest the lifting of the Sunday ban.

In 1993 he helped create the schism in the Methodist Church that resulted in the expulsion of moderate leadership. In 1998 he founded an "unofficial Methodist party," the Veitokani ni Lewenivanua Vakarisito party (VLV, Christian Democrats!) that opposed the 1997 Constitution, supported the return of the Sunday ban that banned all work on Sundays, and demanded Fiji be declared a Christian state. He has "constantly played on fear that Fijian land and, by association, their culture, will be taken away from them by foreigners" (Fraenkel and Firth). In the 2001 election he stood, unsuccessfully, as a VLV candidate. In 2000 he supported the Speight Coup. In 2003 he opposed the Family Law Bill, wrongfully accusing it of approving same sex and de facto marriages, and of undermining Fijian custom. In 2006, having hijacked a church leaders' meeting,he was the co-writer of the 20-point statement put out by the Methodist Church opposing Interim Government actions that calling the Bainimarama coup as treasonous and illegal. He is a former general secretary and president of the church.

"The church," writes Field of the detention, "has not said what Lasaro was doing, but sources in Fiji say he was calling for some kind of 'spiritual revival' next week. The military regime, through its Police Commissioner Esala Teleni, has been trying to run a counter Methodist Church called the New Methodist Church."

I support the CCF general statement, but not on Lasaro. Anyone informed of Lasaro's record would know he was planning far more than an innocent get-together for the revival of the human spirit.

[And, for the record, I do not see how Michael Field can state the "regime ...has been trying to run a counter Methodist Church." The actions of Teleni can be no more attributed to the whole regime than the actions of Lasaro can be attributed to all Methodists. Evidence, please, not conjecture. ]

Flashback -- Yabaki on Lasaro: In July 2008 CCF's CEO Rev. Akuila Yabaki said he was "alarmed at the sudden takeover of the Methodist Church by Rev Manasa Lasaro ... he is undermining the Methodist leadership ... ." Yabaki went on to say: “Rev Lasaro was part of the group of people that took over the Methodist Church after the 1987 coup, and they basically removed everyone from the church hierarchy who were opposed to the 1987 coup ... Now Rev Lasaro is back in the limelight and causing political problems again. The church has no business in threatening any government or the military ..Rev Lasaro should be investigated for his role in supporting the 1987 and 2000 coups. There must be enough evidence to charge him.”

"Rev Lasaro and his supporters are misusing religious freedom to support a particular political party. This is morally and ethically wrong. The church should be involved in reconciliation and dialogue processes; they should not be involved in politics or in any activities that could destabilise the country. Fiji is still reeling from the coups that have happened since 1987. For Rev Lasaro to stage a comeback now, is very worrying. Rev Lasaro has basically reversed all the progress made in talks between the army and the Methodist Church this year.”

Wednesday 13 May 2009

(-) Australian PM's Statement on Fiji

To read in full, click here.

Kevin Rudd's main points (with my attempts to correct inaccuracies appended) were:

"It is not the Forum which has walked away from Fiji ...Bainimarama [did not attend] the last two Forum Leaders meetings ... no constructive engagement with the Forum’s Ministerial Contact Group ... has visited Fiji twice ...the officials-level Fiji/Forum Joint Working Group remains in existence – but Fiji has stopped attending its meetings."

" ... the real tragedy is what is occurring on the ground to the good and proud people of Fiji ... he has moved to sack the judiciary, censor the media, prohibit free assembly and step up intimidation of the Fijian people. All the normal checks and balances on government have now been eliminated." [cw. Yes, this is very serious, but the judges were not sacked and all checks have not been "eliminated." The judges were appointed under 1997 Constitution provisions, and their appointments lapsed with its Abrogation. New judges are now being appointed. Hopefully, checks and balances will be progressively restored when the Emergency Regulations cease.]

"The political crackdown is compounded by the incalculable damage ... to Fiji’s economy ... more vulnerable to the current global economic crisis ... poverty has never been higher ...40 basic-needs poverty 40 percent ..."

"Cdre Bainimarama is ignoring the major political parties in Fiji... he is now publicly saying that elections won’t be held until 2014. Privately, he is telling his military that it may take up to ten years. This is the behaviour of a military junta."[cw.Not in private; at a military parade. He actually said ten years -- if this is what it took.]

"The people and their representatives must be part of the process of governing Fiji. We don’t think genuine reform can be achieved through threats and force. We don’t think the rule of law can be strengthened by breaking the law. We don’t think accountability can be strengthened by arbitrary rule. But we do think that the longer elections are delayed in Fiji, the worse Fiji’s problems will get." [cw. I doubt any moves would have been made towards "genuine reform" had Qarase remained in power. Where were you then, Australia?]

"... There is no credibility to the interim government’s claim that, of those people who were consulted about the People’s Charter, over 92 per cent approved of it. In any event it is absurd to suggest that up to five more years are needed to prepare for elections."[cw: I thought the overall claim was 60% plus. The "need" is for time to re-educate people away from race-bound thinking, racially divisive political parties and racially arranged elections. ]

"Electoral reform was on the agenda of Fiji’s political dialogue process, a process which was cut short on 9 April." [cw: Bainimarama made several unwise moves regarding the Political Party Leaders' meetings and the President's Political Dialogue Forum, but the Australian Appeal judges must bear some responsibility for the precipitous foreclosure. They denied Government the right to appeal. Lawyers had warned them of possible consequences.]

"Australia will continue to seek constructive ways of helping ... continue our targeted sanctions against regime leaders and supporters ...maintaining significant support ... in the areas of health, education and humanitarian relief. Australia also stands ready to provide significant economic assistance to Fiji to assist it through its current economic problems provided there is a restoration of democracy. This would include support for elections and would also extend well beyond this, to help rebuild Fiji’s broken economy."

(o-) Human Rights Watch's Cloud Cuckoo Land


"... work around the edges of the possible; demanding the impossible entrenches attitudes -- and leads nowhere."


Erudite Elaine Pearson, Human Rights Watch (Asia Division) deputy director, says its "not too late for Fiji's interim government to reverse the path it has taken, and return the country to constitutional rule." The New York-based organization has written to President Iloilo urging him to annul the decrees he has made since April 10. Here are some extracts from her (to me, incredibly naive) interview on Radio Australia

Q. But 'isn't the path you're suggesting in direct opposition to the path taken ...? Why should they consider that path?
A.Well, I mean I think that if Fiji wants to be taken seriously by the international community, and I think if there is sustained international pressure there, then really they should look at their commitments to the citizens of Fiji ... really the steps that we are asking for, it is very easy for them to take those steps. It's very easy to go back and revoke those judicial decrees ... and to reinstate the judicial offices. We are only asking for a return to the position prior to April 10, not to a position prior to the coup. So it is not actually that difficult for them to really reverse their position if they actually have the genuine will to return to being a rights respecting nation.

Q.
Bainimarama has said elections will not be held before September 2014. How's that being seen by the rest of the world?
A (speaking for the world): Well, I mean I think quite clearly it's not seen as adequate by the rest of the world. The fact that the Pacific Islands Forum has suspended Fiji shows that that cannot be taken seriously. I mean we don't think that the period of five years is necessary for the interim government to put in place the reforms and processes that they are talking about. We really believe that those kinds of processes and electoral reform can be pursued through the democratic processes that are guaranteed under the Constitution.

Q: What role do you see for Pacific island nations in helping Fiji back to democracy?
A: Well, I think certainly it would be helpful if Pacific islanders were lobbying Fiji a bit more strongly ... I think we need to think about concerted pressure in order to ensure that Fiji and the president takes these kinds of concerns about human rights abuses seriously.

Q: Australia is hosting the Pacific Islands Forum in Cairns in August. What role should Australia be playing to assist Fiji's return to democracy?
A: Well, I mean I think Australia has been playing a very important role. I think maybe we also need to think about ... putting more pressure on the UN peacekeeping ...This is an extremely important source of revenue for Fiji and it seems like it's getting to the point where we need to be considering targeted sanctions or other kinds of action in order to ensure the protection and promotion of human rights and a return to the rule of law.

Comments: (1) Returning to before April 10th would mean returning to the 1997 Constitution, as interpreted by the Appeal Court judges, and elections under the then existing and demonstrably unfair and racially-bound political system. In effect, this would be asking Bainimarama to abandon all ideas of serious electoral reform, the People's Charter, and all other of its "positive"step taken since the 2000 Coup. Only asking? Very easy? Impossible!
(2) More sanctions? Think of Cuba!

If international human rights groups "want to be taken seriously" and play a role in resolving the Fiji situation -- and they can play such a role -- their spokespersons need to work around the edges of the possible; demanding the impossible entrenches attitudes -- and leads nowhere.

Tuesday 12 May 2009

(B) Separation of Church and State: New Methodism* and the Police Force

Nine weeks ago on February 20th I published a post commenting on Police Commissoner Esala Teleni's "Police Christian Crusade Against Crime." At that time allegations were made that non-Christian officers had been forced to attend Crusade parades, and that officers who converted to the New Methodist Church, run by Teleni's brother Atu Vulaono, were being promoted. It seemed, at that time, the reports were false or exaggerated. New allegations surfaced last week.

The question of the separation of church and state is a contentious issue in Fiji. Many ethnic Fijians perceive their identity as embedded in the traditionally inseparable union of vanua (land), lotu (church) and matanitu (state). This belief underpins their support for their chiefs and church, and on more than one occasion has resulted in calls, by Fijian nationalists, for Fiji to be delared a Christian state, the absolute sanctity of Sundays, Christian teaching to underpin government, the denial of permanent residence to non-Fijians, and legal provisions to safeguard all Fijian values. Were this ever to become the case, all Christians except Methodist and all non-Christians would in effect become second-class citizens, or not citizens at all. Many others, ethnic Fijians included, do not hold with this view and, while the 1997 Constitution contained a Christian prologue, other provisions guaranteed the equality of all religions and the separation of church and state. The draft People's Charter, recognizing how Fijian "traditional" beliefs were manipulated in the 1987 and 2000 coups, has similar provisions. The intrusion of "religion" in a vital state institution, the police force, should be seen against the backdrop of these two opposing viewpoints, Fijian "tradition" v. the modern Fiji state.

Last week the Coupfourpointfive blog reported a Wednesday "normal weekly parade" (attended by 300 police officers of diverse religious, cultural and social backgrounds) at which a New Methodist preacher delivered, in Fijian, a ten-minute sermon during which he said Christianity is the only true religion and all other religions are untrue. The blog, I think rightly, interpreted this as the "indoctrination of New Methodist Church’s version of Christianity on members of the Fiji Police Force."

But just as -- and possibly of more -- importance, at this particularly time in Fiji's history, is the question of Government credibility.The inclusion at a compulsory police parade of a Christian sermon that belittles the beliefs of others contradicts key clauses in the draft People’s Charter that call for multi-ethnic tolerance, the equality of all religions and the separation of church and state.

The different signals sent out by different members of the Government "team" sometimes leave one wondering whether they have different agendas, and, if this is the case, whether Government's central claims and stated intentions will prevail.


* The New Methodist church website states "The Church was a result of Spiritual revival within the Methodist Church .. a move of the Spirit ... whereby members were drawing and seeking God earnestly through prayers and fasting... com[ing] together and worship God like they had never done before; with music, lifting of hands, weeping and speaking in tongues." Registered in 2002, the church now has branches throughout Fiji.

Sunday 10 May 2009

(B)How Independent is the Judiciary?


This background (B) post compares how judges were appointed and lawyers registered before and after last month's abrogation of the 1997 Constitution. The issue of concern is the independence of the judiciary.

The Chief Justice and the Attorney-General. Under the 1997 Constitution the Chief Justice was appointed by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister following consultation with the Leader of the Opposition. Judges were appointed by the President on the recommendation of the Judicial Service Commission following consultation by it with the Minister and the Sector Standing Committee of the House of Representatives responsible for matters relating to the administration of justice. Since the military takeover the President has received advice on the position of Chief Justice only from the Interim PM and his Cabinet, most especially by the Attorney-General, Aiyaz Khaiyum (photo), a lawyer who is also Minister of Justice. The positions of attorney-general and minister of justice are political appointments, often held by the same person, as in many other Commonwealth countries.

The Judicial Service Commission
. The JSC consisted of the Chief Justice, the Chairperson of the Public Service Commission, and the President of the Fiji Law Society. The FLS had the responsibility of "registering and regulating" lawyers. The society checked their professional qualifications and good standing. Although the appointment of judges could on occasion have been subject to some political influence, this would not have been the case with the registration of lawyers.

The Administration of Justice Decree gazetted on 17 April replaced the judicial provisions of the 1997 Constitution and excluded the Fiji Law Society from the Judicial Service Commission. JSC membership now consists of "the Chief Justice as chairperson, the President of the Court of Appeal, a legal practitioner with not less 15 years post-admission practice, to be appointed by the President on the advice of the Attorney-General and a person, not being a legal practitioner, appointed by the President on the advice of the attorney general." The Decree also made provisions for the President to appoint Judges, Justices of the Appeal Court, Judges of the Supreme Court, Master of the High Court, Chief Magistrate, Magistrates and other Judicial officers." All appointments to the bench will be made on the recommendation of the Judicial Services Commission.

The Government and the Fiji Law Society. The problem for Government has been that past and present presidents of the FLS (and a goodly slice of it membership) deny the Government's legitimacy, and have been vocal opponents of its almost every move. In early 2007 the society barred seven military lawyers from practising, and it continues to warn both local and overseas lawyers not to take up appointments. On 23 April Radio NZI reported that present President, Dorsami Naidu, said the society may expel members who took up appointments, and the NZLS, taking its lead from the FLS, has warned NZ lawyers not to work in Fiji. More pragmatic tactics might have permitted some accommodation, and kept the door open for the society's continued influence.

It would have come as no surprise to the FLS that it was cut out of any direct or indirect influence on the composition of the judiciary. Its actions assured its exclusion. President Dorsami Naidu and the Attorney-General made it quite clear they could not work with each other. But if -- and it is a very big if -- the non-government members of the Judicial Service Commission can maintain an "acceptable" distance from political influence, its exclusion will not have compromised the judiciary. For compromised it must not be. Judges must maintain their independence from the legislative and executive branches of government, even if (especially if) there has been political influence in their appointment, a situation that cannot be entirely discounted under both Qarase and Bainimarama regimes.

The Licensing of Lawyers. What now seems likely is that the Society will also lose the authority to license lawyers it held under the Legal Practitioners Act. The Coupfourpointfive blog reports that its legal sources say the Attorney-General will become the new licencing authority, and given that licences will continue to be issued annually, as they were under the FLS, there is a possibility that "well known lawyers like Dorsami Naidu, Tupou Draunidalo, Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi, Graham Leung, Richard Naidu, Florence Fenton, Jon Apted, Niko Nawaikula, Akuila Naco, to name a few, are likely to be discriminated against and may not be issued practicing licences.These lawyers have criticized the military regime."

Unfortunately, this is a quite possible outcome, but in itself the termination of the FLS's authority may bring no great change.The Society exercised special powers not enjoyed by its sister organizations in NZ and Australia. There, the law societies have no direct involvement in the appointment of judges or the registration of lawyers, other than to ensure the latter are properly qualified and of good character. Judges are appointed by executive government without intervention from their law societies or the existing judiciary. The assumption is that the appointments are not politically-influenced.

The critically important issue is not the Fiji Law Society but the independence of the judiciary and the fairness of its judgments. Recent events may have made this more difficult, but not impossible. The senior judges so far reappointed give some cause for confidence, but last week's early release from prison of the soldiers and policeman convicted of manslaughter is not a good sign. See post "Justice Is What Justice Does."