*Graham Davis is a Fiji-born journalist living in Australia. I think he's done a remarkably good job summmarising the main issues in the present situation; in tracing its roots back to earlier coups and before (with interesting comments on Bainimarama's background, personality and clumsy diplomatic skills); and in offering ideas about what can now be done. To read his article in full, click on The Australian or the Fiji stuckinthemud blog.
Here are the first two paragraphs of his article-----
"Like many military leaders before him, Frank Bainimarama can be autocratic, stubborn, wilful, obstinate and disdainful of the traditional nuances of civilian politics. He may also be the best hope, albeit in five years' time, of a democratic Fiji for all its citizens and not just the amply endowed indigenous majority. If that seems a ludicrous proposition when constitutions are being abrogated and the media proscribed, it's time to consider some basic truths that seem to have been overlooked in the "good guy,[Qarase] bad guy" [Bainimarama] narrative that invariably passes for analysis in much of the Australian media ...
.... It's time to dispense with this simplistic premise because a compelling argument can be made that, in fact, the reverse is true; that Bainimarama and Iloilo, for all their flaws, are embarked on the more worthy crusade. Or certainly more worthy than they're being given credit for by their burgeoning number of foreign opponents. The Fiji saga, by its very nature, defies simplicity, yet stripped to its bare essentials presents the international community with a stark choice between upholding the principle of democracy now and sacrificing racial equality in the process. Wait five years - maybe less if some international agreement could be brokered - and we might get both." [Read on, by clicking one of the sites noted above.]
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