(+) 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.”