The CCF's Suggested Way Forward

N235. WHY SO FEW COMMENTS ON AKUILA'S POSTING?  Part II of Critical Engagement and Future Scenarios was published  last Saturday (N205). Few people took the opportunity to comment.  I republish the conclusion to the Rev. Akuila Yabaki's paper and urge you to read it, comment, and read the full document.

Conclusion:
To conclude, I acknowledge that militarization that has taken place in Fiji. The abrogation of the Fiji constitution and imposition of PER and other non-challengeable decrees have placed the country under effective military rule. A vulnerable and weak economic situation coupled with a power vacuum in local leadership, as well as an fractured diplomatic relations with its key regional partners pose a worrying situation for Fiji.

However there have also been positive developments. The government continues to show a clear commitment to addressing long standing issues of racial discrimination, is tackling a number of required reforms in difficult and previously highly politicized areas such as land, and has in recent times shown an increasing willingness to engage in dialogue with civil society. It is therefore the view of CCF that these positive steps must be built upon and ways of constructive critical engagement found and strengthened.

Key areas of concern for CCF continue to be that there has been very little effort to engage with the people in the formulation of many decrees; PER continues to stifle conversation, dialogue and freedom of speech; and there has been very little movement in the processes that will lead to constitution making and to democratic elections.

As a way forward, CCF therefore proposes that efforts to bring Fiji back to sustainable democracy, both locally and internationally, be focused on constructively engaging, finding ways to build upon opportunities for dialogue, and specifically target the critical interim milestones of:

• The lifting of PER;
• The reinstatement of an inclusive and independently facilitated political dialogue;
• The promotion of dialogue and consensus as the means of Charter recommendation   implementation;
• The bringing forward of the timeline for work on constitutional development; and 
•  Immediate commencement of electoral reforms.

Finally it is important to note that under the current state of affairs the role of Civil Societies as change agents remain critical in:

1. Allowing citizens to view Good Governance Issues critically,
2. To remain critically engaged with government in making our views heard on key policy issues, and ill prepared reforms
3. To monitor Governments Commitment to Human Rights issues through the Universal Periodic Review and the documents which the state has ratified and signed off on
4. To monitor governments overall performance and provide an alternative view to how it is performing to the international community
5. To be the voice to pressure government to maintain its commitment to the return to a sustainable democracy.

Right now we all still waiting for credible steps in the right direction.