Thinking … Not Sleeping: Critical but Helpful Ideas on How to Take Fiji Forward

14. What Can Fiji Do?

Continued from yesterday

It will be impossible for a 100% military run government to hand over to a civilian run government. It would be impossible today and it will be impossible in 2014. Assuming government is genuine about 2014 and democracy, etc., it has to start changing how government is run now. I’m no politician but here are a few thoughts:

a) Make a deliberate and purposeful shift to something similar to a civilian government. Hire more people like Peter (Thomson) and Sharon (Smith-Johns). How about appointing a deputy PM who is a civilian with no military background? Ask the good performers amongst the military in government positions to resign from the military. Ultimately I would like to see Frank resign his post from the military as well. This might be a catalyst for a real change in international support. How about a more transparent cabinet where we can see the decisions being made and the arguments? Maybe invite international observes to observe cabinet ?

b) Allow some freedom of expression and gathering. Fiji I think will now self-censor to a certain extent. Lift the PER but at the same time launch a solid government media plan…have the good stories ready to go. Ignore the critics that will come. Better to get used to a bit of criticism now rather than 2014.

c) Put some signs and directions on the Roadmap. Currently it’s pretty much a map without scale or markings. The Roadmap should have hills that need crossing, forests that need to be cleared, speed limits that must be obeyed etc. (sorry taking the analogy a bit too far). Basically no one believes it because no detail is published and no minor milestones marked – change that.

d) This idea is a bit crazy but why not start a count down to free and fair elections NOW? “Billboards” that count down showing how many months to go could be put up. That would certainly show commitment and get everyone serious and focused on meeting the deadline.

e) As a previous blogger suggested, bring the election forward even by 3 months and it would be a huge symbolic message that Fiji is reasonable and is prepared to negotiate, not just dictate.

Continued tomorrow …

Click "Comment" below to comment and see others' comments.

(o) Draft Media Decree Update; Blog Blocking; WAC Announcement, and ...

Short Briefs

DRAFT MEDIA DECREE UPDATE AND BLOG BLOCKING

The Draft Media Decree. I understand participants at the Suva consultation had to return their copy of the draft decree before leaving the meeting. Whatever for? The draft was already leaked to the media. But even before sighting the draft, the usual team of of anti-government assessors had already made their judgment. Mine will have to wait until I've studied the draft in detail and pondered on what others have written.

I see no problem with the Code of Ethics which I wrongly thought this whole exercise was about,  but there are four  areas of major concern: 1) the proposed limitations on foreign media that will affect The Fiji Times and the Fiji Daily News;  2) the extent to which MIDA (the Media Industry Development Authority) and the Media Tribunal are able to be independent of government control;  3) the extent of fines for breaching the regulations and (4) who will pay them, the media organization or the journalist?

I'd previously accepted the need for checks on the media because of  its unbalanced reporting but I'm now more concerned about checks on those who check the media.

David Robie, as usual, has an informative opinion piece,  and David, who has read the draft, is very concerned. (photo, AUT)

The only new news since yesterday is that the the A-G has said all comments will be considered (let us hope so!); the consultation at Labasa has been cancelled; the Media Council has requested a meeting with government once the consultations are over; and the Fiji Times and the Murdoch group, like me, have chosen to keep their powder dry.

This is probably the most important legislation decreed since July last year, and the airwaves are alive with comment, not least on this blog. Check out readers' comments if you want to know how both "sides" and those in the middle feel.

ANNOUNCEMENT. Bryan Crump will be interviewing me on RadioNZ's Nights with Bryan Crump at 9:40pm next Monday April 12. I hope by then to be able to say something "intelligent" about the draft Media Decree.

Anti-Government Coup Apologist? First, I'm called a coup apologist by anti-government bloggers, and worse by the erstwhile Michael Field for whom I am a resurrected Lord Haw Haw (an English Hitler propagandist). And now, according to Fiji Today, the Ministry of Information has added my  blog to its list of "subversive" websites.

I feel like the pedestrian who tried to stop a man beating his wife -- and finished up being beaten by both of them. But perhaps the Minister is more interested in readers' comments than the main posts. The blog has attracted a large number of very anti-govenment, anti-Indian, anti-"coup apologist" comments lately. (Note: Fiji Today and its fellow blog Coupfourpointfourfive are often the more moderate of the anti-government blogs.)

Blog blocking again: ISP's incompetent. Cornelius writes: 'Tried to post this in your ‘general comments’, but the proxy doesn’t allow it. I was hoping my comment would sting someone into some action. Forlorn hope, I expect.'

"Whilst the blocking of some blogs is at the IG's behest, the rest are blocked purely because of the sheer incompetence of the ISP's. How they are unable to block half a dozen URL's without blocking dozen's (if not hundreds) of others is beyond me. Perhaps Kidanet and Connect need to employ people that know more than how to just move the mouse!"

OTHER ITEMS

A World Bank team will visit Fiji later this month to discuss land reform initiatives, aimed partucularly at helping the sugar industry. The Bank  expects the Fiji economy to do better this year.

A Chinese NGO has donated 750 sewing machines to Fiji's rural women.

Make Hindi compulsory in all Sanatan schools up to form four. This was one of the recommendations of the Sanatan Dharm Pratinidhi Sabha of Fiji made at their 51st Annual convention over the weekend. I wonder what's happened to government's plan to have Fijian and Hindu taught in all primary schools and to the public service? Can anyone inform me on this?

The NZ Radio Apna 40-hour radiothon raised $133,000 that has been used to provide basic food items to 3,000 families in Vanua Levu.

ANNOUNCEMENT. Women’s Action for Change (WAC) and women’s groups from 15 informal settlements will present a very special community performance of the new 2010 WAC play, ‘F Word’ on Saturday 10 April at the Crypt, below the Sacred Heart Cathedral, Pratt Street, Suva. The play begins at 3pm, with a Playback Theatre session to follow and ending at 4.30pm.

Over 200 women and girls from 15 informal settlement communities  are working with Women’s Action for Change (WAC), to gather and share lived experiences and strategies to address gender-based violence, using the arts for participative research, collective action, and advocacy. Their stories are the core of this play. The ‘F word’ explores the links between restrictive concepts of gender and sexuality, families, and violence, and their impact on women and girls in Fiji. This includes social sanctions, discrimination and multiple forms of psychological, physical, sexual and economic violence.
All are invited. For further information please contact wac@connect.com.fj or noelenen@gmail.com

Another matanigasau. A 70-member delegation from Cautata in Tailevu province led by the Roko Tui Cautata, Jioji Koronikainamata, has offered a traditional apology (matanigasau) to the PM and RFMF and reassured the PM of its whole-hearted support in moving Fiji forward.

A fleet of four vaka representing Aotoeara, Cook Islands, Samoa and the wider Pacific will leave Auckland on April 14 bound for Fiji, Samoa. Cook Islands and Tahiti. Each vaka has a crew of 14.

(o) Cafe Pacific | Media freedom and transparency: Human rights or corruption? Trotting out the real Fiji issues

Read David Robie's blog Cafe Pacific for how some people saw the media coverage of  the recent UN Geneva Human Rights conference. Link. This is what I had to say:
The real Fiji issue here is not human rights (though some, affecting very few people, have been abused). The real issue is the abuse of " media rights"   that have been allowed, if not encouraged, to so distort the situation in Fiji, past and present. -- Photo AUT.

(o) Coupfourpointfive Continues to Mislead

Coupfourpointfive is an Auckland-based anti-government blog published by anonymous journalists.  Other than publishing the occasional rumours that later proved false, it used to be generally well informed and reasonably balanced. Lately, the number and quality of its postings have sharply declined, suggesting a change of editors.

Cafe Pacific, commented on my earlier post under the heading:

Fiji Blog Cops a Blast Over 'Treason' Law Makeover Misrepresentation

This is what it  wrote: Blog Coupfourpointfive has had its credibility challenged over a report claiming any "Negativity against regime treated as treason". The shallow item was attributed in the first paragraph to "sources". Former University of the South Pacific Development Studies academic Crosbie Walsh, whose own Fiji blog is increasingly looked to for informed and accurate analysis, has condemned the website, run by journalists, for misrepresentation. The original "treason" blog posting has now had a hasty title change to "New Criminal decree brings worry". Read on...  Cafe Pacific then reprints my posting.

Title Change But No Retraction and Equally Incorrect Comments Allowed

The blog has since accepted and published nine comments from readers -- except mine that merely asked for a copy of the decrees. I reprint the comments, partly to show how misrepresentation multiplies, but mainly to demonstrate the thinking of those commenting. I have underlined the most revealing thoughts. Readers will note the absence of constructive comment on how to resolve the situation other, of course, than that proposed by Wellington anti-government blogger, Sai Lealea.

Mark Manning said... "Might this be the last straw ? To expect others to suffer a prison sentence for Sedition at the hands of an illegal entity, for criticising the very person who himself was about to be arrested for sedition, is hypocritical to say the least.The difference and stark contrast is, Frank Bainimarama was guilty of Sedition against a " Legal Entity " .

Anonymous said...Here we go again! Frank and Khaiyum are consolidating their positions so that they will be in power for the next 20 years. 
The worse part is that Fijians are lapping all these up and now starting to praise Frank the dictator as the saviour of Fiji!
From the beginning Fijians have always suffered from this weakness. They will yell and swear that democracy and elected govt is the only way to go. But if Frank persists for a short while and do some pysical development at the village level then Fijians will start turning around and praising him as if he is the lord Jesus Christ.Click on Read more...

(o+) Snippets: IMF, Land Reform, Labasa's New Health Unit, Violence against Women, Constitution Retentions, Corruption Suspicions

THE SPECTRUM SAGA IS UPDATED DAILY, 
WHEN SOMEONE SAYS SOMETHING NEW.

SEE UPDATES AT THE END OF THE ARTICLE.

AFTER TWO WEEK OF CONSULTATIONS IN FIJI,the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has advised Government that rushed civil service reforms could result in the loss of experienced manpower. The retirement age policy that  saw 2,044 civil servants go home earlier this year was part of the Civil Service Reform. The IMF also advised Government to stop borrowing, and reduce its reliance on the Fiji National Provident Fund as a source of finance. Full story.

WORK ON A LAND DATABANK has started at the Ministry of Lands and Minerals, working closely with the Native Land Trust Board. The work is part of the Ministry's 2010 - 2014 Strategic Planlaunched in Suva on Tuesday. Outcomes will assist land reform aimed at better land use and accessibility, needed to save the sugar industry and open more opportunities for tourism and agriculture. The reforms, part of the 2010-2014 Stategic Plan, will benefit landowners financially and not affect their ownership. The Plan was undertaken following community-wide consultations. Government says Fiji also needs the reforms so that State lands, minerals and groundwater resources are utilised and developed to provide better returns to the country's economy. Full story.

THE KOREAN-FUNDED ACCIDENT AND EMERGENCY UNIT IN LABASA, the main town in Fiji's second largest island, is the largest in the country. The Unit cost $2.5m. Health Minister Dr Neil Sharma  said the project was to ensure people in the North received the best health care."With the completion of these new units, we are determined to make quality health services more accessible to our people."  Full story.

FIJI'S WOMEN'S RIGHTS MOVEMENT is organizing 16 days of activism starting Wednesday. November 29th is International Women Human Rights Defenders Day, and December 1st World AIDS Day. Full story.

PARTS OF 1997 CONSTITUTION WILL BE RETAINED. Listen here to Radio Australia's interview with Attorney-GeneralAiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum. PM Bainimarama had earlier informed visiting EU officials that clauses on the rule of law, the judiciary, human rights and democratic principles will be re-authorised by presidential decree. The main element to be changed is the race-based electoral system.There never was any intention of "throwing the baby out with the bathwater."

MIDDLE EAST RECRUITER QUESTIONED. Timoci Lolohea, head of the Meridian Services Company, has again been taken in for questioning by Police following fresh complaints that he has received money in exchange for promises of jobs in the Middle East. It is suspected he was at the centre of a scam where more than 20,000 people allegedly paid a total of more than $3 million after being promised jobs in Kuwait. Full story.

Kua Hinga te Totara Nui

A NZ Ambassador Who Stood Taller 
than the Others: 

A Tribute to His Excellency Te Rongotoa (Tia) Barrett

Thakur Ranjit Singh

The passing away of a gentleman and a career diplomat Tia Barret came as a shock to those who knew him. As somebody who was fortunate to have met him in Fiji between 1998 and 2001 when he was heading our High Commission in Suva, I always had a desire to re-establish that contact here, but that dream will now remain unfulfilled by his sudden departure.

He was in Suva during very troubled times with two significant events. The first was the takeover of the Chaudhary government by George Speight in May, 2000 and the second one was the attempt on the life of Commodore Bainimarama by rebel soldiers on 2 November, 2000 through a mutiny.

During those troubled times, he was holding the fort at NZ High Commission and was an exemplary ambassador for Aotearoa, and added pride to this profession by standing stall and being different from other ambassadors by talking his mind without any fear of speaking the truth, even if it meant crossing the boundaries guarded by strict diplomatic protocols.

When the AUT’s Pacific Media Centre’s Dr. David Robie was heading the Journalism School at USP, in Suva, His Excellency Tia Barrett was the Chief Guest at the Journalism Awards almost nine years ago, on 24 November, 2000. The address he gave to the graduating students is still fresh in my mind and it had ruffled a few feathers in the then Interim Fiji regime, some of who still harboured ethno-nationalism and beat the indigenous drums.

While himself being indigenous person of Aotearoa, he was bold to have gone beyond the call of his duty to put the ethno-nationalists in their place.

“What is difficult to accept in this dialogue on indigenous rights is the underlying assumption that those rights are pre-eminent over other more fundamental human rights. This just cannot be so, not in today's world. Where the confusion lies, in my view, is with the thought that indigenous people have a prior right over land and the sea and their resources and therefore by extension over the political, economic and social institutions of a country,” he had told the Fijian students.

He had reminded the journalism students that nowhere was it written in any holy scripture that because you were indigenous, you had first rights over others in their daily rights. He had maintained that one should be respected and highly regarded as an indigenous person, but respect was earned and not obtained on demand. He reminded that while the Compact of 1997 Constitution of Fiji accorded a special place for the indigenous Fijians in the polity of the nation, the respect there still needed to be earned.

His talk some nine years ago was so prophetic and would be well remembered by the elements in the Maori community in the recent controversy on the indigenous issue. What he had said in Suva in 2000 would have stood tall in that controversy:

“Being indigenous, in my view, demands high levels of achievement and competency in both our traditional cultural values and in the demands of today's globalised world. That is a tall order, and requires more of us indigenous peoples than of the non-indigenous. But in fact, I think the well-educated, well-rounded, successful indigenous person stands tall as an outstanding achiever. Unfortunately, there are so few although there are examples in both your and my history.”

Barrett had even ventured to lecture to the chiefs about their role and also the responsibilities of Churches, both of which were found to be wanting by the current Fiji regime. What people like Tia Barrett in diplomatic positions proved is that diversity in such positions enriched the profile of the country and if any lessons are to be learnt is that a diplomat like Tia Barrett in Fiji would have been well placed to bridge the huge chasm that currently exists between the two countries.

He had lectured the journalists on the concept of development journalism where the timely and accurate facts fulfilled the thirst for knowledge so that people could make the changes needed to improve their lives in this globalised world. Whether Fiji journalist heeded this call remains debatable, but what is certain is that modern –day ambassadors in troubled countries like Fiji have much to learn from His Excellency Tia Barrett. His departure leaves a huge vacuum in his line of thinking of the Pacific issues and we hope New Zealand continues to be blessed with proud sons like Tia Barrett.

On behalf of my former country-people from Fiji, I join in to extend our condolences to the Barrett family. May his soul rest in peace.

(Thakur Ranjit Singh is a postgraduate student in Communication studies at AUT, and had met Tia Barrett in Fiji whilst he was the Publisher of Fiji’s Daily Post)

(-) Further Concerns About Power of Chief Registrar

The Citizens Constitutional Forum has issued a further news release on this topic.  See my earlier and now updated post "Concerns About Powers of Chief Registrar."