Roundup for Friday 15 August

                     By Crosbie Walsh

I've neglected my blog postings for the past 14 days due to a holiday in Malaysia and Singapore. My ipad is not as blog publishing friendly as my notebook.   But I did manage to keep an eye open for Fiji news, as ever looking for something encouraging and useful with the elections now barely a month away.

Unfortunately, too little has changed. The political parties continue to drip feed policies and the names of candidates, alternatively agreeing and disassociating themselves with each other. The same individuals and NGOs continue to made damning statements on the lack of freedom and make dire predictions about the unfairness of an election that has not yet been held. NZ's Amnesty International repeats the old claims of the aforementioned NGO's. 

Bainimarama's New Zealand Visit
In New Zealand, AUT's Pacific Media Watch ran a heading "NZ Protesters Challenge Bainimarama's Election Visit." The Wellington DominionPost called on people to support Sai Lealea and Richard Naidu's call for a march to protest Bainimarama's visit to Auckland.

Some 30 protesters turned up and the media reported their objections and the odd interjection from an otherwise hugely supportive audience of close to 2,000. Little of what Bainimarama said was reported, and he was only interviewed by NZ Indian Radio Tarana and blogger Cameron Slater.

The mainstream media coverage says much about the use of media freedom in my country.

The Crazy Bloggers
On the blogs, Ram Gopal Sharma called me "A failed political hack who curries favour for the highest bidder. Falla has no idea what hes talking about!"

Another comment warned that with Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum (a Sunni Muslim) taking over the country after the election, the Syrian army and navy (mainly Shiite Muslims!) would come to the dictator's assistance. Australia chose this moment to renew its travel advisory. Visitors to Suva were warned about the high crime rate and the possibility of civic disturbances. I will stop there before it gets even crazier.

Ro Teimumu
Speaking to Nabudrau villagers in Rewa Ro Teimumu said "We can only pray for the results of the 2014 elections “This is really about the people of this country, the vanua and God,’’ she said.

She had doubts about the integrity of the elections because" We don’t have the Commonwealth and the European Union observers like we had before. It’s going to be hard but we really can’t dictate anything to this government.’’

With an  Australian-led 14-nation observer team, I can't see how it will be any less vigilant that other observer teams at earlier elections.  Could it be she's looking for an excuse in case SODELPA polls much worse than expected?  

Elections
On the elections, candidate nominations close on Monday (18th August); a machine will randomly allocate candidate numbers; Mahendra Chaudhry lost his court appeal and will not be standing (though he insists he is still the FLP leader); the only Independent candidate, Roshika Deo has registered with 2,790 signatures; unionist Daniel Urai looks likely to be standing for the PDP; and there's some uncertainty whether Jone Dakavula will be a NFP candidate.

The NFP has distanced itself from Ro Reimumu's claim that there cannot be equal citizenry, and  NFP. FLP and PDP have questioned SODELPA's intended resurrection of the divisive Qoliqoli Bill. They had all earlier distanced themselves from Ro Teimumu's call for Fiji to be declared a Christian state.  With such fundamental differences in policy, how can any of them seriously consider any sort of alliance with SODEPLA?

The Fiji Sun has a useful summary of party policies and an article by Cameron Slater on the mechanics of the election

As of 30 June, the Fijian Elections has registered approximately 570,000 voters.

Polls
An informal Fiji Broadcasting  poll indicates that about 19% of eligible voters will not vote, somewhat less than the proportion (24%)  not registered according to Sun-Razor polls.

The latest polls by Tebbutt and Razor show Bainimarama and FijiFirst are still way in front as the preferred PM and political party.  The Tebbutt polls say this support is across all ethnicities, ages and gender, but Taukei support has dropped a little. SODELPA has improved its placing and is favoured by 31% of Taukei, 15% of Other voters, and 1% of Indo-Fijians.  Razor does not provide a comparable demographic breakdown of results.

Some Government opponents claim the Fiji Sun-Razor poll is biased in favour of Bainimarama and FijiFirst. They are happier with the Fiji Times-Tebbutt poll that definitely does not support Bainimarama.  Dr Wadan Narsey says the differences are not necessarily due to unfairness by Razor: there are margins of error in all polls and the margin is likely to be larger when sample size is small.

Razor samples 600 people and Tebbutt over 1,000.  The difference is also likely to be caused by sample location and person selection. Razor interviews 600 people weekly at bus stops in the Western (Central and Northern Division. Tebbutt uses random household sampling in urban and peri-urban areas, and this is their first political poll since May. A third factor that makes comparison even more difficult is the apparently different treatment of "undecided" and "decline to answer" responses.

The  most recent Razor results on preferred PM has Bainimarama at 86% (the 10% increase from the previous week is as likely to be due to small sample size as to increased popularity), Ro Teimumu at 9%, Biman Prasad 3%, and Felix Anthony and Mahendra Chaudhry on 1% each, making a total of 100%.

Razor  apparently had no undecided and decline to state responses in this latest poll, though they included these responses in earlier surveys.

By comparison, Tebbutt has Bainimarama at 60%, Ro Teimumu at 17% (double her support in May), Biman Prasad at 3%, FLP's Lavinia Padarath and Felix Anthony at 1% each, and two others at under 1% each, making a total of 82%

A further 11% were undecided (down from 20% at the earlier poll in May) and 7% declined to state. If these people are added, the total comes to 100%.

Both poll results must  be considered with caution. All that can be safely concluded is that with four weeks to go before the elections Bainimarama and FijiFirst appear to have the support of well over half of the voters polled.  Their advantage may well be slightly eroded by SODELPA in the weeks to come, but the future of other parties, other than NFP, looks grim indeed. They have a long way to go to cross the 5% threshold needed to elect one MP.

The DominionPost editorial referred to above  urging  opposition to Bainimarama's Auckland visit could not see the illogic of its argument: resist the undemocratic Bainimarama who they admitted "unfortunately" seemed to have the support of most people in Fiji.

Finally
Another response to a Razor poll question does not bode well for the Opposition that continues to criticize Government's management of the economy: Asked "Is the economy better today than before the 2006 Takeover?" 76% said yes, 21% no, and 3% were unsure.

Taking all of this information into account, it is easy to see why Ro Teimumu is praying.


                                                     -----

FIJI LEAKS provides some useful background papers on a number of election-related issues.

Lockington's Everyday Fiji ... Life Goes On

Julius Caesar

They Weren't Forgotten

Just a few days ago I had written a letter not to forget small business people, and they weren't forgotten.

They are now expected to pay a $1000 stamp duty.  ABBAs song "money money money", comes to mind.

Watch our churches. Our Sunday collection will be the next target. I will make a bold statement and say it will be called Caeser's Duty.

Oilei ko Viti nikua.

By the way, what's the purpose  for Stamp Duty? FRCA you there ?

Confidence

While political parties and other organizations are talking about poverty and hardships faced by the people of Fiji organisers of festivals have confidence in the people.

We see the many week-long festivals happening in the West and soon we'll have the Sugar and the Hibiscus festival.

Stalls are not cheap but there is no lack of applicants. And to top it off, we see many people at the various grounds.

On the other hand, we also see supermarkets full on paydays and then there are the second hand clothing shops. Sometimes you can't get in.

For me this is a good sign.

And the general elections is on track things are looking good.

I just hope that we can create more employment so that we may forge ahead further.

Election Machine
 
The machine to determine the number allocated to each candidates in the National Candidates List looks like a lottery machine.

But then again the elections are similar to a lottery, each candidate vies and hopes the people will vote for them.

And the people, after voting they hope their candidate will deliver what he or she promised.

So let's spin the machine.

My advice to the people is keep your fingers and toes crossed that your candidate wins.

Who knows you may just get what you wished for.

Allen Lockington is a self-employed customs agent and business consultant who has regular articles published in Fiji. I thank Allen for permission to reprint some of them in this political blog. They remind us that life goes on, whatever the political situation. And it's good to know that.

Cameron Slater from Fiji

I tried, I really did try but couldn’t find a single road-block, goon squad or government censor anywhere

August 14, 2014 | Filed under: Fiji News | Posted by: newsroom

By Cameron Slater
I have spent three days in Fiji, a short trip transiting onto my next destination.
After my interview with Voreqe Bainimarama I received emails, threats, and comments that basically said that I didn’t know what I was talking about. That Suva wasn’t safe, that there were government goon squads roaming the city setting dogs onto people and breaking up groups of five or more, and that the media were muzzled by government censors, not to mention the road blocks and general intimidation and subjugation of the general population at the point of a gun. In fact I never saw a gun, at all, and trust me as someone who is interested in such things I was looking.
Well, I can tell you that despite asking and looking for all of these things that we have been told exists by the disaffected and the complicit media in New Zealand, I could find none of those things.
I went to several press conferences where media turned up, asked questions, received answers all without any Police or Army people present.
I stayed at the Holiday Inn across the road from the government precinct, and wandered around freely in those environs. When I went to the government administration building I strolled in, checked with reception and made my own way to the office I was going to, all with no Police or army present.
When I drove to the opening of a new $50 million cement factory there weren’t any road-blocks or travel restrictions, indeed in my last two trips I’ve never seen one.
And when I dropped in unannounced at the offices of the Fiji Sun and stayed for several hours talking with the team there I couldn’t find any government censors, goons, army or police in attendance. I kept asking the staff where the censors were…the editor joked and said they were on a lunch break.
Basically these are all lies.
People go about their business in Suva unfettered.
What is happening in Fiji though is a pride and confidence that despite the best attempts of New Zealand and Australia to thwart their achievements they have stood strong and found a real solution, a Fijian solution, to the issues of the past and that they can move forward with pride, knowing they have broken the apron strings of colonial condescension from New Zealand and Australia.
There is talk on the streets about being allowed back into the Commonwealth and the Pacific Islands Forum, and a belief that the government should reject that. Fijians believe that they have out -grown those organisations, that when things were tough in Fiji that both organisations and their member nations turned their backs on Fiji and now they are irrelevant to Fiji’s growth.
New Zealand and Australia made a grave foreign policy error.
They created a vacuum and nature abhors a vacuum. Fiji has filled that vacuum and now they don’t need either country.
They have new friends, ones who treat them with respect.
I leave here today, knowing that positive change has occurred.
I will come back and observe the elections…and report on that.
Meanwhile don’t believe a word that you hear on RNZI, or from Barbara Dreaver or Michael Field.
People literally spit when their names are mentioned. Their falsehoods have poisoned the country against them.
Fiji has grown up. It is truly inspiring to witness.

Cameron Slater is the publisher of New Zealand’s most popular blog, Whale Oil, winner of this year’s top blog award at the New Zealand media awards. He is a former editor of the New Zealand Truth newspaper. He was born in Suva and has been reporting from Suva this week.
newsroom@fijisun.com.fj

Incremental Grassroots Assistance Helps Poor Help Themselves

Dr Jiko (r), the Davuileu women, and four donated sewing machines.

When I published Sofaia's story three weeks ago the usual critics burst forth with comments like, "Nice smokescreen Croz. Does Sharon have any integrity left?" and  "This rubbish from the junta ministry of misinformation is beyond farcical."

Not for the first time, they had completely missed the point.  Reducing poverty requires major changes at national level such as improved access to education and work but it also needs incremental grassroots action where people are helped to help themselves.

So I have two more stories for the critics this week.

Rabi Island off SE Vanua Levu.

 A $500,000 government grant will help women to establish  bee farming projects in the four villages, and other projects —coconut replanting programs, soap-making, fish farming and the construction of farm roads as well as root crops and rice farming— will also generate income.

These projects add to those already working on the island: a new virgin coconut oil factory, and a  bio-fuel factory that will encourage coconut growers to plant more to meet the demand in the two facilities. As the government representative said: "We are assisting them so they are self-reliant, sustainable and economically-empowered" which, critics,  may add is much more than previous governments did. 

Nausori, close to Suva.

And on the main island. the Davuilevu Women’s Group in Nausori has secured funding to build a new Women’s Resource Centre.

 Minister for Social Welfare, Women and Poverty Alleviation Dr Jiko Luveni said  development projects like women centres have already resulted in women starting their own businesses and empower them to be financially independent.

 The spokesman for those living at Davuilevu, Joji Qaranivalu, thanked government for providing a swift response to their request for a women's centre.

“We are very glad that this is the first government has come right down to us to address our bread and butter issues. We are grateful to the Bainimarama government for coming right down to our doorsteps —to sit with us and hear us out— and identify development projects to improve our lives. This approach empowers us to take ownership of the solutions whilst addressing the challenges we face."

Women's group president Mrs Kesaia Wati Qaranivalu said the Minister’s visit has challenged the women to capitalise on their talent and skills.

 “We have 50 women in our group who earn income by selling roti parcel, pies, cakes, and fruit juice at the group canteen. On a weekly basis, we are able to fork in $200 to help the women, however we felt that there is much more we can achieve by working together with the government."

Auckland Welcomes Bainimarama: 30 Protesters, Over a Thousand Supporters

Saturday 9th August. "One picture is worth a thousand words."

Sally Going Round and Round

A New Zealand journalist has just returned from reporting on the political situation in Fiji.  Now, at last, we will have an informed and independent assessment of the political situation there. No longer will we have to rely on the biases and interpretations of those sitting on opposing sides of the political divide, or put up with the 'propaganda' of the military regime.  We will hear from Government and the major political parties about what they are offering the people of Fiji when they come to vote a little more than a months time.

I think back to when I had this opportunity two  ago. I interviewed the Prime Minister, the Attorney General, three other government ministers, the head of the army, three Permanent Secretaries, the publishers and editors of the Fiji Sun and the Fiji Times, three judges, three lawyers with international reputations, a  prominent and well respected chief,  four  trade unionists, two non government organisations, and several prominent church and educational leaders. A mix of people who were part of or in support of the Bainimarama government, in whole or in part;  those  who were neutral or undecided, and those who were vehemently opposed. I published the results in this bog. The NZ media were not interested. 

This is what Sally Round of

http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/programmes/datelinepacific/audio/20144964/constraints-still-exist-despite-freed-up-pre-election-debate-in-Fiji Radio NZ International found out during her trip to Fiji, and this is who she spoke to.  The  situation was a little better but constraints still existed.

Once anti-government activist and now SODELPA candidate Pita Waqavonovono recalled how he had been ill-treated six years ago. An anonymous person said he thought the situation had not improved.  The  election's only independent candidate Roshika Deo said a policeman attended one of her meetings. FLP's . Mahendra Chaudhry,  unlikely to contest the election because of his conviction 
for currency evasion and whose party on present showings will be lucky to win a seat,  spoke of the need to remove the dictatorship and restore democracy. And long outspoken anti-Bainimarama lawyer Richard Naidu complained that the media could be fined for publishing unbalanced news items!

So there you have it: media freedom RNZI style.  As a Fiji friend  emailed me: "This Radio NZ piece is a complete disgrace. It is either gross naivety or wilful misreporting. Almost the entire contents have  been fabricated by the informants, as in the case of the Amnesty International report that you have rightly denounced. "





http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/programmes/datelinepacific/audio/20144964/constraints-still-exist-despite-freed-up-pre-election-debate-in-Fiji

http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/programmes/datelinepacific/audio/20144964/constraints-still-exist-despite-freed-up-pre-election-debate-in-Fiji

Faced with Little Choice

Thoughts from a concerned observer

General elections is a super spectacle, a major carnival, a solemn salutation, a grim reminder of dire consequences and a momentous occasion for electorates throughout the democratic world – it is a time to decide how one wants his/her lives to be organized and ruled for the next couple of years. Fiji is now at that juncture and as September draws near, electioneering is fast approaching fever pitch.

On the one side are a number of political parties painstakingly dissecting some of the more controversial (and popular) policies and programs of the Bainimarama government. And on the other side, is Fiji First with its track record and string of promises about more to come. If the choices had been confined to evaluations on that level, it would be easier not to take thinking to the next level. Sadly enough, many citizens think only at that bread-butter level!

These observations from a fair-minded Fiji friend with which I only partly agree. I think he concentrates too much  on the "means" and not enough on the very different likely consequences should a SODELPA or a FijiFirst party forms the next government. - Croz

A close scrutiny of SODELPA’s pitch shows that it does not confine itself to the ambit of bread/butter politics; SODELPA is talking about the very survival of the Fijian people as a cultural grouping – the iTaukei identity. They are not willing to re-align the iTaukei identity with vastly changed circumstances; hence the hark back to the GCC, Methodism and benign rule by a chosen few for the lewe-ni-vanua.

Likewise, Fiji First is offering a Fijian identity to all of Fiji’s people – there was no widespread input from the iTaukei on this. There was no consultation before unceremoniously zapping the GCC, no explanations following protocol afterwards. Everyone in Fiji is now Fijian …. close of discussions, let’s move on! We know what is best for you!

It is this style that troubles me greatly – this is why I think there is little to choose from when we compare the styles offered by Qarase/SDL/SODELPA and that offered by Fiji First. Let me try to explain this seeming conundrum.

When Qarase was ramrodding that i Qoliqoli Bill (and the rest), he had a tightly controlled support group in government (GCC, parliament) and he was not going to broach any opposition – it was his way or the highway. Ethno-nationalism was his ticket to power and he was not going to entertain any foolishness on that point. This style persisted in his decision-making approach to governance. After all, he learnt it in the cauldron of 2000.

With Fiji First, we see the same style being mirrored; only this time without any real decorum aside from the dramatic declaration of little-understood decrees that only see light after-the-fact. Any question raised (no matter how necessary) is treated with suspicion, dismissed, shouted down or obfuscated with the confident knowledge that there will be no follow-ups. Remember Minister Kaitani of the SDL?

Thus the media has finally been either muzzled or hijacked. The Fiji Sun used shrewd business strategy early in allowing Bainimarama publicity when he needed it; now it has allowed its Coconut Wireless column to fire broadsides at anti-Fiji First entities at will. FBC has a Saiyed-Khaiyum at its helm, so we recently saw what clearly appeared to be a “rehearsed interview” featuring Bainimarama. Of course, this will be denied vehemently!

Qarase used to go on a Santa ride distributing freebies in the lead-up to elections. Bai is doing the same now even though he denies it and anyone caught saying this better beware. Anyone not with Fiji First is against it – that’s the dictum. The Fiji voters will not be fooled this time is another point of similarity. This appears to say that we have always been fools and this time we’ll be guided to make the right choice! Democracy!

Qarase used to be the Minister for Elections, so Khaiyum will retain that post while checking all government work as AG and plotting political strategy as Secretary General of Fiji First. If Qarase was right, how can Khaiyum be wrong – another point of similarity. Saneem has been appointed Supervisor of Elections without meeting a key requirement. So what? Sound familiar?

Thus when one looks at styles, attitudes and type of concern for democratic principles, there is not much difference to choose from. God bless Fiji.

This article has been written by a concerned observer who fears unwanted attention and negative fallout – s/he could not resist filing a perspective that has so far been deafeningly silent.

Lockington's Everyday Fiji ... Life Goes On

Unique Style

I read with interest the article about the unique traditional storytelling chants known as Vakalutu-i-voce. The  awards has been named after Vauliasi Cagitubuna because of his unique singing style.

This could be a dying traditional art that will soon only be seen performed by contemporary artists. There are a few more traditional art and craft that are now mainly performed by the the elders. For the lucky child he or she is privileged to have these passed onto them. Modernisation and other factors will have affected how it was passed down to them. Pottery, mat and basket weaving , the meke, and traditional chants, to name a few.

While we are still on the subject, our local artists could form associations and go into the villages and settlements, while the old folk are still alive, and resurrect and document all the old traditional arts and craft and introduce them into vocational studies in schools. We teach carpentry, cooking and sewing in school, why not include tradition also?

May I suggest that we rope in the Fiji Arts Council, USP, the Ministry of iTaukei affairs, Provincial Councils and other interested parties or people. Fiji is oozing with talent and traditional arts and craft unique only to Fiji, lets do something now or lose it all together.

Professor Subramani is one person who comes to mind regarding the iTaukei language and  its issues. The other noted persons are Dr Paul Geraghty and Master Iliesa Baravilala.

And who better to head this assignment than Tuilagi Igelese Ete of the Oceania Centre for Arts, Culture & Pacific Studies at USP.


Allen Lockington is a self-employed customs agent and business consultant who has regular articles published in Fiji. I thank Allen for permission to reprint some of them in this political blog. They remind us that life goes on, whatever the political situation. And it's good to know that.
Lockington's Everyday Fiji ... Life Goes On

Amnesty International Being Hoodwinked By Fiji Informants

I  have donated to Amnesty International for many years but have now stopped. This article provides an example of why I have changed my opinion about the quality of their work. Their assessment of the Fiji situation is based on reports from those opposed to the Bainimarama Government. Their allegations are dated, exaggerated, and they appear to make no efforts to verify what they are told.  AA was not formed to take sides during an election campaign. - Croz

NZ: Amnesty calls on Fiji to stop human rights violations as protesters plan action

http://www.pmc.aut.ac.nz/pacific-media-watch/nz-amnesty-calls-fiji-stop-human-rights-violations-protesters-plan-action-8893

Friday, August 8, 2014

Item: 8893

AUCKLAND (Amnesty International / TV3 / Pacific Media Watch): Fiji's former military leader Voreqe Bainimarama has created a climate of fear which must be brought to an end, Amnesty International says.

Bainimarama arrived in New Zealand tonight on a private visit to campaign with local Fijians ahead of his country's first elections since he took control of the Pacific nation in a military coup in 2006.

He was under the protection of NZ’s Department of Internal Affairs minders.

He has said he wants to create a level playing field for Fijians, but Amnesty International says his government continues to violate human rights.

Amnesty International wants this to stop, and wants all political parties and candidates in Fiji's September 17election to respect and protect human rights if they form the next government.

Grant Bayldon, executive director of Amnesty International New Zealand, says human rights defenders, journalists and trade union leaders continue to face harassment, and there are reports of Fijian security forces using torture against people in custody.

"Restrictions on freedom of expression, assembly and association in Fiji should be lifted and acts of intimidation and harassment against government critics and peaceful activists must stop.

Repression continues
"It is not enough to say the right things when abroad while allowing the repression to continue at home."

Bainimarama, who stood down as military commander in March so he could contest the elections as a civilian, will be following other Fijian party leaders in coming to Auckland to campaign with the Fijian population.

Details of his movements are being closely guarded but he is addressing a political rally in Manukau tomorrow for his Fiji First party.

New Zealand is supporting the election by supplying $1.5 million in IT and Hansard equipment as part of a United Nations Development Programme-led project.

The Asia-Pacific Human Rights Coalition (APHRC) announced it would hold a "Back to Democracy" seminar in Auckland later this month.
 

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FNP and FFP Argue a Few Points: Video

Join Veena Bhatnagar on  FijiTV2's Aaina programme (Ep. 138, 8th August) as she interviews NFP's Biman Prasad and FFP's Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum about the state of their party campaigns, and on the issues of citizenry, the economy, the cost of living, government appointments, and why some reports will only be released in September. The speakers, especially Biman, switch back and forth between Hindi and English, and there are English subtitles. Somewhat repetitive and some talking past each other, but a worthwhile programme and a credit to Veena and  both speakers. Conducted with civilised good humour.  An example of Fiji as it "can be".

Road Map for Panicking Parties

I had hoped to publish this on my previous post but have only now learnt how to publish photos  on my ipad using Blogger. 

Yet Another Case of Former Corruption and Abuse of Office

Dakuidreketi found guilty

18:50 Today

Taken from/By: FBC News
Report by: Ellen Stolz

Suva High Court Judge Justice Janaka Bandara has overturned the decision of the assessors in the trial of businessman Keni Dakuidreketi in Suva.

In his judgment, Justice Bandara found Dakuidreketi guilty on all five counts of abuse of office for purpose of gain.

Dakuidreketi had used government grants to finance an IT company, called Pacific Connex, owned by Ballu Khan, through Vanua Development Corporation Limited (VDCL), a limited liability company of the then-Native Land Trust Board.

At the time Dakuidreketi was the chairman of Vanua Development Corporation, the business arm of NLTB.

Justice Bandara told the court that Dakuidreketi was aware that the company, PCX, was not doing well financially but yet turned a blind eye.

In mitigation Dakuidreketi’s lawyers requested for a few days to make available three witnesses for the case.

Dakuidreketi will now appear in court on Tuesday to confirm the availability of the witnesses whereby a date for the sentencing will be scheduled.

- See more at: http://www.fbc.com.fj/fiji/21948/dakuidreketi-found-guilty#sthash.UWxwK8X6.dpuf

SODELPA Should Not Panic Yet

STOP PRESS. The latest gems from Laisenia Qarase according to FijiVillage reports are that it's impossible to have equal citizenry because God gave  Fiji to the Taukei; Fiji should be a Christian State because God brought Christianity to Fiji, and the reason why the election ballot papers start at the number 135 is because this Koran verse number is about justice and somehow this will help Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum  fulfil his dream.  However we may account for such nonsense - a political strategy, several slips of the tongue or merely early signs of dementia - the remarks are clearly divisive and contrary to any notion of respect and tolerance for Fiji citizens who do not share his unChristian ideas on Christianity. They seem also to be further signs that SODELPA really is panicking.

SODELPA members holding more rational democratic and liberal views should disassociate themselves from Qarase's remarks before irretrievable damage is done to the party's chances of  winning more than a handful of seats in the 17th September elections. See also http://www.fijisun.com.fj/?p=222877
                                                            ---
All of the parties opposed to FijiFirst seem to be getting nervous. Labour is blaming cruising police cars for poor attendance at its meetings. FNP's Biman Prasad seeks to widen its audience by challenging Bainimarama to a debate, and PDP seems to think it will get some Taukei votes if it supports a return of the GCC.


But these parties are not part of the main contest that Krishna Datt, I think rightly, says will be fought between SODELPA and FijiFirst. That's why it's surprising to see SODELPA showing signs of panic so early in the election.

 It's early days yet and much too early to predict an election winner.  It's true Fiji First is attracting big turns outs and the Razor Polls show Bainimarama way out in front of Ro Teimumu and other party leaders, but SODELPA had one good turnout in Lautoka and Ro Teimumu has crept back to the 12% preferred PM status she had three weeks ago.That's a big improvement on her previous 6%. And it's likely the Razor Poll has an urban bias whereas SODELPA is likely to have more support in rural areas. Next week's poll should show how whether the appearance of Australian Rugby League star Lote Tuqiri with Ro Teimumu was much of a voter winner in Lautoka.


Signs of panic

Earlier, SODELPA said it was prepared to form a coalition government with the FLP; it's now widened the invitation to all parties. With the FLP polling so badly, as many of its former supporters have shifted their support to the NFP, PDP and, of course, FijiFirst, it seems likely FLP will not win a single seat. SODELPA needs a coalition with parties more likely to win seats. SODELPA's Laisenia Qarase says they will win at least 26 seats in the 50-seat Parliament, but widening the coalition invitation makes it look like SODELPA is increasingly unsure it will win anything like that number.

To have any chance, they need to be sending out a different message.  Repeatedly saying they will reinstate the Great Council of Chiefs and restore God to his "rightful position" in the Constitution is no longer necessary. They've been there and done that, over and over again.  Now they need to talk about issues that concern ordinary citizens, not the Taukei elite they also wish to reinstate.

I thought for a moment Qarase was going to offer new insights into what SODELPA would do about education when he spoke to villagers in Kadavu last week, but all he offered was a return to the past with separate tertiary scholarships for Taukei and other races to ensure enough Taukei get into a university (government's "top up" scheme already caters for possible under-representation). I suspect most parents are more concerned about the costs of primary and secondary education where the the Bainimarama government has already helped ease the load.

Qarase's argument that Bainimarama has not made education free seems unlikely to convince many. He is playing with words when he says it's mainly tuition  that is free(which it certainly wasn't when he was Prime Minister). To argue that education is not free because parents still have to buy school uniforms and midday lunches must leave some people puzzled. And I've no idea where he got the impression that the USA is the only country in the world that had free education. He should read the gawker.com webite where the the Wall Street Journal said  in several states school fees were $200 per child, and likely to be three times that now. Or read the discussion on fees in Maine where some school fees are over $1,000. And so on. You cannot believe all you read, Laisenia. Not even what you write yourself.

If there's any real cause for SOLEPHA to panic it's because they could well be seen to have totally lost the plot unless they find a convincing spokesman soon.


Why Christians won’t use neutral prayer, Qarase tells Nadera group
July 25, 2014 | Filed under: Fiji News | Posted by: newsroom
LITIA CAVA
SUVA
Former Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase says there is absolutely no way that Christians will accept the neutral prayer offered by the Government based on the Secular State.
He was speaking at a Social Democratic Liberal Party (SODELPA) campaign meeting at Nadera Methodist Church hall last night.
About 50 people attended.
Mr Qarase said: “We cannot worship a GOD we do not know.” He questioned the implications of the Secular State.
He said if a school teacher wanted to conduct a Christian prayer ‘is he doing something wrong’.
“This is what I am trying to say about this provision of the new Constitution. It brings complication and confusion.”
The Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama has said that people were free to practice their own religion provided they do not impose it on others. He said they could pray freely but the Government could not impose any religion on people.
Mr Qarase said the problem with the Bill of Rights was that it was too broad.
“There are more rights in this Constitution compared to the 1997 and 1970.
“However, the biggest problem is that this law provides the Government the authority to limit your rights.”
He gave the Media Decree as an example. He also cited the right to housing. He said people could go to the Government for housing assistance. But it was up to the Government.

Ro Teimumu's telling the military they will be forgiven if they apologize could have been a sign of reconciliation or panic but older soldiers will remember that the Qarase government, of which Ro Teimumu was a member, helped create the conditions that led to the Coup.  So it's debatable who should be apologizing to who.

It seems likely that the constantly high polls for Bainimarama as preferred PM and FijiFirst as the preferred party could also be panicking SODELPA.

"I get the shivers up my spine"

The following extract was written by a FijiFirst opponent, Sachin Bairam, in Facebook, It display something of the same panic and confused or contradictory  arguing,  but it is an important comment for precisely these reasons. At times, he even supports what the Bainimarama government is doing and at other times he says people in earlier governments were just as bad.

Sachin wrote that  "Every time I read the Razor Research/Fiji Sun opinion poll, I get shivers in my spine" with Bainimarama leading by such a large margin.

Sachin thinks "the polling data and method of polling is skewed by fraud, mischief and meant to scare the opposition. The pollsters should be cross–examined as to how they arrived at those outrageous numbers."

But the poll "should not be shrugged off as piece of garbage. Voter’s opinion (no matter how rigged the polls are) should be paid attention to in a big way. The present poll shows voters preference towards Frank Bainimarama  ...will win big unless the opposing parties can put to the voters some mind-blowing argument why Bainimarama should not be the Prime Minster."

He said he had not heard any good counter- arguments, as yet.

"However, it is not late. If the opposing party leaders have the drive, desire, determination and gumption, they can find few powerful issues and evidence that will create doubt in the minds of the voters not to cast their vote for FijiFirst party. Party leaders- let’s hear those arguments in some detail with specifics supported by clear and cogent evidence. Just by repeating over and over again that Bainimarama got into power by gun- trotting means and illegitimate method will not suffice. That he has has suspended the freedom of speech, press and assembly and so forth of Fiji people will not suffice, either."

"When he ascended to power by crooked method, the people of Fiji were mired in poverty, corruption, crime, unemployment, rising food prices, land and housing problems.  Bainimarama stepped up, he quickly straightened the nation’s ship, hit on all eight cylinders and got to work.

"He did everything what his core strengths and beliefs inspired him to do. Granted- he used some abusive and high- handed manner in achieving his goals but so what? Over eighty percent of the voters still like him and think he has done a great job. Yes! Maybe, he has personally benefited in numerous ways during his eight years of reign.

"But think! Name one leader of Fiji who did not benefit from his leadership position? Even late Ratu Mara known as the “father of new Fiji” did things for Lauans at the expense of other villages.

"Hence, what needs to be taken to heart is that polls should give politicians an indication of popular issues and the mood of the voters. It should not be ignored. True leaders should find ways and means to prove that Razor/ Fiji Sun polls are dead wrong. Candidates can do it by persuading the voters that they have better ideas and programs how to run the country. They can do it by demonstrating to the voters that if voted into power, they can do hundred times better than the present dictatorship/oligarchy. If the opposing party leaders can take this approach, persuade the voters that they can work tirelessly for the benefit of the country to improve the standard of living of all the people then we should see a shift in polls.

"I suggest that the opposing parties should get together and pay for an independent polling company (there are many), to conduct an opinion poll every week. It is usually done over the telephone. We will then be able to see what the actual, true result will be. I bet they will not be surprised. The result will be similar to the one being conducted by Razor Research/Fiji Sun. Party leaders - it is up to you to prove that Razor/Fiji Sun poll is completely and absolutely wrong."
                                                       ----

Readers will have noted that Sachin said the polls were rigged but an independent poll would show the same result.  I think what he means is that the people are not polling as they should.

God, the Great Council of Chiefs and the SODELPA Manifesto

Opinion piece by Crosbie Walsh

"Our manifesto affirms SODELPA will place God in His rightful position." -- Ro Teimumu.

In other circumstances —in another century or sitting with the Taliban— I would have been mildly amused that SODELPA intends to put "God back in His rightful position" by amending the 2013 Constitution. I would have thought God was already everywhere and did not need a helping hand from a political party.

I would also have thought making Fiji a Christian state was unnecessary. The secular state protects all religious beliefs, and does not require the caveat that non-Christian beliefs will also be protected.  

So why is the inclusion of God so important to SODELPA in its intended new constitution?

It is, I think, based on two premises, both of them believed  by many ordinary Taukei.

First, the fusion of religion and chiefly authority that typified tribal society in pre-Cession Fiji is still very much alive in modern Fiji.  Obeying and respecting  one's chiefs is seen by many Taukei to be part of the natural— and supernatural— order.

Secondly, there is the mistaken belief that the chiefs ceded Fiji to Christianity and Queen Victoria, There is absolutely nothing in the Deed of Cession to support the former claim. The myth, for that is what it is, has been kept alive by extreme Methodist and Taukei nationalists, and a lot of wishful thinking.

For a Taukei nationalist party such as SODELPA, being seen to restore God to His rightful place —even if He was never not there— will therefore win votes from the less educated. SODELPA clearly wants them to think that God is on its side, and the secular state defined in the 2013 Constitution makes Fiji a state without God.

This, of course, is arrogant nonsense. SODELPA has no special claim on God and this tactic is unlikely to win many votes from liberal Methodists and other Christians.

It has not always been recognized that the Methodist Church has been a battleground between moderates and extremists since the 1987 Coup.¹  The extremists took over the church leadership and supported the Rabuka Coup and short-lived 1990 Constitution when as a Christian state, the Sunday Ban prohibited shops from opening and buses from operating which, ironically, resulted in many of the faithful being unable to attend church!

No other Methodist Church anywhere in the world and no other Christian denomination in Fiji has called for a Christian state. 

Indeed, Fiji's second largest denomination, the Catholic Church, has positively endorsed  the secular state.

Speaking last week to a workshop for Church leaders and politicians Archbishop Peter Loy Chong said: "The Catholic Church is clear in her role in politics. Pope Paul VI's letter clearly states the role of the church and State are separate."

Ro Teimumu, a Catholic, attended the workshop so,  she said,  she could " hear from the experts who have been teaching on secularism, secular state, those who have done studies on it, they have written papers on it so we can hear from them what is the position of the church in as far as the secular state is concerned.”

But SODEPLA's Manifesto was already written and her mind made up long before she attended the workshop. Immediately afterwards, she ignored the teaching of her church and the workshop, and spoke instead  of the  "historical facts in the 1997 Constitution included the Deed of Cession." The die had already been cast.

But it is not only God SODELPA wishes to include in the Constitution.  He is to be joined by Taukei chiefs, or more precisely, the Great Council of Chiefs for only it, they claim and despite assurances to the contrary, can protect Taukei land and customs.

There is much more to the SODELPA Manifesto but everything else is subordinate to these two primary pillars, the "inclusion" of the Christian God and the restoration of the Great Council of Chiefs.

And this, it is hard to believe,  from a party whose name proclaims it to be both democratic and liberal; a party that wants to govern a multi-racial and multi-religious Fiji in the twenty-first century.
                                                             

¹ Perhaps not widely known, Graham Davis's father was the President of the Fiji  Methodist Church in the 1950s-60s. Graham's September 2012 article on the resurgence of religious intolerance in the Methodist Church is worth reading.

Reducing Geographic Inequalities: Just Vote Winning or True Development?

Levuka

A cynical reader asked why government was suddenly spending money on the outer island, and then answered himself: it's all to do with buying votes. Government opponents have been making the same claim for several years. In fact, they could go back as far as the People's Charter that established rural and outer island development as a priority.

Bainimarama's visits to remote villages and recent developments may persuade some voters that Government's doing a good job but the developments are simply part of an ongoing process, and Bainimarama has been sitting down and having a  talanoa with ordinary Fijians in towns and remote areas are an essential part of his style.  I've lot count of the number of people who have said this is the first time a PM. or a Government Minister or a senior civil servant has visited my village or my settlement and sat down iwth us and asked what we needed. And then gone back to Suva to make sure they got what they needed.  Compare this homely down to earth approach with that of the chiefly Taukei party.

Speaking at the Lomaiviti Provincial Council meeting last week the PM gave an overview of what has been done for the island province. In 2014 alone some $11.5m was allocated for development work, and there have been improvements of roads, schools, hospitals, dispensaries and wharves. Rural electrification is going well and health services are constrantly improving. Foot bridges have been completed in Gau Island anothers are being built in Ovalau and Malawai.

Two new ships have been ordered to service the outer islands and a third ship will be ordered soon. The $11 million wharf in Qarani will be completed by September.  Development work for next year includes a District Office and a morgue on Koro, a new bridge in Levuika and a river wall in Tokou. And Government will continue to engage with local  people on income-generating projects.

Taki Mai
 
While still on Ovalau the PM launched a new local drink TakiMai produced by South Pacific Elixirs at a  new facility in Levuka.  This is what he had to say:

This project marks yet another achievement in the surge of rural and maritime development that has been taking place across Fiji. As your Prime Minister, I have committed my Government to ensuring that progress and development is not limited to the main island of Viti Levu and big towns and cities, and indeed I am very proud to see all the activity taking place around the country.

After assuming office, I insisted that government adhere to a number of fundamental, non-negotiable principles, which include the belief that no Fijian should ever be an outsider or second-class in the new Fiji. That no Fijian should ever be considered inferior because of his or her background, beliefs or where he was born.

These principles are now enshrined in the Fijian Constitution, which creates a common an equal citizenry for the first time in our nation’s history. In other words, all Fijians now enjoy a level playing field as they work to build better lives for themselves and their families.
However, while the Constitution offers the foundation for the new Fiji, it is up to us as a people to decide what we build on this foundation.

We must never forget that the notion of equality for all Fijians cannot be achieved if some Fijians enjoy better services and have more opportunities because of where they are born.

That’s why my Government has made rural and maritime development one of our most urgent priorities. I firmly believe that a person on Ovalau should have the same access to electricity and water as a person in Suva; that a person in Seaqaqa should have the same access to the Internet as a person in Labasa; that a person in Rabi should have the same access to basic health services as a person in Lautoka.

While there is still much work to be done, I and many Fijians are happy with the progress being made around the country as a direct result of my Government’s emphasis on action and results over words and promises.

Indeed, this has always been a defining feature of my administration. Look at the last two weeks alone: we have been to Taveuni to open a new hydro power plant, to Lautoka for a new market shed and classroom block, and to Namosi for a new solar project.

This is the perfect example of how lots of little projects are adding up to the big picture of our national development that is improving the lives of Fijians across the country.

Unfortunately, there are some politicians who are going around telling you not to be impressed, that rural development is the responsibility of any government. That any other government would be doing the same if it were in power.

I believe that Fijians can see this for the nonsense that it is. They know that my Government is different. We travel around the country to speak with ordinary people directly, we listen to your concerns, and we deliver results in a way that never happened before when politicians cared more about preserving their own privileged positions than they did about serving the Fijian people.

I am the Prime Minister for every Fijian and I consider it to be a great privilege to serve all of our people, from all backgrounds, and from all parts of the country.

Of course, part of leadership is understanding how this service is confined by limited resources and geography. This isn’t to say that we can’t achieve great things for Fiji, it just means that we have to be smart in the way we address challenges, creative in the way we employ resources, and holistic in the way we approach development.

The project here in Levuka is a great example of this. Not only does this new factory and nursery create much-needed jobs on the island, but “TakiMai” is also an innovative product that adds value to one of Fiji’s most famous crops, kava. This opens a new era of opportunity for kava farmers on the island, and hopefully with time, further afield.

Kava is one of our nation’s most cherished crops and Ovalau has long been known as one of Fiji’s premier kava-producing regions. Despite this, however, we have struggled over the years with exporting kava to overseas markets.
Many of you will remember a few years ago when Europe’s demand for kava created a boom in the industry. Unfortunately, in the rush to take advantage of this windfall, little consideration was given to quality control. Leaves and stems were mixed with the roots and look what happened.

There was no quality control. Governments must engender quality control and standards. This we are doing through the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the respective private sector stakeholders. This we are promoting through the ‘Buy Fijian’ and ‘Fijian Made’ initiative.

I’m pleased to see that South Pacific Elixirs is once again targeting overseas markets – in the United States, Australia and other countries. I share their enthusiasm for this product’s potential in these markets and I look forward to them working with local farmers to set a new benchmark for quality and consistency that will boost Fijian-grown kava’s reputation internationally. I look forward to them collaborating with our Ministries of Agriculture and Industry and Trade.

Through education and awareness efforts, SPE will help farmers increase the quality of the kava that they supply to all their markets – which we believe will create a ripple effect throughout the rest of the industry, opening doors to new export opportunities.

I am happy that my Government has been able to help SPE build relationships with local farmers on Ovalau as well as provide the project financial assistance through a grant of more than $130,000 under our National Export Strategy, through the Ministry of Industry and Trade, an initiative that has supported 54 projects totalling more than $9 million over the last seven years.

I look forward to them moving their entire operations to Fiji where the final product can be made in Fiji. There is no doubt that my Government would provide them with the appropriate initiatives to do so. After all it will not only help SPE take advantage of a bigger and better brand value but help create more jobs right from the growth of yaqona to the end product.

I take this opportunity to thank the Australian Government for its support of this project through the Market Development Facility. Their cooperation with SPE has been important in making this all possible.

In iTaukei, “Taki Mai” is a phrase used while drinking kava, which means “serve me now.” So without further delay, it is my pleasure to officially open this new factory and nursery and to wish SPE all the best in its future endeavours.

Thank You. Vinaka Vakalevu. And Taki Mai.

Crucial Decisions for Pacific Islands Forum

--

The future of the oceans is high on the agenda as the Republic of Palau prepares for Tuesday’s opening of the Pacific Islands Forum.

As leaders gather in Koror for the 45th Forum meeting, there will be a series of side meetings discussing the sustainable management, conservation and exploitation of ocean resources. Pacific governments are preparing to intervene in global debates on sustainable development, and this year’s theme is “The Ocean: Life and Future.”
With New Zealand Prime Minister John Key preparing for elections and Prime Minister Tony Abbott of Australia missing his first Forum to cope with fallout from the Malaysian airlines disaster, the prime ministers of Vanuatu and the Cook Islands will also be absent from this week’s gathering.
The absence of leaders might suggest that this annual meeting is losing its cachet. For Forum Secretary General Tuiloma Neroni Slade, however, decisions taken at the Palau gathering will have “far reaching consequences.”
“It’s a meeting that occurs at an important moment in the history of the development of member countries,” he said. “We are attracting very high level personalities from our development partners, and this of course is an event that the region is taking very seriously.”
The agenda in Palau includes a number of crucial decisions which will determine the future of the region’s key intergovernmental agency.
This week, Forum leaders must choose a new Secretary General to head the Forum Secretariat, agree on the extent of engagement with the Bainimarama regime as Fiji moves towards elections next September; and finalise policies on environment and development to carry into crucial international summits over the next 18 months.

Improving Forum governance

The meeting comes as the Forum Secretariat is under pressure from all directions, facing a diverse mix of development partners, burgeoning sub-regional organisations, civil society critiques, and concern from some member governments that crucial resources are not flowing to the national level.
With an increasingly complex regional and international agenda, the Suva-based secretariat must manage relationships with other regional intergovernmental agencies in the Council of Regional Organisations of the Pacific (CROP). In Palau, regional leaders will endorse a new Framework for Pacific Regionalism, which was outlined at a special leaders’ retreat in May and circulated to Pacific governments, business and civil society for discussion.
The new framework replaces the Pacific Plan for Strengthening Regional Cooperation and Integration, following the 2012 Winder review of the Forum Secretariat (which was critical of the priorities and capacities of the regional organisation), and the 2013 review of the Pacific Plan led by former PNG Prime Minister Sir Mekere Morauta.
Morauta’s team began looking at the priorities outlined in the 2005 Pacific Plan. They soon broadened to a much wider debate about the future of regionalism, highlighting uncertainty about the role and mandate of the regional institutions.
Addressing Forum leaders last year in Majuro, Morauta stated: “There is a compelling argument for greater regional cooperation and integration across the Pacific. . . . However, progress in regionalism has in our opinion slowed down, and by too much.”
Describing a region “at the crossroads,” Morauta was sharply critical of the Pacific Plan: “Confidence in the Pacific Plan and some of the institutions around it has fallen to the point where some observers question their survival.”
The Pacific Plan had become a long shopping list of priorities for the CROP agencies, and the new regional framework is designed to encourage more focused cooperation to support regional integration.
Despite the new framework, however, the Forum still faces challenges to maintain its position as the premier intergovernmental agency in the region. Some member governments are uncertain about the potential loss of sovereignty that will come with increased political integration, while the forum of independent nations must decide whether to open its doors by granting full membership to non-self-governing territories like New Caledonia and French Polynesia.
Sub-regional organisations like the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) are also addressing complex issues that the Forum has been reluctant to touch for many years, such as the MSG’s recent debates on membership for the West Papuan nationalist movement (a debate avoided on the Forum agenda because of sensitivities in Canberra, Port Moresby and Jakarta).

Engaging Fiji

Above all, the region is still monitoring Fiji’s transition to parliamentary rule, with elections to be held in September. While Fiji has retained its Forum membership since the 2006 coup, the Bainimarama government has been suspended from Forum meetings and activities – and the Fiji Prime Minister has suggested he is in no rush to rejoin an organisation perceived as dominated by Canberra and Wellington.
Speaking to journalists before the Forum, Secretary General Neroni Slade noted: “I think the suspension of Fiji has been a traumatic experience for member countries and for Fiji itself. It’s never happened before and I hope it never happens again.”
Since the Forum’s ministerial mission earlier this year, member countries are eager for Fiji to be reintegrated into Forum meetings, with Australia and New Zealand now more open to economic and military engagement. But Fiji’s suspension has opened the way for new international relations and South-South cooperation, with the Bainimarama government chairing the G 77+ China group throughout 2013. Suva has also established the Pacific Islands Development Forum (PIDF) as a new venue for governments, business and Pacific civil society to discuss alternative visions of development.
“Fiji will be high on the leaders’ agenda,” Slade noted, though the crucial decision on ending the suspension will only be taken after Fiji’s elections. “Last year Forum leaders decided to revisit the situation after free and fair elections in September. The desired outcome would be the lifting of the suspension of Fiji’s participation in Forum meetings and other activities and for full engagement and normalisation of the situation.”
After weathering a “fascinating but challenging” period, Neroni Slade will complete his second term as Secretary General in October. This week in Palau, Forum leaders must decide on his replacement.
There are a number of declared candidates, but no clear frontrunner. Three leading Melanesian figures have been nominated by their countries: former foreign minister and ambassador Kaliopate Tavola of Fiji; former ambassador Dame Meg Taylor of Papua New Guinea; and Doctor Jimmie Rodgers, recently retired as director-general of the Secretariat the Pacific Community (SPC). The other formally nominated contender is Fabian Nimea of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM).
The decision is complicated by the candidacy of Tony de Brum of the Marshall Islands, endorsed by three Micronesian chief executives after the formal 31 May deadline for nomination. De Brum serves as Minister assisting the President of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the outgoing Forum chair Christopher Loeak.
The crucial decision on leadership comes as the Forum has expanded relations with a wider range of players across the region. Neroni Slade says: “I think increasingly the world community is engaged in very, very interesting ways. I think countries out there are very interested in investing in our region, in partnering Pacific communities and Pacific countries because we’re producing some good results.”
In recent years, the Forum has hosted high profile dignitaries such as UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. This year’s star turn is Catherine Ashton, the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.
Two European countries, Turkey and Spain, are seeking the status of Post Forum Dialogue Partner, aiming to join 15 other countries that will hold discussions with Forum leaders next Friday. Spain applied last year but its application was deferred - a diplomatic signal to highlight regional anger over illegal fishing by Spanish vessels at a time that island nations are seeking to regulate their exclusive economic zones (EEZs).

Managing ocean resources

The invasion of EU fishing vessels into the region is just one of the many oceanic challenges facing Pacific governments, which must deal with a range of economic and environmental impacts on the world’s largest ocean.
This week, Palau President Tommy Remengesau Jr. will highlight the host country’s initiatives on ocean management, including the creation of a shark sanctuary and a new proposal to ban commercial fishing in 80 percent of the country’s exclusive economic zone.
The Palau meeting will also issue a Leaders’ Declaration on Oceans in the lead up to a series of global summits that will redefine policies on environment, development and climate change.
Decisions from the Palau Forum will be carried into next September’s global meeting of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in Samoa, the third in a series of summits that began in Barbados in 1994.
The SIDS conference also provides a springboard to highlight island concerns on climate change in the lead up to November’s UN climate negotiations in Peru and the December 2015 conference in Paris to finalise a global climate treaty.
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have framed international development policy since 2000, and Forum leaders will receive reports on progress made by Pacific island countries in achieving the MDG targets and the effectiveness of development cooperation.
Beyond this, Pacific governments are seeking to advance their perspectives as the United Nations seeks to set new global targets for sustainable development and recast donor priorities. Next year the MDGs will be transformed into Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s), and Small Island Developing States are lobbying for the inclusion of a new goal on the oceans.
Neroni Slade says: “Our central concern is to safeguard the health of what is our home environment. I think people are realising that we have an interest in safeguarding the health of the ocean and the resources of the ocean. This is our principal argument – to treat the ocean as a central stand-alone development goal. “

Source: Islands Business.

What should we expect from Pacific regionalism?

By Seini O'Connor

Development Policy Center, Australian National University.   29  July 14

Over the next few days the presidents, prime ministers and premiers of small Pacific island countries—and of their two close neighbours, New Zealand and Australia—will gather for the annual Pacific Islands Forum in the Republic of Palau. For the government of Palau, the secretariat of the forum, and the central and foreign affairs ministries in the forum’s member countries, the event commands considerable attention. But what will it mean for the people of the Pacific?

There are compelling reasons for Pacific countries to work together—and getting together to talk helps the working process, especially in a region where good communications services are still lacking. Perhaps more fundamentally, talking can build shared identity and solidarity, which in turn can bring about change on the international stage: one of the early resolutions of the forum was a unanimous rejection of nuclear testing in the Pacific, and a call for the Government of France to heed obligations under international law to immediately halt their activities in the area. In more contemporary forums, countries have called on the United States to offer just compensation for their nuclear testing in the north Pacific. Some academic commentators suggest that this sort of “collective diplomacy” [pdf] underlies the ongoing legitimacy of the forum, and needs to be strengthened and built on (although there will be inevitable differences in state positions that make this difficult—as we have seen in recent news headlines).

Beyond the talking, though, people might rightly wonder: what work is being done? There are expectations that regionalism should bring not only resolutions, but new services and facilities visible on the ground. (As sometimes it has—the University of the South Pacific, and a few other pooled services, being cases in point). There are hopes, too, that regionalism will change lives and livelihoods: that it can support greater gender equality, protect human rights, progress labour mobility, reduce regional airfares, increase tourism, and equip Pacific people with the skills and technology to take on the world. Many of these expectations and hopes were expressed in the consultations and submissions [pdf] process for the Pacific Plan Review—a recent major assessment of Pacific regionalism by former Papua New Guinean Prime Minster Sir Mekere Morauta.

In order for regionalism to deliver on any of these possibilities, though, there needs to be political will at the national level. There is no Pacific equivalent of the European parliament: it is Pacific countries that make the decisions to engage in voluntary cooperation, and Pacific governments that sit in the ‘driving seats’ of the governing bodies of regional organisations, and of other regional meetings. As the region’s most robust and long-standing political/policy-setting meeting, the Pacific Islands Forum presents an ideal setting in which to foster cooperation and integration at the widest regional level. But our Pacific decision-makers, when they come together, need an opportunity to actually discuss the issues of greatest importance to their people, and to explore the many avenues that lead to their eventual consensus. Asking them to sign off on a folder full of regional updates and suggestions creates an impetus for difficult issues to be “noted”, rather than tackled.

In recognition of this, political leaders at the upcoming forum will consider a better way of doing business: a Framework for Pacific Regionalism [pdf], which—unlike its predecessor, the Pacific Plan—will not present a list of everything that is important to the region, but rather a process for identifying priorities worth tackling at the whole-of-region level. The framework was recommended by Sir Mekere Morauta and his review team, who urged that it be seen “as a framework for advancing the political principle of regionalism through a robust, inclusive process of political dialogue, the expression of political values about regionalism and sovereignty, and the decisive implementation of key, game-changing, drivers of regional integration.” The move away from detailing specific priorities was highlighted as necessary to ensure that the document wasn’t seen as a regional “wish list” for funding with more areas of coverage than could reasonably be overseen by leaders at any one time.

If it lives up to its promise, the Framework for Pacific Regionalism will support a tighter, more focussed forum agenda, with space for just a few ‘big issues’ to be discussed by political leaders at their annual retreat. It will promote the development of large-scale initiatives that bring together development partners, regional agencies and non-state actors with plans of action, rather than just good ideas. It will complement effective sub-regionalism. And it will support recognition for leadership to be shown in other areas: for ministers to drive regional cooperation through decisive collective action, for officials to provide direction to their regional organisations when they sign off on annual work plans, and for the vast range of actors outside of government to be involved in proposing and deciding what the region should focus its efforts on.

This is a lot to expect of a single framework document. And in reality, it won’t be the document that delivers: it will be the officials and decision-makers who use it guide their work. In fact, an essential feature of this new framework is that it moves our focus from lists captured in documents to processes enacted by people.

Pacific peoples should expect to hear from their governments on what this ‘new approach’ to regionalism is all about. And, in a region of so very many meetings, they should be right to at least hope, if not expect, that this upcoming one—the annual leaders’ forum—will bring some meaningful change.

Seini O’Connor is currently the Pacific Plan Adviser at the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat. The views presented in this post are those of the author, and not necessarily those of the PIFS or its members.