There’s speculation that Fiji’s interim Prime Minister may soon take over the presidency, but an academic says the acting president Ratu Epeli Nailatikau would be a popular choice.
An announcement on the presidency is expected after next week’s cabinet meeting, although no candidates have officially been named.
Dr Steven Ratuva says Commodore Frank Bainimarama may take over the position, and reconfigure the political system so that the Fiji presidency has the power of a US president.
But the political sociologist from the University of Auckland’s Centre for Pacific Studies says the acting president, Ratu Epeli Nailatikau, is also a leading contender.
“He was an ambassador to London, he was a Minister of Foreign Affairs and he was also commander of the military forces, and he’s also High Chief, he is actually the uncle of the King of Tonga. So he’s got everything in terms of traditional status, as well as professional qualifications.”
Dr Ratuva says the appointment of the president by the cabinet, shows how the influence of the chiefs has been limited to the villages and provinces.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Junta Employs Gestapo Tactics Against Church
Reports surfaced this morning further confirming the gestapo tactics of the Bainimarama junta and the Police against the Methodist Church. Yesterday, a senior Police officer Aisea Tabakau came to talk with Rev Nawadra the assistant secretary of the Methodist Church and in the process, Tabakau drafted a letter on Rev Nawadra's table to the effect that the Methodist Church had voluntarily agreed and accepted the imposition by the Bainimarama regime that no 'solevu' be held, and that no ceremonies will take place to acknowledge the contribution of the members of the Church from America and Australia in this year's fund raising activities. Tabakau then proceeded to try to use his influence to forcefully get Rev Nawadra to sign the letter. But contrary to Tabakau's expectations, his forceful gesture was given short shrift after he was politely asked by Rev Nawadra to get out.
Here we have the junta imposing its will against the right of the officials and members of the church to freely and peacefully assemble as stated in Article 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on the one hand. On the other, after deciding to cancel the permit given for the 'solevu' and the annual conference, we have a senior officer who is supposed to be a guardian of the rights of people according to law, imposing forcefully on a Church official to sign a written statement drafted by no other than Police officer Tabakau himself conceding the Church's voluntary agreement and acceptance of conditions and decisions imposed on it by the Bainimarama junta.
Tabakau is reported to have recently converted to the new Methodists where he is said to be a Minister. One wonders what kind of moral lowlife Rev Tabakau is, considering his actions. Yet the Biblical prophecy must be fulfilled in these last days; some false teachers will come in the Lord's name, and the faithful will be persecuted and betrayed even by their brothers, relatives and friends.
While others over 55 who refused to be converted to become New Methodists have been laid off, the likes of Tabakau who have sold their conscience out to the regime have been promoted and have retained their position. The fact that the rights of the members of the Methodist Church to freedom of thought, belief, religion and conscience as laid out in Article 19 of the UDHR does not matter to the morally corrupt such as New Methodist Rev Aisea Tabakua. All they want is their 30 pieces of silver.What can you do with the new Windows Live? Find out
The Dirty Secrets of Fiji Water
by Alex Knapp I'm not a drinker of bottled water, an attitude that has only hardened in me since I saw the brilliant skewering of the whole concept. But even I was shocked at the ruthless way Fiji's government acts to protect Fiji bottled water–the most popular bottled water in the world.
I sat down and sent out a few emails—filling friends in on my visit to the Fiji Water bottling plant, forwarding a story about foreign journalists being kicked off the island. Then my connection died. "It will just be a few minutes," one of the clerks said.Moments later, a pair of police officers walked in. They headed for a woman at another terminal; I turned to my screen to compose a note about how cops were even showing up in the Internet cafés. Then I saw them coming toward me. "We're going to take you in for questioning about the emails you've been writing," they said.
What followed, in a windowless room at the main police station, felt like a bad cop movie. "Who are you really?" the bespectacled inspector wearing a khaki uniform and a smug grin asked me over and over, as if my passport, press credentials, and stacks of notes about Fiji Water weren't sufficient clues to my identity. (My iPod, he surmised tensely, was "good for transmitting information.") I asked him to call my editors, even a UN official who could vouch for me. "Shut up!" he snapped. He rifled through my bags, read my notebooks and emails. "I'd hate to see a young lady like you go into a jail full of men," he averred, smiling grimly. "You know what happened to women during the 2000 coup, don't you?"
Eventually, it dawned on me that his concern wasn't just with my potentially seditious emails; he was worried that my reporting would taint the Fiji Water brand. "Who do you work for, another water company? It would be good to come here and try to take away Fiji Water's business, wouldn't it?"
What's even worse is that the Fiji water company is shipping away so much water that the citizens of Fiji are actually facing extraordinarily restrictive water rationing:
Our last rest stop, half an hour from the bottling plant, was Rakiraki, a small town with a square of dusty shops and a marketplace advertising "Coffin Box for Sale—Cheapest in Town." My Lonely Planet guide warned that Rakiraki water "has been deemed unfit for human consumption," and groceries were stocked with Fiji Water going for 90 cents a pint—almost as much as it costs in the US.Rakiraki has experienced the full range of Fiji's water problems—crumbling pipes, a lack of adequate wells, dysfunctional or flooded water treatment plants, and droughts that are expected to get worse with climate change. Half the country has at times relied on emergency water supplies, with rations as low as four gallons a week per family; dirty water has led to outbreaks of typhoid and parasitic infections. Patients have reportedly had to cart their own water to hospitals, and schoolchildren complain about their pipes spewing shells, leaves, and frogs. Some Fijians have taken to smashing open fire hydrants and bribing water truck drivers for a regular supply.
SWM
http://www.solivakasama.org/
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Peace Pipe attacks the Dictator
Their actions are too blatant and obvious. They are not hiding it anymore – there's huge benefits and rewards for the military especially those in high ranks. Bloody thieving armed robbers. What makes it worse we have the UN renewing the contracts of peace keepers in Iraq to lend credibilty and support to the criminals who took over the country by force and pilfering anything and everything they can.
Mereia was a precoup appointee and may be seen as part of the previous government just as Narube was and unfortunately had to be cleared out without any compuction. The RBF should just concentrate on its core business and not take on such institution as CDMA which operates optimally on its own. RBF under Sada is trying to increase its power base and in the process is acting irrationally.
Frank is looking more monstrous nowadys as can been in his picture above.
www.solivakasama.org
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
LOVE YOUR ENEMIES
In the face of the political crisis in Fiji, there is a growing chorus of opinion that the leaders of the Methodist Church are unfit to lead, that by complying with instructions from the Bainimarama junta concerning the annual conference, they are guilty of the dereliction of their duty. Others have expressed the view that the Methodist leadership has lost the courage and zeal of the early missionaries, that they should disregard the directives from government and turn instead to conducting spontaneous protest marches.
While agreeing with the notion that we need to return to democratic rule at the earliest opportunity, it is sad that Church leaders are being singled out as being ineffective on the one hand and are being persecuted on the other for their democratic stance. While the President, General Secretary, and senior Ministers of the Church were being dragged into the military camp and to the Police cells for interrogation, and are currently facing court action and a possible jail sentence, except for a very few, there is hardly a whimper of support from supporters of democracy in Fiji.
While people have a right to express their opinion, it is important to bear in mind that those who are committed to democratic principles should hold dearly the values of tolerance, cooperation and compromise. Mahatma Gandhi said "intolerance is itself a form of violence and an obstacle to the growth of a true democratic spirit. Further, although it may be legally correct to adopt a non-conciliatory attitude to the military regime currently in power, the Church as the body of Christ follows the teaching of Jesus of "loving its enemy" and "overcoming evil with good." In following government's directive, it is quite plain that rather than giving recognition to the government declared illegal by the Appeals Court last April, the Methodist Church leaders are merely abiding by the commandment to "do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you." Above all else, the Church has to ensure peace within the community. As for protest marches and civil protests, the Church leaders have already done their bits for which they are facing court action; perhaps it's time for our democracy champions to take up the challenge.
Simon the Zealot
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Epi.D
SWM
www.solivakasama.org
'Mother Jones' Exposes Fiji Water
-- If you saw the documentary Tapped, then you know all about how the billion-dollar bottled water industry is polluting the planet (and our bodies). An article in the latest issue of Mother Jones takes a look at one bottled water company in particular: chic, "artisanal" Fiji.
Government threats to her personal safety aside, the journalist who wrote the piece discovers how important Fiji the brand is to Fiji the country. But what is most disturbing is the greenwashing the company has indulged in recently. It promised to go carbon negative as of last year, but can only do so via a "forward crediting model," meaning it "takes credit now for carbon reductions that will actually happen over a few decades."
That may be how carbon credits work, but does anyone really believe that they can help save the planet by drinking water shipped from the other side of the world and packaged in hefty plastic bottles?
Epi.D
SWM
www.solivakasama.org
The Fiji Phenomenon: It's a Human Rights and Environmental Nightmare, So Why Is It the #1 Imported Bottled Water in the US?
How did a plastic water bottle, imported from a military dictatorship thousands of miles away, become the epitome of cool?
The Internet café in the Fijian capital, Suva, was usually open all night long. Dimly lit, with rows of sleek, modern terminals, the place was packed at all hours with teenage boys playing boisterous rounds of video games. But one day soon after I arrived, the staff told me they now had to shut down by 5 p.m. Police orders, they shrugged: The country's military junta had declared martial law a few days before, and things were a bit tense.
I sat down and sent out a few emails -- filling friends in on my visit to the Fiji Water bottling plant, forwarding a story about foreign journalists being kicked off the island. Then my connection died. "It will just be a few minutes," one of the clerks said.
Moments later, a pair of police officers walked in. They headed for a woman at another terminal; I turned to my screen to compose a note about how cops were even showing up in the Internet cafés. Then I saw them coming toward me. "We're going to take you in for questioning about the emails you've been writing," they said.
What followed, in a windowless room at the main police station, felt like a bad cop movie. "Who are you really?" the bespectacled inspector wearing a khaki uniform and a smug grin asked me over and over, as if my passport, press credentials, and stacks of notes about Fiji Water weren't sufficient clues to my identity. (My iPod, he surmised tensely, was "good for transmitting information.") I asked him to call my editors, even a UN official who could vouch for me. "Shut up!" he snapped. He rifled through my bags, read my notebooks and emails. "I'd hate to see a young lady like you go into a jail full of men," he averred, smiling grimly. "You know what happened to women during the 2000 coup, don't you?"
Eventually, it dawned on me that his concern wasn't just with my potentially seditious emails; he was worried that my reporting would taint the Fiji Water brand. "Who do you work for, another water company? It would be good to come here and try to take away Fiji Water's business, wouldn't it?" Then he switched tacks and offered to protect me -- from other Fijian officials, who he said would soon be after me -- by letting me go so I could leave the country. I walked out into the muggy morning, hid in a stairwell, and called a Fijian friend. Within minutes, a US Embassy van was speeding toward me on the seawall.
Until that day, I hadn't fully appreciated the paranoia of Fiji's military regime. The junta had been declared unconstitutional the previous week by the country's second highest court; in response it had abolished the judiciary, banned unauthorized public gatherings, delayed elections until 2014, and clamped down on the media. (Only the "journalism of hope" is now permitted.) The prime minister, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, promised to root out corruption and bring democracy to a country that has seen four coups in the past 25 years; the government said it will start working on a new constitution in 2012.
The slogan on Fiji Water's website -- "And remember this -- we saved you a trip to Fiji" -- suddenly felt like a dark joke. Every day, more soldiers showed up on the streets. When I called the courthouse, not a single official would give me his name. Even tour guides were running scared -- one told me that one of his colleagues had been picked up and beaten for talking politics with tourists. When I later asked Fiji Water spokesman Rob Six what the company thought of all this, he said the policy was not to comment on the government "unless something really affects us."
If you drink bottled water, you've probably drunk Fiji. Or wanted to. Even though it's shipped from the opposite end of the globe, even though it retails for nearly three times as much as your basic supermarket water, Fiji is now America's leading imported water, beating out Evian. It has spent millions pushing not only the seemingly life-changing properties of the product itself, but also the company's green cred and its charity work. Put all that together in an iconic bottle emblazoned with a cheerful hibiscus, and everybody, from the Obamas to Paris and Nicole to Diddy and Kimora, is seen sipping Fiji.
That's by design. Ever since a Canadian mining and real estate mogul named David Gilmour launched Fiji Water in 1995, the company has positioned itself squarely at the nexus of pop-culture glamour and progressive politics. Fiji Water's chief marketing whiz and co-owner (with her husband, Stewart) is Lynda Resnick, a well-known liberal donor who casually name-drops her friends Arianna Huffington and Laurie David. ("Of course I know everyone in the world," Resnick told the UK's Observer in 2005, "every mogul, every movie star.") Manhattan's trendy Carlyle hotel pours only Fiji Water in its dog bowls, and this year's SXSW music festival featured a Fiji Water Detox Spa. "Each piece of lobster sashimi," celebrity chef Nobu Matsuhisa declared in 2007, "should be dipped into Fiji Water seven to ten times."
www.solivakasama.org
PROPAGANDA AGAINST CHURCH
An article by Kosakosa in Raw Fiji News on 18 August alleging poor financial management by the Methodist Church is nothing more than propaganda by agents who, for one reason or another, are bent on bringing disrepute to the Church. It exemplifies the problem with the pervasive censorship of the press by the Bainimarama junta enabling people like Kosakosa to put their lies across with no sense of responsibility and accountability.
Kosakosa has no inkling of the true financial position of the Church. If he does, he would have known that the Church has adopted a transparent stance with its financial management - its audited accounts are freely distributed to delegates every year during the Church Conference. Members of the Church are aware from the audited accounts that the Methodist Church programs itself to pay rates in January each year, it does not owe any rates, FNPF or taxes; there is no danger of foreclosure on any of its properties. Although, like other organizations, it borrows now and again, it is committed to meeting its financial commitments.
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<Epi.D
SWM
www.solivakasama.org
Fiji Water - The corruption of bottled water
Our last rest stop, half an hour from the bottling plant, was Rakiraki, a small town with a square of dusty shops and a marketplace advertising "Coffin Box for Sale—Cheapest in Town." My Lonely Planet guide warned that Rakiraki water "has been deemed unfit for human consumption," and groceries were stocked with Fiji Water going for 90 cents a pint—almost as much as it costs in the US.
Rakiraki has experienced the full range of Fiji's water problems—crumbling pipes, a lack of adequate wells, dysfunctional or flooded water treatment plants, and droughts that are expected to get worse with climate change. Half the country has at times relied on emergency water supplies, with rations as low as four gallons a week per family; dirty water has led to outbreaks of typhoid and parasitic infections. Patients have reportedly had to cart their own water to hospitals, and schoolchildren complain about their pipes spewing shells, leaves, and frogs. Some Fijians have taken to smashing open fire hydrants and bribing water truck drivers for a regular supply.
Fiji Water Exposé
From an interesting article on Mother Jones by journalist Anna Lenzer, who visited Fiji in an attempt to get the lowdown on Fiji Water outside of the typical press junkets the company normally brings reporters in on:
"Shut up!" he snapped. He rifled through my bags, read my notebooks and emails. "I'd hate to see a young lady like you go into a jail full of men," he averred, smiling grimly. "You know what happened to women during the 2000 coup, don't you?"
Eventually, it dawned on me that his concern wasn't just with my potentially seditious emails; he was worried that my reporting would taint the Fiji Water brand.
Bad company alert: Fiji Water
Bottled water is bad but Fiji bottled water is particularly odious. For starters, the country's military regime monitors internet usage at internet cafes in real-time for information about the popular bottled water brand:
I sat down and sent out a few emails -- filling friends in on my visit to the Fiji Water bottling plant, forwarding a story about foreign journalists being kicked off the island. Then my connection died. "It will just be a few minutes," one of the clerks said. Moments later, a pair of police officers walked in. They headed for a woman at another terminal; I turned to my screen to compose a note about how cops were even showing up in the Internet cafes. Then I saw them coming toward me. "We're going to take you in for questioning about the emails you've been writing," they said.
Then the cops threatened the reporter with prison rape. The rest of the story isn't much better.
kotteke.org
http://www.solivakasama.org/
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Stand true to your calling Methodist Church and not bow down to this demigod Bainimarama!
The Methodist Church hierarchy have again shown their unsuitability for high office. FBCL reports President Tugaue saying they will abide by Government's decision to cancel the divisional conference which was supposed to be held this week.
According to Fijivillage, motormouth Leweni cited the reason for Government's cancelling the Divisional Conference was because they had found out the Methodist Church was planning on doing 'other things' that would have breached the conditions of their permit!
What a farce? Why hasn't the Methodist Church challenged motormouth Leweni to explain what 'others things' is he referring to and ask him to provide some credible evidence! They should not willingly submit to baseless allegations without any merit or proof, unless you have something to hide? Church Members coming in from the US and Oz whom have already made their way or are in the process of making their way are in for a huge disappointment!
The 'other reasons'provided by the illegal government through FBCL for the cancellation of the Annual Divisional Conference is even more absurd! The illegal government justifies is actions to ease the monetary burden it places on the Methodist Church Members and also because of the pending installment of the Church President and General Secretary whose matters are still before the Court.
What utter nonsense! Is the Methodist Church so blind they cannot see the consequences of their willingness to submit to this demigod Bainimarama? Who is this demigod Bainimarama to tell the Methodist Church about burdening its members by holding the Divisional Conference, when he himself is responsible for Fiji's economic woes because of his coup, burdening the whole of Fiji!
Who is this demigod Bainimarama to tell the Methodist Church, the installation of Rev. Tugaue as President and Rev. Tuikilakila as General Secretary cannot go ahead because of their pending PER matters! Are not Rev. Tugaue and Rev. Tuikilakila innocent until proven guilty and furthermore, how can they be proved guilty to an illegal decree!
I challenge Rev. Tugaue and Rev. Tuikilakila to stand up and oppose this demigod Bainimarama because he's just shown you what he can do to you, if you succumb to his threats. If you give in now, what will happen when he further restricts Methodist Church gatherings of not more than 10 members? Don't tell me that you will stand up then because your future actions can be accurately determined by your current ones, so long as they know your boundaries. However, after a while, even your boundaries become more flexible and you begin extending them and very soon what you may have considered anathema 12 months ago, you now accept without question.
Where is the lost spirit of former Methodist Church Missionaries champions to New Britain Aminio Baledrokadroka, Misieli Loil, Setaleti Logova, Livai Volavola, Elimotama Ravono, Peni Caumia, Peni Luvu, Mijieli Vakaloloma & Pauliasi Bunoa? The Methodist Chirch needs to rekindle this fire from within if it wants to remain true to its higher calling and not be easily subdued by this demigod Bainimarama.
I wish to remind the Methodist Church about its champions Aminio Baledrokadroka and 8 volunteers from Navuloa and ask "why can't you be like them?"
Remember when Mr. Brown from Australia spoke to the 83 students at Navuloa on the evening of 28/6/1875 calling for volunteers to New Britain? He explained to them the dangers and hardships they were going to endure and the probability that many of them will never see their own Fijian homes again. He asked for volunteers, but School Principal Joseph Waterhouse intervened and exhorted the students to all go home that evening to speak with their wives and friends and then for quite consideration and return the next day.
Mr. Brown continues:
"Next morning we gathered together again in the hall and Mr. Waterhouse put the matter fully before them and then asked if any were willing to volunteer; and I am sure it ought to be remembered to the honour of the Fijian students that every one of the eighty-three present expressed their willingness to go. It was most impressive scene, but which left an impression on my mind which continues unto the present day."
As the Missionaries were preparing to depart aboard John Wesley, Government House intervened, fearing the Methodist Church had forced the Navuloa students to go aboard and wanted to ensure they went on their free will as they were British subjects.
Aminio Baledrokadroka spoke on behalf of the volunteers and said:
'We wish to however, to inform your Honour that this is no new thing to us. Mr. Brown told us all that you have told us about the character of the people, the unhealthiness of the climate, and the dangers we will probably have to encounter. No one appointed us to go. We were simply asked whether we would volunteer. Mr. Waterhouse also told us that we were free to go, or free to remain, and that no disgrace would be incurred by us if we decided to remain in Fiji. After consultation we decided to volunteer, and we, sir, are very thankful to God that we have been selected for this great work, and our comrades at Navuloa are sad at heart to-day that they are not able to go with us"
And Mr. Brown concludes, with words he will never forget: "We wish to also thank Your Excellency for telling us that we are British subjects, and that you take such an interest in us, and that if we wish to remain you will take care that we are not taken from our homes in Fiji. But, sir, we have fully considered this matter in our hearts; no one has pressed us in any way; we have given ourselves up to do God's work, and in our mind to-day, sir, is to go with Mr. Brown. If we die, we die, if we live, we live."
- Tui Savu.
- President.SWM
www.solivakasama.org
Keda sa oca na reading, blogging and learning about right over wrong
Blogger Viti responding to Mr Baledrokadroka's
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<Epi.D
SWM
www.solivakasama.org
Thanks Jone but please can someone advise us on what we should be doing.
Keda sa oca na reading, blogging and learning about right over wrong, morality, integrity, keeping our principles in tact etc etc. What we need now is someone to tell us how are we going to survive a dictatorship and how to prepare ourselves for a democractic future when these selfish, power hungry losers are safely in jail.
What is needed is unity – trustworthy body that will start fundraising as lots of money is needed so as to lobby govts, the EU, United Nations, Pacific Forum etc etc. We need the help of these people to make Frank's regime irrelevant or insignifcant like how they have made the elected govt, GCC, constitution, freedom of speech etc etc irrelevant and insignifcant before our eyes.
Perhaps Jone could approach the Rudd govt and beg him to establish a body to run it for us – in that way we will know that our money will be safe. Get the experts to come in and help us instead of them going around the world making speeches etc etc and there hasn't been anything to stop Frank's reign.
At least we will be trying to do something instead of just trying to keep the light burning.
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<Epi.D
SWM
www.solivakasama.org
Does Fiji Water Legitimize a Dictatorship?
Among water brands, Fiji Water is the green elite's top drop. Its sleek square-sided bottle design is synonymous with ecochic, and it's beloved by Mary J. Blige, Paris Hilton, and even President Obama.
But as Anna Lenzer reports in a must-read Mother Jones story, the water giant has a dark side:
Nowhere in Fiji Water's glossy marketing materials...will you find the fact that its signature bottle is made from Chinese plastic in a diesel-fueled plant and hauled thousands of miles to its ecoconscious consumers. And, of course, you won't find mention of the military junta for which Fiji Water is a major source of global recognition and legitimacy.
Our exposé struck a nerve with readers (check out the comments on Lenzer's story) and showcased the dilemmas of a "green" business. We invite you to continue and broaden the conversation below, in this week's live online forum. The question: "Does America's favorite imported water legitimize a dictatorship?"
To get you started, we asked:
- Anna Lenzer, author of the Fiji Water exposé
- Tom Lauria, international bottled water industry rep
- Nick Aster, TriplePundit green business blogger (and former Mother Jones media architect)
- Rob Six, Fiji Water spokesman
Their answers are posted after the jump.
(Fiji Water spokesman Rob Six declined to participate, but did post a response in the comments on Lenzer's article, which MoJo reprinted and responded to here—click this link to read the exchange.)
What's your take? Leave a comment below to chat about Fiji and bottled water with our panelists—and each other. Have any burning questions for Fiji Water exposé writer Anna Lenzer, bottled water industry expert Tom Lauria, or ecobusiness blogger Nick Aster? Now's your chance
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<Epi.D
SWM
www.solivakasama.org
Monday, August 17, 2009
All that needed to be said has been said
All that needed to be said has been said, what remains is how to put resistance into action. I said in an earlier post about the refusal of the regime to allow the Methodist church to have its meeting outside – is nothing but plain old lamu itself. Sa vakasota ga na lamu, ia tiko na veirerevaki! Voreqe and Leweni and others are just as lamu in case the crowds become uncontrollable. Same as the fearing having elections today, in case Qarase returns to power.
The biggest casualty in the coups is how much more lamu we all become esp. security forces – tauri dakai ga qai vosa tiko! No mofe strength of character! Much easier to threaten, intimidate, forceline, throw molotovs and stones under cover of darkness, arresting women in middle of night, etc! Moral weaklings.
Let us just remember that – how long the regime remains in power is up to us, the people. Only we, the majority, the hundred thousands of people in Fiji who remain quiet, complacent, indifferent, can allow them to stay until 2014 or for ever! Only we have the power to say, "Enough is enough!" Only we can put a stop to this facade! In Suva alone the Methodist church can gather more than 100,000! Who will stand up and be counted?
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<Epi.D
SWM
www.solivakasama.org
Military Man Ului’s Insecurities
Force line chairman of Fiji's Lau Provincial Council, the military man, Ului Mara thinks he is making an impact because he is a Mara is nothing more than an excessive use of "I" and "me" and want to control everything.
He didn't become the chairman of the Lau Council through proper channels and all he has acquired is the loss of respect from the Lauans that held his late Ratu in high esteem. Those that pretend to respect him only do it to get some in return. What an idiot!
If Ului was so confident he had the support of the Lauans he would not have these insecurities, insecurities resulting in wanting to control everything.
The people of Ono-i-Lau had months before the Ono-i-Lau Day, invited the Roko Tui Bau, Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi as the guest of honour to open the day. He was apparently uninvited by none other than Ului who told the Ono-i-Lau elders to invite someone from the regime. ( Yes orders from the military man. )
To protect Ratu Joni from such embarrassment, the elders went to formally advise Rt Joni of the decision but declined to invite a replacement. They took all the mats prepared for him and gave it to him. Included was a Tabukaisi, the beautiful mat of these islands.
Little did Ului know that they both had connections to the chiefly clan of Ono-i-Lau and he wasn't the only one.
Ono
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<Epi.D
SWM
www.solivakasama.org
The Role of the Military in Fiji
The role of Fiji's military has changed substantially over the last decade – in the mid-1990s, there was an emphasis on professionalism and meritocracy, and an effort to steer the armed forces away from the 1987 engagement in politics (which was viewed as having had a negative impact both on the nation and on the military itself). Since the 2000 coup, the military has emerged again at the centre of Fiji politics, most forcefully since the December 2006 coup, justifying this by a claim to be tackling corruption, racism and bad governance. However, it is important to judge Commodore Bainimarama- the coup leader and so called nation builder by his actions rather than be swayed by his shifting rhetoric.
Since the April 10th abrogation of Fiji's constitution, the role of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces has now reached another new level of military intervention in politics. A new legal order has been decreed, the media censored and it is almost certain that a former commander of the military will be announced President in the coming days. To reiterate what Stephanie Lawson said about the 1987 coup "the praetorian character of this development does indeed suggest that the military in Fiji has become a homus politicus in its own right." The controversial People's Charter that was put together by a National Council for Building a Better Fiji (NCBBF) in August of last year called for the realigning of the military's role to include 'Human Security'. Bad faith and deception can only be inferred on the part of Bainimarama and the military through the misconstruing of this concept. It is now clear Bainimarama and the military intend to run the political affairs of the state at least now till 2014. I would posit that he is there for life.
The Fiji Military, once viewed as the agent of Fijian political paramountcy, has now become its nemesis – core Fijian institutions and collective organisations have been destroyed or diminished – the Great Council of Chiefs, the public sector unions, the Law Society, the Media, the Methodist Church. It is as if Fiji society were being hollowed out to make way for the modernist state Bainimarama purports to be manufacturing for Fiji. Unfortunately the continued flight of intellectual and skilled human capital from Fiji of both Indo and Indigenous Fijians bares such a piped dream. The support by the Police and Military allows Bainimarama unbridled power. Bainimarama and the military are applying a dictum often attributed to a former Latin American dictator: "For my friends, everything . . . for my enemies, the law." The recent arresting and charging of Methodist Church Ministers and a high chief confirms such a pitiful state of affairs where laws are invoked to penalize opponents of the regime.
The events of the present are being justified by a revisionist historical interpretation of Fiji's 2000 Coup events. According to this view, the RFMF was a saviour of Fiji in 2000, when it stepped in to crush George Speight's coup. What is forgotten is that (1) the RFMF was deeply uncertain about how to respond to the May 19th 2000 coup, and some senior officers were implicated in plots to unseat Chaudhry; (2) for some time after the coup, there was uncertainty about which side to take; (3) Bainimarama consistently justified his own abrogation of the constitution on May 29th 2000 - not (as some suggested) under duress due to Speight's holding of hostages, but also much later, after the release of the hostages, in affidavits submitted at the time of the February 2001 Chandrika Prasad court hearings. In fact from May 29th to July 4th 2000 for some 37 days, Bainimarama had his first taste of power as head of government.
Within the RFMF, that mythical account of the 2000 intervention is being used to build solidarity in the rank-and-file, and to give Bainimarama popularity within the military. In addressing the Military's Infantry Day Parade on the 23 Jun this year, Commodore Bainimarama said that the death of loyal soldiers during the 2000 mutiny at the Queen Elizabeth Barracks, Suva led to the event of December 5, 2006. The revelation was made by the Commander speaking in Fijian saying "Na nodratou mai leqa na tacida oqo e sega ni va ka waletaki (the death of our brothers (2000 mutiny) shall not be in vain)." Commodore Bainimarama said the death of the soldiers brought about many changes in the nation.
Again in his speech at the joint Passing Out Parade of 640 new soldier and police recruits, Albert Park, Suva, on Fri 26 Jun 2009, Bainimarama said, "The divide and rule policies espoused in the last 20 years has plagued us as a nation. Our objectives in the events of December 2006, was to arrest this trend once and for all.
There are many obstacles in our path. Do not allow yourselves to be easily manipulated by external pressures and influences around you. Be just, be firm and steadfast". Indeed, stirring rhetoric aimed at but two perceived threats-international intervention and ethno-nationalists.
The threat of ethno nationalism as demonized through the SDL and other nationalist parties has been overplayed by Bainimarama and the military. It is not a justification for the military's high guardian role which since 2006 has increasingly burdened the tax payers with massive budget blowouts. More over in this modern age, Constructivist theory of ethnicity show that ethnic suppression in any form only exacerbates the polarization of a society.
In fact, in 2000, it was the Military executive council headed by Bainimarama that co-opted Laisenia Qarase into the council and requested him to begin formulating an Indigenous Affirmative action plan as per the compact of the 1997 Constitution. This was the first strategy adopted by the military to appease George Speight and his followers in attempting to secure the release of the Coalition government hostages. Qarase then a senator was part of the Senate Committee on Indigenous Fijians in Business as mandated by the Chaudrhy government in 1999. Given his professional background, he had first hand knowledge from the senate committee submissions. The manipulation of ethno-nationalism as an inward destructive agent of indigenous instrumentalism by the military is ongoing. As seen in its truth and justice campaign prior to the elections in 2006 a smear campaign by the illegal regime is now orchestrated using the heavily censored mass media. The same baseless and biased rhetoric vociferously used to oppose the Qoliqoli (seashore customary rights) bills and the Reconcilliation Truth and Unity Bills of the first SDL governments is now used to harpoon past and todays Fijian leadership as racists and dismantle arbitrarily their institutions. It is as if the sum total of Crown and Fijian chiefly rule has failed Fiji quite contrary to the legacy of Lord Stanmore and native colonial administrators such as Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi. All for a created 'multi-racial new legal order' as if the phrase will inspire local and international acceptance and breathe life into what Professor Wadan Narsey describes as a morally gutted nation. Incidentally this new multi-racialism to be brought about by electoral reform by 2014 is - rather oddly – to be achieved and imposed under the watchful eye of a ninety nine percent indigenous military force. Even more perplexing is how the Military elite still regales itself of its bygone international peacekeeping reputation now tarnished by its installed regime's abuse of human rights and the rule of law.
For the future, what is unclear is whether there is credible commitment from within the rank and file of the military, to see this praetorian role continue, given mounting internal pressure brought about by ethnic empathy, increasing poverty levels, the poor state of the economy and international isolation. Indeed the weight of plain social, economic and political reality will unravel the regime and its empty rhetoric.
Jone Baledrokadroka- Visiting Fellow and PhD student ANU, Address, Crawford School ANU- Fiji Update Seminar, Stamford Plaza Hotel, Brisbane.
13 Aug 2009.
Trinidad for Commonwealth Conference
By Sir Ronald Sanders
When Commonwealth Heads of Government meet in Trinidad in November, they might have expected to welcome back to their councils a government of Fiji that had been elected in March. As it turns out, there will be no Fiji in Trinidad.
Sir Ronald Sanders is a business
executive and former Caribbean
diplomat who publishes widely
on small states in the global
community. Reponses to:
ronaldsanders29@hotmail.com
If a contest was held to choose a country with a culture of coups d'état, the Pacific island-state would be a front runner. There were two coups in 1987, a third in 2000 and a fourth in December 2006.
Now, come September 1, the 53-nation Commonwealth (formerly the British Commonwealth) is expected to suspend Fiji from its membership.
The suspension will come after almost three years of trying every diplomatic and negotiating device to convince the military government of Commodore Frank Bainimarama to restore the country to democratic rule.
A consistent figure in the last two Coups, Bainimarama has shown a remarkable failure to honour commitments he gives to the international community.
Fiji is made up of a group of islands in the Pacific and has a population of 872,000 people consisting of indigenous Fijians, indigenous Rotumans and Banabans, Indo-Fijians, Chinese, Europeans (mostly Australians and New Zealanders) and people of mixed race.
The 1987 coup and the abrogation of the 1970 Constitution led to a new Constitution in 1997 which contained a social compact among all the Political Parties, provided for affirmative action for indigenous Fijians, gave indigenous Fijians the majority of communal seats in the elected House of Assembly and a near two thirds majority in the appointed Senate. It also provided for Shared Governance and settled tensions between the indigenous Fijians and the Indo-Fijians.
Bainimarama's 2006 Coup had nothing to do with racial differences in Fiji and much more to do with controversies between him and the then Prime Minister, Laisinea Qarase, who was threatening to arrest Bainimarama and others for their part in the Coup of 2000.
The Commonwealth has patiently engaged Fiji since the 2006 Coup. The previous and current Commonwealth Secretaries-General, Don McKinnon and Kamalesh Sharma, as well as the organisation's watchdog body - the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) - have engaged the military regime and other groups in Fiji to try to restore democracy.
While the Commonwealth did suspend Fiji from the councils of the Commonwealth after the 2006 Coup, it did not suspend it from membership of the grouping.
Along with the Pacific Islands Forum (Fiji and its closest neighbours), the United Nations and other bodies, the Commonwealth has been working to persuade Bainimarama to hold elections by March this year – an undertaking that he had given. But March came and went, and in April the government abrogated the Constitution, further entrenched authoritarian rule, cracked down on freedom of speech and assembly, and undermined the judiciary and legal system.
Bainimarama also scrapped the paramount Fijian institution, the prestigious Great Council of Chiefs which selects the President and Vice-President. It is widely believed that he did so because the Chiefs did not rally to him. He also prevented the dominant Methodist Church from holding its annual convention demanding that it must first be cleansed of political clergymen.
Making matters worse, Bainimarama issued a "Strategic Framework for Change" which he described as "the only path to ensuring sustainable and true democracy, the removal of communal representation and the implementation of equal suffrage based on common and equal citizenry". Under this plan, work will begin on a new Constitution in 2011 and elections would not he held until 2014.
CMAG, which had shown considerable patience with the Fijian regime up to that point, finally decided enough was enough. Among its nine members is the Foreign Minister of St Lucia, Rufus Bousquet. Together, the ministers, meeting on July 31, gave the Fijian regime until September 1 to "reactivate the President's Political Dialogue Forum process, facilitated by the Commonwealth and the United Nations".
The Group said it wanted the regime to "state its firm commitment" to reactivating the political dialogue "in writing" to the Commonwealth Secretary-General by September 1 or "Fiji will be fully suspended on that date".
No one is holding their breath that such a written commitment will be forthcoming from Bainimarama.
His government has already condemned Fiji's neighbours in the Pacific Islands Forum for expressing, in early August, "their deep concern for the people of Fiji in the face of Fiji's deteriorating economy as a consequence of the military regime's actions, including the undermining of the private sector and the negative effect on business confidence in the absence of the rule of law".
Seeking any opportunity to delay the Commonwealth's suspension of Fiji from membership, he despatched a letter on August 5th to the Commonwealth Secretary-General requesting him "to facilitate a delegation from the Commonwealth to visit Fiji to enter into direct dialogue and consultations".
The invitation can hardly be taken seriously against the background of Bainimarama's actions in abrogating the constitution, imposing media controls, restricting freedom of assembly, and the ongoing erosion of the judicial and legal system. It is even less credible in the context of his complete abandonment of the President's Political Dialogue Forum which was promoted by both the UN and the Commonwealth.
It is clear that Bainimarama's invitation is not in good faith and his game is to do nothing more than prolong still further a process that has already dragged on for almost three years. In this connection, CMAG has no choice but to suspend Fiji from membership of the Commonwealth on September 1.
But, in the Commonwealth way, that will not be the end of the matter. For as Secretary-General Sharma told the Pacific Forum meeting, "it will remain my intent, on behalf of all Commonwealth members, to find ways to remain engaged, to promote dialogue with the current government there, and to promote dialogue between all the parties in Fiji who collectively hold the solution for the future and without all of whom a solution cannot be sustainable".
Suspension of Fiji after almost three years of trying to reason with the military regime is necessary punishment now; but engagement is also necessary to give back to all the people of Fiji their right to democracy, constitutionality and the rule of law.
www.solivakasama.org
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Does Drinking FIJI Water Prop Up a Dictatorship?
Poor FIJI water. Ever since Pablo’s infamous “true cost” article almost three years ago, the company has scrambled to re-invent its image in the eyes of the environmentally conscious. Although many of their efforts have been PR plays, they’ve made some praiseworthy changes. Now, in classic style, Mother Jones Magazine has leveled the accusation that not only is drinking FIJI still an environmental absurdity, it’s also helping to prop up a nasty military dictatorship. Yikes.
It takes a little while to get your head around the whole thing so give Mother Jones’ main article a look. Then read FIJI’s response here. Then pop back to Mojo for a follow-up.
Next week, I’ll be participating with others in a discussion about this issue on Mother Jones’ website – we’ll be sure to give you a link when it starts. But in the meantime, here are some thoughts…
I think FIJI water has a problem they don’t fully understand. It’s about their core mission. The FIJI water company was, as far as I can tell, not set up with any sort of social or environmental mission in mind. It was set up to create a fashionable brand that people would be drawn to because it’s pretty, exotic and expensive. The brand was meticulously and expertly crafted to satisfy the desire some people have to be associated with those adjectives, and to huge financial success.
As silly as that might sound, there’s nothing wrong with it by itself. People will happily buy pet rocks. You can make fun of it, but if it’s giving people delight, then is it really wrong? Should we fault a company for taking their money in exchange?
We all draw our own lines as to what is and what is not a silly product. However, if a company is actually causing harm, directly or indirectly in some manner, then there’s a clear cause for conversation. There’s no question that bottling water on a small island and shipping it around the world has a cost in terms of environmental externalities. Offsets are great, but no matter what you do, they don’t erase the original problem, they just do something nice somewhere else.
I feel that FIJI was caught off guard by the powerful reaction they received and continue to receive because the core of their mission is, despite some good efforts, still about the luxury and the fashion. They’ve spent huge amounts of money on trying to change that perception in the eyes of the green and socially conscious community, but that method only arouses more suspicion unless it’s seen as truly authentic – which might mean less glam, more real image risk. The community they’re targeting with the FijiGreen campaign is smart and suspicious of glossy marketing especially when it’s reactionary rather than proactive.
Perhaps FIJI would have less of a problem if they had been engaged in environmental and economic projects from the get-go and had made it a core pierce of their messaging and corporate mission. Starbucks’ Ethos Water is a product that’s only slightly less silly than FIJI but gets a lot less flack from green groups because its stated purpose from day one was to improve the water situation in the developing world. I still don’t drink Ethos personally, but I appreciate what they’re doing because it feels far more authentic – and based on many personal conversations I’ve had with knowledgeable people, it is.
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