(o+) Taukei* Methodism: Why Government has Banned the Church's Annual Conference

"Am I reading other people's minds rightly that the term 'Christian' is synonymous with whatever is 'Fijian'? -- Rev. Ilaitia Tuwere,1997.

The announcement that the Government has cancelled the Methodist Church's August's annual Conference and AGM at Lomanikoro in Rewa is regrettable, but comes as no surprise. The decision will win Government no new friends but, unless Church leaders can this week convince PM Bainimarama otherwise, Government really had little other choice. The catalyst for the decision, taken to avoid "instability in the country," is thought to have been an anti-Government "plan of action" submitted to the church by Rev. Manasa Lasaro.

For weeks now elements within the church, led by Lasaro and the Taukei faction, and without, have been pressing for direct action against the Government. Different forms of confrontation have been proposed by the church sub-committee headed by Lasaro, in more than one pulpit around the country, and in increasingly provocative calls by anti-Government bloggers. The actions proposed include a Methodist-led nation-wide petition, mass marches, work stoppages, calls for an uprising within the military, and the "removal" (whatever that might mean?) of Bainimarama. If each of these acts can be likened to a single grenade, the Annual Conference, at which political as well as religious matters would be discussed, could have released a mega-bomb.

The Methodist Church in Fiji is a highly politicized body that has always discussed political affairs at its conferences, but this time it would have been from a very different standpoint. Previously, most of its leaders supported the "Rabuka" 1987 coups, supposedly conducted to protect ethnic Fijian rights. One of these leaders was Lasaro. (The moderate Rev. Josateki Koroi, who opposed the 1987 coups, was replaced as President in 1988. Laraso continued as General Secretary.) They supported the "Speight" 2000 Coup, though here again church leadership was divided between the Taukei faction and the moderates, until the moderate leaders were removed. In the 2001 elections the Church adopted Qarase's SDL party as the church party, and its members in parliament called once again for Fiji to be declared a Christian theocracy. Others called for non-ethnic Fijians to be denied citizenship. The "Bainimarama" 2006 Coup -- the first not seeking Fijian paramountcy and the perks for sections of the Fijian elite that go with it-- is the first coup it has opposed.

The statement issued following last Thursday's extraordinary Standing Committee meeting of the Church is a neatly balanced mix of religious ideals and political dynamite.


"The Church must be steadfast in its role of being God’s instrument for God’s word, truth and justice, and that regardless of the threats, cajolement and the cost, the Church has to stand up and continue to speak out for moral, spiritual and Christian values ...


"Given the current political crisis, the Church must be a voice of hope supporting the desire of people to escape from political oppression and uncertainty, the freedom of the poor from poverty, underdevelopment and marginalization so they may secure for themselves a better life." One senior Minister added: “We have already given our life for Christ. If we are forced into a position of making a choice, we have no option; as the Church martyrs in Rome chose Christ over the emperor, we too must do likewise.”

Moderate Methodists reflecting on this statement may ask why a standing committee prompted by Lasaro thinks one church is entitled to speak on behalf of all Christians, and indeed of all people, on a political situation in which the country is deeply divided, while, presumably, holding the Government (whose leaders include Methodists) responsible for the country's historic poverty, underdevelopment and marginalization. And why it has been so silent on these matters in the past.

Less moderate Methodists will welcome the statement no matter where it leads. The Solivakasamablog, for example, asked its readers: " Which method do you prefer to remove Bainimarama?" Here are the suggested answers and their support: "Have all the people rise up against him, and take him out!... 27%; Make a deal with the CIA 8%; One brave person..... 5%; ...support ...the Methodist church by mass gathering and march towards military camp and close it down. 60%."

Another blog calls for an army uprising. Yet another writes of Methodist strength and how it can unseat the Government

Nothing has been suggested by Methodist leaders or bloggers about dialogue, accommodation, compromise, looking for something good in the Government's agenda, finding some peaceful way forward. No thought is given to possible self-interest, probable racism, and more Christian modes of conflict resolution. Everything is seen as black or white. Bainimarama is black and nothing he wants is "good." All his opponents are highly moral democrats. The only way forward is confrontation, whatever the costs, in this small country, where so many people know each other, and where memories will linger for generations, making loving your neighbour an even more difficult task.

Some Methodist Leaders: a Very Big Question mark

The Christian, and particularly the Methodist, church occupies a unique position in Fiji. It is the repository and major beneficiary of both Fijian traditional values and a colonial heritage that entrenched those values. The Church, respect for chiefs and "being Fijian," and the State are seen as one. Attack one and all could collapse. A major reason why some Fijians oppose Bainimarama, and what he says he's trying to achieve, is because he has "detached" the state from this trilogy, and in so doing has threatened their privileged position, and the perks that go with it.

Such people (the so-called Taukei element within the church) hold that their church and their values are the only true values in Fiji (non-Chistians presumably have no worthwhile values.) They are lukewarm to the ecumenicalism of Interfaith Search Fiji and the Fiji Council of Churches. They were instrumental in founding the racial, "born again," fundamentalist Assembly of Christian Churches in Fiji (ACCF). Unlike most Methodist leaders in other countries, they have no honest interest in democracy (or civil rights) except when it suits them to uphold their position.

Many people have good reason to oppose Bainimarama but these people are not among them. They oppose Bainimarama for exactly the same reasons they supported the Rabuka and Speight coups: to retain power and privilege in the name of protecting ethnic Fiijian rights.


Rather than joining such leaders, Methodist should replace them with leaders who hold true to the teachings of their Church founders, and past leaders such as the Rev.Josateki Koroi, the Rev.Paula Niukula and the Rev.Ilaitia Tuwere.


Methodist comprised 35% of Fiji's population and 54% of its Christians at the 2007 Census. Over 90% of its members are ethnic Fijians. Important as they are, many people have left to join more fundamentalist churches. Since 1996 Fiji's population has grown by 8.9% but Methodists by only 3.3%. By comparison, Catholics at 10.3% have held their own, Seventh Day Adventists have grown 45.6% (to 32,308) and Assemblies of God by 53.8% (to 47,778). Inspired by Charles Wesley's hymn "Onward Christian Soldiers," church leaders no doubt hope their current stance will persuade some to return to the fold.

* Taukei. Ethnic Fijian. In a political context, an extreme ethnic Fijian nationalist who demands total Fijian paramountcy in all areas of Government. Photo: Methodist Centennial Church, Suva. Fiji Live.

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(o+) The 55+ Retirement Age, the Fiji National Provident Fund, and Pensions

As with most Government announcements these days, the decree making 55 the compulsory retirement age (except in some circumstances) is seen by some as a diabolical act with horrendous consequences. This post seeks to provide a more balanced account.

Government says the move is to save Government expenditure by reducing the size of an over-heavy civil service; create job opportunities for some of Fiji's 1,000 unemployed graduates and other young unemployed people, and encourage some of those retiring to start their own business or otherwise enter the private sector. A Fiji Times editorial on March 15 agreed with the Government decision.

Anti-Government Bloggers, however, say the money saved will be spent on the military, and the decree will be used as a way of getting rid of civil servants the Government does not like. NZ Public Service Association Nat.Sec. Richard Wagstaff, who lives in a country with longer life expectancies and far lower levels of unemployment, says it's a "deplorable" move that discriminates against age and breaches fundamental human rights. [I wonder who thought his opinion relevant to Fiji?]

Some Government opponents have also expressed concern that the Fiji National Provident Fund could be bankrupted, not just by the retirees claiming their pensions, but because nominees of an "unelected military clique" have taken over the FNPF and, apart from general mismanagement, are using the funds to service recurrent government expenditure and debt, military over-spending, and unwise investments such as the purchase of BP Pacific and several tourist ventures - the Natadola and Momi developments, and the restoration of the historic Grand Pacific Hotel in Suva. The Fiji Times "circling wolves" cartoon (above) neatly summarizes this view.

Prof. Waden Narsey wrote of "people's life savings being under threat." This, and the fact that commercial banks, unlike the FNPF, had "wisely" decided not to lend to Government, is one of the points in Professor Wadan Narsey's Fiji Times May 13 article "Coup Wolves Circling FNPF." Unfortunately, the FNPF was not invited to respond. Instead, it was obliged to take out a full page advertisement to respond to Narsey's attack.

Prof. Narsey saw "nothing wrong per se with FNPF financing the Fiji government's budget deficit" but with an unelected government in place "we are unlikely to see the required economic growth, income and increased tax revenues, which could repay the loan. All that is likely to happen is an increase in the money supply, increased imports, reduced foreign reserves, bigger public debt, and an upward pressure on inflation." The FNPF replied that it was not the normal function of private banks to lend to governments; that budget deficits are often used in recessionary times to stimulate economic growth; the Funds bond investments were earning more than the inflation rate; that the FNPF cannot become insolvent because, unlike banks, there cannot be a "run" on its money, and that it always has significant cash reserves. The Fund is thought to have assets worth more than $F3 billion. Readers wishing to follow these arguments further are referred to the Fiji Times and FNPF links above.

For the record, the FNPF was established in 1966 to provide financial security for workers when they retired aged 55 (sic!) Membership is compulsory for state sector employees who contribute 8% of their wages or salaries to which Government adds another 8%, and interest accrues to these contributions. As of June 2005 there were 317,000 members and 9,000 pensioners whose average monthly pension was $F372. Since 1976 members have been able to opt for a single or joint (with spouse) pension in lieu of a lump sum payment. The average single pension was $F407 and the joint pension $F322.

The 55-year old pensioner living in rented or mortgaged housing in Suva, with no other savings and with dependent children, will certainly not be well off, but he or she will be much better off than the female garment worker earning less than a dollar an hour; the estimated one-in-three people in Fiji who are living in poverty -- and the many unemployed graduates without a job. There is no unemployment benefit in Fiji.

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Snippets: Police Brutality; ACP and Vanuatu Support; Fiji Live; Corruption Comment; I Sometimes Get it Wrong; My Biases

(o) Brutal Assault on Fellow Police Officer
In what looks like an initial revenge assault followed up by sheer police brutality, Police Officer Raj Shavendra Prasad was so badly beaten up by assailants, including senior police officers, during the weekend of 16-17 May, that he spent six days in hospital. Coupfourpointfive understands that he has received a letter terminating his police appointment and, despite a magistrate ordering the assault be investigated, no investigation has yet been made by the police. For a full account and disturbing photos of Prasad's injuries, click here.

The incident has nothing to do with the political situation or with race (both Fijian and Indo-Fijian officers were involved in the assault) but in not insisting the incident be made public and in abolishing the Fiji Human Rights Commission, Government must assume some responsibility. The abolition of the FHRC means there is now no avenue for complaint against government servants unless a complainant can afford to take his or her case to court. Government can ill afford such a situation to continue if if wishes to "win the hearts and minds." In this case, Prasad should be granted leave on full pay and the senior officers allegedly involved should be suspended until the case is fully investigated. If found guilty, they should be dishonourably dismissed from the service as an example to others -- and as evidence that this Government means business when it talks about justice. P.S. June 10 2009. Coupfourpointfive reports the officer has been reinstated. No explanation was given.

(o+) Bainimarama at ACP Meeting, Appeal Supported by Vanuatu
Radio Fiji reports that PM Bainimarama addressed the 89th ACP Council of Ministers on Thursday. He told the Council of the necessity of Abrogating the 1997 Constitution following the Appeal Court ruling on April 9th. There was no other way of continuing the reforms "supported by a maajority of Fiji's population" encapsulated in the People's Charter for Change, Peace and Progress. He again called on ACP and the EU to assist Fiji "to bring about a lasting resolution to the political situation in Fiji and support the implementation of the necessary reforms for the welfare and economic wellbeing of the people." [See "Background Material", left column, for his full address.]

The PM's statement was supported at the Council by the Foreign Minister for Vanuatu, Bakoa Kaltongga, further demonstrating that not all members of the PI Forum support the inflexible "do this or else" approach of Australia and New Zealand in dealing with the Fiji situation. PI Forum countries who have called, or who more recently have called, for dialogue with Fiji include PNG, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Kiribati, Tuvalu and Tonga.

(-) Fiji Live Off- and On-line
This on-line news service mysteriously went off-line yesterday, to resume today with no explanation offered. Bloggers think the situation was caused by Government censors who objected to photos Fiji Live had published of an incident involving a bomb scare hoax in Suva. Fiji Live is the one service that has continued to supply some news of politically-related incidents since the mainstream media, and particularly the Fiji Times, objected to censorship as authorised under the Emergency Regulations.

My own view is that Government is exceedingly unwise to persist with tactics that can only encourage the spread of rumours to which it cannot respond. Some accommodation with the media is urgently needed.

(o-)My Recent Posting on Corruption
Readers are urged to read comments to postings by clicking the very small "comment" at the bottom of each posting. Special attention is drawn to Jon's valuable comment on my recent corruption posting.

... and I Sometimes Get it Wrong, and I'm Baised
Readers are also reminded that the symbols (+, -, o, etc., see Notices at the bottom of the page) indicate pro-, anti-, neutral positions towards the Interim Government. This is the only blog to signal likely bias, and one of the few to publish informative, reasoned commentary, on the Fiji political situation. But, of course, I don't always get it right, and I'm limited in my ability to check the validity of all sources.

I also have my own biases. I sometimes give the Bainimarama team the benefit of too many doubts. I think NZers, our politicians and media, have too little knowledge of the Pacific. And I think NZ's policy is misguided and unhelpful, because it is too inflexible; it gives succour to the Fiji Government opponents, driving Bainimarama even deeper into a corner, and its influence internationally has helped cause a worsening of the situation in Fiji.

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(+) Corruption Charges Proceed

A little reported event in early May was the three-day visit to Fiji of a UN delegation there to assess Fiji’s compliance with the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC). The team is reported to have said the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC) showed promise and needs government support.

Papua New Guinea and Australia are also parties to UNCAC from the Pacific, but only Fiji has volunteered to be part of the pilot review programme.This is probably because getting rid of systematic corruption in the civil service was a major reason given for the 2006 military takeover.

Government opponents have ridiculed this motive, and made much of FICAC's lack of success in obtain convictions against those charged with corruption. As previously stated, this an incredibly difficult task without forensic accountants, that only countries like NZ could have supplied. But last week (22 May) we reported on one case under the heading "Corruption Charges and Pitiful Waste."Since then charges have been laid against a Cakaudrove Provincial counsellor for allegedly receiving a four-wheel drive vehicle in exchange for supporting a contractor's bid for major roadworks. And today's Fiji Sun reports an FICAC application for a retrial against former Fiji Ports Corporation Limited chairman, Sialeni Vuetaki, who allegedly approved payment of $177,000 to the Ports CEO without authority of the Board or Higher Salaries Commission.

The Government entity most charged with corruption is the Ministry of Works (the old PWD) where over $300,000 has been allegedly misappropriated. In the past two years 27 employees have been dismissed for various offences and a further 12 employees are under investigation. The Ministry investigation team, working in cooperation with the FICAC, thinks there has been a drastic reduction in corrupt practices and believes that by the end of this year it can confidently claim to have curbed corrupt practices. Fiji Daily Post. For further information about FICAC and its website, click here.

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(o) Fiji's New Legal Decree Shares Much with Australian States' Practice

[This post looks at what one blogsite said was said about the new Legal Practitioners Decree, what was actually said, how the decree compares with the practice in some Australian states, and what the decree might - and might not- mean for Fiji. It is written because people in Fiji need a more balanced assessment and because more uninformed comment will soon reach the international media, if it has not already done so.]

There's more than a semantic difference between the Coupfourpointfive headline "Australia Law Council Condemns New Decree" and what Coupfourpointfive wrote on what ALC President John Corcoran actually said. He is reported to have expressed "grave concerns about the future independence of the legal profession in Fiji after the interim Government yesterday issued a decree removing the Law Society’s power to issue practicing certificates ...this could be the first step in the interim government's attempts to control the country's legal profession, by not allowing lawyers who oppose the regime to practise law." These are legitimate but worst scenario concerns about what the decree might mean in the future; not what it actually means now. The difference is important.

Corcoran was also concerned there was "no prior consultation with the Fiji Law Society or Fiji’s legal profession." Had FLS-Government relationship been better, there might have been consultation but with the FLS still urging lawyers not to take up appointments as judges, consultation was unlikely. However, a number of lawyers must have been consulted, if only to write the decree. Corcoran's main concern is one we all share: “Without an independent legal profession, a vital ingredient in upholding the rule of law in Fiji would be missing."

But he did not -- and indeed could not -- condemn the decree provisions because justice does not simply hinge on a law society with compulsory membership that registers lawyers and hears public complaints against fellow lawyers-- as the different systems operating in Australian states demonstrate.

Australian Comparisions*
In Western Australia, for example, membership of the Law Society is voluntary, a Legal Practice Board registers lawyers and a separate Professional Affairs Committee hears public complaints, (whereas in NSW, Victoria and Queensland the Legal Service Commissions hears complaints.) Membership of the WA Legal Practice Board (that registers lawyers) consists of the Attorney-General, the Solicitor-General (both government positions), Queen's and Senior Counsel, and 12 legal practitioners elected by all registered lawyers.

In Victoria the Legal Services Board consists of a Chairperson and three lay persons, nominated by the Attorney-General and appointed by the Governor in Council, and three legal practitioners elected by lawyers on the Board's electoral roll.

The Law Institute (similar to Fiji Law Society)is a separate body with voluntary membership to which the Board has delegated the responsibilities(to act "of behalf of the Legal Services Board") of issuing and renewing practicing certificates, maintaining the registers of legal practitioners and disciplinary action."

So, depending on the State, a law society may have nothing directly to do with lawyer registrations and complaints but it may be delegated one or both responsibilities. Law society membership is voluntary. All its members may have a say in its delegated responsibilities, or these may be decided on by a vote of all registered lawyers, whether or not they are members of the society.

Perhaps more important, the Attorney-General is the ex officio Chairperson or member of the Legal Service Board and in one of the two states the A-G appoints other members of the Board.

* I am not a lawyer but this is my understanding as obtained from the relevant official websites.See also my previous post : The Legal Practitioners Decree 2009: Fact and Opinion.

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(o+) The Legal Practitioners Decree 2009: Facts, Opinions

A new Presidential decree, the Legal Practitioners Decree 2009, makes the Registrar of the High Court responsible for the registration of lawyers, and complaints by members of the public will be dealt with by a new Independent Legal Commission. These roles had been the responsibility of the Fiji Law Society from 1996 to 2009. All legal practitioners will need to re-apply for their practicing certificates with the Chief Registrar before their licences expire on June 30th.

Details of the decree differ in detail from previous media reports and blog speculations that had the Attorney-General responsible for these two functions, and the disbandment of the Fiji Law Society. The Decree sets out the establishment and continuation of the Society but with voluntary membership. Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said the role of investigating complaints against lawyers was given to the new Independent Legal Commission following public complaints of delays when investigated by the FLS.

The decree also helps explain why the Registrar of the High Court took files which contained complaints against lawyers from the FLS offices last Saturday. Sayed-Khaiyum said FLS secretary, Afrana Nisha, "was shown the decree, handed over the keys of the office and practically went down herself to show the Chief Registrar and her officers where the files were." It was not true that she had been forced to hand over the complaint files, as claimed.

Earlier, another judge, Justice John Bryne, was sworn in by the President and reappointed to the Fiji High Court. There are now four High Court judges, and the Court was reopened today. Further appointments to the judiciary are expected soon. Sittings of the Fiji Court of Appeal and Supreme Court have been rescheduled to the end of the year.

NZ Lawyer Reactions to the Decree

John Marshall QC, of the NZ Law Society said: “In New Zealand, the Law Society issues practicing certificates to lawyers. The Fiji Law Society has done the same for the last 12 years. We are very concerned to learn that the Fiji Government, through the Chief Registrar, will now decide who should hold a practicing certificate.

But, according to fellow lawyer and former MP Stephen Franks, this is not quite accurate. He also is concerned about the new decree but writes: "The NZ government in 2006 took over control of lawyer registration and discipline in New Zealand. So the NZLS can’t match Peter Williams QC’s claim that the Fiji legal system is now like that of Hitler’s Germany. Peter explained that the Fiji government will now control even the Society’s handling of complaints about lawyers by the government itself. That’s been the case in NZ since the 2006 Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006 came into effect last year."

So, it seems the decree and new judicial appointment do not of themselves mean the end of an independent judiciary in Fiji. Different countries have different systems, and they change over time : the FLS's authorities only date back to 1996. Was there no justice before then?

What is important is that the judiciary must impart justice fairly and be seen to do so. The implementation of the new decree, and the judgments of judges, will be closely watched.

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(o) "Michael Field, Pacific Journalist"

This once respected journalist on Pacific Affairs seems bent on destroying his own reputation for independent, informed and balanced commentary by a stream of one-sided, highly personalised articles on Fiji. He also seems to have launched himself on a personal crusade against Bainimarama.

Witness, for example, his latest comment "Warrant to Arrest:Fiji." This could have been an informed account of the Fiji Registrar of the High Court taking files from the offices of the Fiji Law Society. It could also, legitimately, have used words such as "raided," "seized," "in plain clothes," and linked the incident to post-Abrogration clamp downs, including Government's surprise last-minute cancellation of Mahendra Chaudhry's meeting with cane farmer unionists in Labasa, reported on Coupfourpointfive. With Field's past knowledge of Fiji and Chaudhry, his opinions on possible reasons for this cancellation, and the one earlier in Lautoka, could have left us better informed on the intricacies and minefields of Fiji politics.

Instead, he starts his "comment" with a hyperbolic comparison between Bainimarama and Burmese generals, Robert Mugabe and Augusto Pinocet, dictators responsible for the deaths of many thousands. He then proceeds to warn Bainimarama, who like Pinochet apparently also suffers a heart condition, that he may soon be unable to travel overseas for treatment. These -- one would think irrelevant -- side swipes lead to an short account of the Court Registrar, Ana Rokomakoti, uplifting Fiji Law Society records for investigation. Field claimed to know she had no valid search warrant, and seemed to infer that because she was an army lawyer she should not also be the Registrar. This is an important story that may (or may not) be further evidence of unnecessary (or necessary) Government clamp-downs, Fiji Law Society intransigence, or both or neither. The opportunity was lost. Field preferred venom to vigour.

Here are three examples of the sort of argument and language he used. "She does this, nominally at least, as Registrar of the High Court. But no one is overlooking the fact that she is a Major in the Fiji Military and is subservient to its head, the self appointed dictator of Fiji ..."

"When the military are raiding lawyers, there is no justice left ..."

"... sending some major into lawyers’ offices is military routine."

Read the whole article on Field's website or on Intelligentsiya's blog.

This man, with many years of Pacific experience, produces a warped view of an important event, and not for the first time. Last year the NZ Broadcasting Standards Authority agreed his comments against then Fiji attorney-general Christopher Pryde on a March 7 broadcast were an "uneducated, ill-informed, deeply biased, unbalanced, and false account of recent events in Fiji." For more such comments, most of which contain highly personal, insulting, and one would think libellous remarks about almost every current pro-Government figure, click this page of his website.

This is what he says about himself in his blog (my underlining):

"Published author on the Pacific, including the definitive account on Samoa’s independence struggle and Fiji ’s coup culture.

Radio New Zealand National Radio commentator on Pacific affairs and sought by international media for an intimate knowledge of the history, politics, characters and issues of the region.

It is not a pleasant task pulling someone down from their former high heights, but New Zealanders need to be better served by their journalists if they are ever to understand even a little of what is happening in Fiji. Field's personal attacks on individuals may befit a blogger, but not a responsible journalist.

P.S. Please click on the comments from Alterego criticizing parts of this post. The photo above is the "real" Mr Field. Thanks, Alterego.

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(o) ACP "Concerned ...Calls for Inclusive Political Dialogue"

The Committee of Ambassadors of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States has issued a statement on the political situation in Fiji, in which it expressed serious concern about recent events and called "for the opening and strengthening of inclusive political dialogue with all parties concerned with a view to quickly restoring constitutional order and holding democratic elections as soon as practically possible."

The announcement, while expected, will come as a disappointment to Government, and PM Bainimarama who attended a ACP meeting in Guyana and an ACP-EU meeting in Brussels in the hope of achieiving a more favourable outcome, particularly with regards to EU aid to the Fiji sugar industry and subsidised sugar exports to EU countries

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(-) Sydney Fijians March Against Bainimarama Government

Sunday's march in Sydney against the Interim Government, organized by the Fiji Democracy and Freedom Movement, attracted a crowd of between "more than 150" (Sydney Morning Herald) and "up to 500" (the FFDM website, under the heading Fiji Democracy Marchers Bring Sydney Traffic to a Standstill.)

Marchers were addressed by Ballu Khan, NZ-resident businessman, Pramod Rae, National Federation Party, and Ted Young, a former minister in the Qarase Government. Marchers urged Australia to put more pressure on Fiji so that it will "return to democracy."

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(o) Wherefore Art Thou Romeo? The Non-Specific Mr Smith

I wasn't going to report this item. In terms of substance it contained nothing new. But I changed my mind when I reflected on the lack of substance, the choice of words, and learnt more about the speaker.

ABC Online reports that Australia's Foreign Minister Stephen Smith (photo) says Australia is prepared for the "long, hard, tough battle" to restore Fiji to democratic rule. "We will do everything we can to return Fiji to democracy and we'll do that in conjunction in the Pacific. We'll also do it in conjunction with our friends in the Commonwealth."

Curious to know more of the Minister's background, I visited his ministry's website to learn what he knew about foreign affairs, the Pacific and Fiji. Mr Smith, a lawyer from Perth, Western Australia, has at various times been the Australian Labor Party's shadow minister of Trade, Resources and Energy, Communications, Health, Immigration, Industry and Infrastructure, Industrial Relations, and Education and Training! A long, varied list but he appears to have no expertise in foreign affairs. [This reminds me of many years ago when a NZ PM, struggling to establish the credentials of his pakeha (European) Minister of Maori Affairs, could only drum up: "He went to school with Maoris!" Sorry. I couldn't resist that.] In fairness to Australia, NZ Foreign Minister Murray McCully, also a lawyer, is no better qualified.

In both countries there seems to be be an unfortunate gap between the hands-on ("been there; done that") knowledge of the Ministers and their presumably better informed advisers.

Australian Aid to Fiji 2009-10

Australia, whose policy continue to cause severe economic damage to Fiji, paradoxically is offsetting some of this damage with its ongoing aid programme, although it accepts no responsibility for Fiji's plight and passes blame (in rugby it's called a hospital pass) totally onto the 2006 Coup and the global recession.

RealFijiNews (a pro-Government blog) reports:

"Australia’s aid to Fiji for the 2009-10 year is increasingly focused on mitigating the economic and social impacts of the 2006 coup and the global economic recession on the ordinary people of Fiji, according to Australia’s Counsellor for Pacific Development Co-operation, Judith Robinson, speaking in Labasa. The aid ... estimated at $48 million in 2009-10 ... will be directed at maintaining essential health and education services, and small and medium enterprise development, including contributing to efforts to make financial services available to the wider population, in particular poorer rural areas."

Australia previously gave $3million in flood relief, and "$A895,000 has been allocated to the agriculture sector for the procurement of vegetable seedlings, provision of veterinary antibiotics to prevent disease outbreaks amongst livestock herd, clearing debris from farms, improvement to on-farm infrastructure such as farm sheds and repair of farm access roads and irrigation ... As much as possible, Australia’s aid to Fiji seeks to make a practical difference to people’s lives. For example, through the National Centre for Small and Micro Enterprise Development, 20 new small businesses were started as a result of income generation training” said Ms Robinson.

The aid, of course, does nothing for Fiji's two largest industries, tourism and sugar production, the two industries that Australian political policies have helped undermine. This is not to denigrate aid, but bitsy, piecemeal, micro aid policies "tread water": they never resolve the bigger problems caused by rich-poor nation inequalities.

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NOTICE: A "Must" Read on the Cafe Pacific Blog

Readers are urged to visit David Robie's blog Cafe Pacific to read "A Case for Change, Peace and Progress," a report by someone who attended the meeting hosted by Victoria University at which Jone Dakuvula and John Samy shared and receive audience feedback on their views.

Also, click here to read Samy's full address. This is an extremely important paper, detailing work on the NCBBF, the People's Charter, "promises" to the PI Forum about elections, and NZ Australia, SDL, Methodist heirarchy, and mainstream media opposition to the Interim Government's moves. I have also placed it among "Background Material."

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(o+) Justice Gates's Moral Dilemma

A moral or ethical dilemma is a situation that often involves an apparent conflict between moral imperatives, in which to obey one would result in transgressing another. Resolving moral dilemmas is seldom simple.

I think Anthony Gates faced such a dilemma before accepting his reappointment as Chief Justice. Having once stated that the 1997 Constitution was Fiji's supreme law and only Parliament had the power to amend laws, his reappointment now rests on a Presidential decree and the Abrogation of the Constitution. The blog Coupfourpointfive and some other commentators whose opinions I respect question his motives.

But what does CJ Gates himself say? Speaking on the afternoon of his reappointment the Fiji Sun reports him as saying “There is no doubt in my mind that the judiciary must continue. Academic commentators may expatiate on the indelicacies of our situation, the constitutional dislocation itself, the present impossibility of constitutional compliance over appointments and many other niceties. What is of far greater significance is that the judges must act as judges. They need no other command. They must do the right thing. Few if any judges throughout the world will ever have to face the dilemmas we shall face; to be intellectually honest and yet to be efficacious."

“The task ahead for those judicial officers who have agreed to serve again will not be easy.They are to be commended for their courage and for their determination to continue to provide judicial services to the people of Fiji. I know that others will come forward to serve as judges, indeed some have already so offered. In time the judiciary will prosper and an adequate number of judges will be available and appointed. Some will come from Fiji and some from overseas.”

Fiji Village further reports him asking what would happen if Fiji has no judges, and why no one* (see footnote) questioned the legality or validity of the court rulings after the 1987 coup. Asking whether the right decision had been made, he said he has been through five coups in Fiji and he truly believes that the judiciary has to continue operating for the people of Fiji. Judges must act as judges and the judiciary has to continue with its work. He said he was confident that Fiji's judiciary would prosper and the right thing to do in this case is to ensure that the judiciary continues functioning.

Fiji Daily Post reported him adding that in the 1987 coup most of the magistrates and judges refused to swear an oath of allegiance in new order. He now believed judges like himself who refused to swear an oath of allegiance after the 1987 coup were mistaken. They would have done better to have continued to serve and play a crucial role in Fiji. “That is why I and others have decided to stay on and why I believe more should in time offer their services both from within the Fiji Bar and from overseas to re-create the Fiji judiciary.”

The interview with CJ Gates was reported by the Fiji Sun, Fiji Village and Fiji Daily Post. Unless I am mistaken, the prestigious Fiji Times made no report of the interview, presumably in protest against media censorship. But, having criticized CJ Gates in the past, they surely should have given him a "right of reply."

Victor Lal, writing in the blog Raw Fiji News, makes an important point: "The people of Fiji will only have trust in the judiciary if Gates is willing to go on record to state that the courts must be allowed to hear legal challenges to the Presidential decrees, actions and appointments. If not, the Fiji judiciary will be nothing but a mere rubber stamp of the illegal regime – with Gates as its master puppeteer and Pathik, Goundar and other judges likely to crawl out of the gutter as his orchestra."

I would not go that far. Given the present Fiji situation, litigation on the legality or otherwise of the President's decrees is better left until after a new democratically elected government is formed. Now, more than ever, calmer conditions are needed to get the opposing sides to talk with each other. But litigation on alleged abuses of human rights arising from the decrees should be allowed -- and it would increase the CJ's mana if he said so, or at least worked behind the scenes to ensure justice is done in these cases.

* In fact, many questioned the court rulings. I think Gates means "no one who supported the 1987 coups."

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(o) Judiciary Begins to Return to "Normal"

New Zealander Anthony Gates (photo) has been reappointed as Chief Justice and Davendra Pathik and Daniel Gounder as puisne judges. Sosefo Inoke is a newly appointed puisne judge to the High Court. Lawyer Mary Muir has joined eight other magistrates sworn in earlier in the week. [For negative and possibly libellous-by-inference profiles of the appointees, obtained from unnamed "legal sources," see Coupfourpointfive.]

The country’s high courts have been out of session since April 10, when all judicial appointments were revoked as a result of the Abrogation of the 1997 Constitution. More judicial appointments are expected to be made soon. Nazhat Shameem, former Director of Public Prosecutions and Fiji's first female judge, has so far not been reappointed.Click here for full report.

Meanwhile,blog Coupfourpointfive reports in "Lawyers Put Pressure on Naidu" that some Western Division lawyers are urging Fiji Law Society President Dorsami Naidu to allow lawyers to be appointed as judges, but Naidu has refused to change his stance.

Prior to the Abrogation of the 1997 Constitution, the FLS was represented on the Judicial Service Commission on whose recommendations the President appointed judges, magistrates, justices of the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court, and the Chief Justice. As reported earlier, the FLS is also likely to lose its role as the licencing authority of lawyers. This function is likely to be taken over by the Attorney-General. To more fully understand the significance of these changes, readers are urged to read my May 10th post, "How Independent is the Judiciary?" --Post based on FijiLive and Fiji Times releases.

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(o+) Corruption Charges and Pitiful Wastage

STOP PRESS.
"According to a Fiji Sun article, additional corruption charges also have been filed against the former General Manager of Native Lands Trust Board (NLTB)Kalivati Bakani and former permanent secretary for the Infrastructure and Public Utilities Ministry, Anasa Vocea."
Source http://stuckinfijimud.blogspot.com/


Corruption and gross Government inefficiency were among the reasons given by Bainimarama for the 2006 Coup, and many in Fiji were supporters of his "Clean Up" campaign.

The Fiji Independent Commission against Corruption (FICAC) was established soon after the coup but unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your viewpoint) no charges of major corruption (and certainly none involving major players) have yet been proved in the courts, much to the apparent delight of Government opponents who claimed the campaign was merely an excuse for the coup. They conveniently forgot that instances of corruption were common knowledge and even the Fiji Times had accused the Qarase Government of "rampant corruption".

Bringing offenders to justice, however, has proved difficult for a government lacking forensic accountants, and exposing corruption has also proved difficult for a media lacking investigative journalists.

Rewa Provincial Council Former Head on Corruption Charges

The appearance today in the Nausori Magistrate Court of Savenaca Kamikamica, former Roko Tui Rewa (the executive head of the powerful Rewa Provincial Council) on corruption charges is therefore of major interest. He was detained under a Bench Warrant arrest because he had failed to appear in court for another matter, and charged by the FICAC of obtaining goods by false pretense. The charges alleged that in December 2005 he obtained goods from Suncourt Hardware under the pretence that they were for the Rewa Provincial Council Office under the Development Assistance Scheme,when in fact they were for his personal use.

Kamikamica pleaded not guilty and was released on a $3000 bail. The case has been adjourned till July 1st. Kamikamica is also facing another charge of larceny by servant. The judge agreed with FICAC Prosecutor Paul Madigan that bail conditions state he is not to interfere with the witnesses,surrender all travel documents, and pay an additional . $5000 bail fee. For the full report, click here.

Cakaudrove Provincial Council Report Wastage of Public Money

The Fiji Times, in an article "Aid in Ruin: Projects in Waste Four Year On" by journalist Theresa Ralogaivau, reports on another unrelated but relevant situation.

At yesterday's meeting the Cakaudrove Provincial Council was informed that project material provided by the Qarase Government under the Development Assistance Scheme that its office manages -- $100,000 annually -- "such as bags of cement, concrete blocks and pipes [intended for flush toilets and footpaths] are eventually reduced to ruin in the rain and sun, four years after they were first supplied to the village[s]."

The Commissioner Northern said it's a "sad waste materials for flush toilet projects at some villages were not used;" the Council chairman said the squandering of materials would only make it difficult for villagers to secure funds for future development; and a Council member thought the wastage "just [sic!] a reflection of poor leadership at village level..."

The situation, thought not to be confined to Cakaudrove, highlights the sorts of wastage of Government money under one of the affirmative action schemes promoted by the Qarase Government. Such schemes are needed, but people "redirecting" public money such as Kamikameca (if he is found guilty); and people, at all levels of central and provincial council administration, who are not doing their job to see that public money is not wasted, should be brought to account.

Responsibility starts at the top. It will be interesting to see if the present Government is any more successful in stopping such wastages than its predecessor.

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