| Political mishap in Fiji |
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| World Affairs Talk | |
| Thursday, 18 January 2007 | |
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The country is made up of 55 per cent indigenous Fijians and 45 percent Indo-Fijians descended from Indian workers propelled by the British colonial government back in the last century. The country experienced ethnically motivated struggles in the past; though the present coup may not appear to be ethincally aggravated, the roots of it surely lie in the racial divide. In 1987 Fiji experienced two consecutive military coups, led by charismatic ethnic Fijian Lieutenant Colonel Sitiveni Rabuka. He ousted the government of Prime Minister Timoci Bavadra who was backed by Fiji's Indian community. Lieutenant Colonel Sitiveni Rabuka then re-wrote the constitution to entrench the political supremacy of ethnic Fijians; Indian origins were neglected in all means. International community including the Commonwealth forced Lieutenant Colonel Sitiveni Rabuka to include ethnic Indians in political positions in the mid Nineties. In 1997, a new constitution was adopted which later led to general election in 1999. Mahendra Chaudhry, first ethnic Indian prime minister of the country took the office; but not for long. Just a year later, the Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry and members of parliament were taken hostage by gunmen led by George Speight, a Fijian nationalist businessman. The country was in the verge of civil war. The crisis lasted about 56 days and ended by the Army, led by Commander Voreqe Bainimarama. George Speight was jailed for life for leading the 2000 coup. Nationalists were forced to surrender political power to an interim government. After that, an ex-banker and native Fijian, Laisenia Qarase won two consecutive five-year terms in national elections in 2001 and 2006. Laisenia Qarase and Commander Voreqe Bainimarama had good terms between them as both gained political applause for saving the country from a civil war. Paradoxically, it is the same incident that brought Qarase and Bainimarama together in power caused the two to fall out, resulting in the latest coup. After Fiji's elections in 2001 which Prime Minister Qarase won, the government was formed in coalition with a minority nationalist party that included the brother of nationalist George Speight. A crack opened between Qarase and Bainimarama, as Bainimarama demanded that all participants in the 2000 coup be brought to justice. Bainimarama, an Army commander and a widely regarded national hero did not like Qarase government’s move of positioning two convicted coup participants as Cabinet Ministers. He is an outspoken man and he publicly criticised the move. He repeatedly demanded that the two Cabinet Ministers be sacked; Qarase government ignored the move all along. Commander Bainimarama was further angered over a proposed bill by the Cabinet that would offer amnesty to perpetrators of the 2000 coup. On several occasions, he threatened the government that this move will bring a coup. New Zealand authority tried to solve the dispute between Commander Bainimarama and Laisenia Qarase by calling both over last week but the discussion could not bring a solution and a coup was inevitable. In the hours prior to the coup, Prime Minister Qarase sought military intervention from the regional dominators, Australia and New Zealand, both refusing to assist in fear of worsening the situation further. Around 40 Army soldiers on December 5 last year enforced the running senate to suspend, forced out parliament members and took over the parliamentary complex. Commodore Frank Bainimarama later said in a televised address he had assumed executive powers and dismissed Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase. Cmdr Bainimarama accused the ex-prime minister of corruption and leading Fiji on a path of doom. The new military-installed government announced to build alliances with China and other Asian nations after being shunned by Australia and other South Pacific neighbors for coming to power through a coup. On January 05, Cmdr Bainimarama was sworn in as the country's Interim Prime Minister just a month after overthrowing the previous government. He promised that the interim administration will pave the way for a return to democracy; but no date has yet been given for the new elections. The recent happenings in Fiji however courses reasonable doubts in the minds of future stability of the country. Share & Bookmark             |
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