Fiji military head seizes government control

[warspite]

Well another coup in the south pacific....
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2006/12/05/fiji-coup.html

Interesting differences between this coup and the one in Thailand

 

[Mike Baker]

wow, the fourth coup in 20 years. yeah, its pretty different from that of the Thai coup as well.

 

[Trooper Hale]

This has been huge news down here for quite a little while. Lots of accusations that the Australian Government were doing rude, nasty things behind the scenes and all that. It'll be interesting to see how it all turns out. The Fijian people seem a bit worried by it, the military have been taking some pretty dramatic steps. Taking weapons away from the only armed police unit, locking down the city. Its very serious stuff

 

[Edward Campbell]

Fiji is a bit of a funny place.

First: their system of government looks a bit like most others but, in addition to all the normal paraphernalia there is a “Council of Chiefs” which has enormous influence which translates, for the native Fijian majority, into real power.

Second: this is a warrior society and the army is the crème de la crème – what every young Fijian wants to be when he grows up: a soldier and a rugby player.  (The Fijians are bloody good at rugby, especially seven-a-side.)  The CDS is, de facto the defence minister and reports to the president (who is like the governor general except in having that power over the military and who is appointed by the Council of Chiefs), not the prime minister

Third: the army is native Fijian only – very, very few Indians and it sees itself as a repository of traditional Fijian values so it is very responsive to the Council of Chiefs – which means it is less than enamoured with parliament.

These three factors make life tough for any elected government, especially one – like the just displaced one – which is at odds with the CDS.

Watch for these fellows:

1. Major-General Sitiveni Ligamamada Rabuka OBE, - probably the most respect person amongst the native Fijians - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sitiveni_Rabuka and

2. Filipo Tarakinikini – a former, maybe, LCol – some of you who served in Lebanon may know him from there.  He’s currenmtly working for the UN in New York – even though, officially, he is supposed to face trial by court martial for mutiny in Fiji.  Tarakinikini claims he was set-up by the current CDS (Commodore Commodore Frank Bainimarama).

Finally, the Australians are seen, by many, many Fijians, s the ugly Americans of the South Pacific.  (Sorry Hale and Wesley and other diggers on Ar,my.ca.)  New Zealand has been Fijis’s traditional ‘friend’ in the old Commonwealth but PM Helen Clark has done her level best to emasculate the NZ military and reduce its exposure and influence in Fiji.

The Fijians are fine, indeed wonderful people but they are beset by a culture and traditions which make modern, legally based, parliamentary government difficult, at best.  They are, fundamentally, decent people and I hope they will work this out.

 

[Yrys]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6164265.stm

Ads for Fiji's post-coup cabinet

Fiji's military leaders have taken out newspaper advertisements
to recruit members of an interim government after seizing power earlier this week.

The army has stated that applicants must be "of outstanding character" and must not have a criminal record.

 

[warspite]

Looks like the army has brought back the old president while still maintaining control....
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2007/01/04/fiji-president.html

 

[Yrys]

Timeline: Fiji (from 1643 to April 2009), 11 April 2009
Country profile: Fiji (Overview, Facts, Leaders, Media with links)

Profile: Fiji's new military leader, 30 May, 2000
Q&A: Fiji election, 5 May 2006
Race issue central to Fiji poll, 6 May 2006
Background to Fiji's four coups (MAY AND SEPTEMBER 1987, 19 MAY 2000, 5 DECEMBER 2006)
In pictures: Fiji coup, 5 December 2006, 10 pictures, half of the military

Fijians take on dangerous Iraq roles, 15 March 2007
NZ and Fiji each expel diplomats, 23 December 2008
UN to mediate for Fiji democracy25 December 2008
Eyewitness: Fiji's worst floods, 15 January 2009

Pacific leaders set Fiji deadline, 27 January 2009
Fiji leader defiant after threats, 28 January 2009
Fiji coup leader rules out vote, 5 March 2009
Fiji coup regime ruled unlawful, 9 April 2009
Fiji coup leader restored as PM, 11 April 2009
Democratic future fades for Fiji, 13 April 2009



Media crackdown by Fiji military, 13 April 2009

Army chief Frank Bainimarama has
strengthened his grip on power

Fijians are feeling the force of a new military government with censors now controlling the media.
Under a 30-day state of emergency, newspapers and broadcasters are not allowed to carry stories
critical of the army's grip on power in Fiji.

Army chief Commodore Frank Bainimarama has been reinstated as prime minister. He regained
office after the president scrapped the constitution and dismissed the judges who had declared
the military government to be illegal.

Editors at Fiji's newspapers as well as its television and radio stations have been ordered not to
publish or broadcast any material that shows the military in a bad light. Journalists must submit
any sensitive stories to government officials for approval. Should these directives be ignored
then media organisations could be shut down.

Defiance

There has been some attempt by newspapers and broadcasters to voice their displeasure.
The Fiji Times left one of its pages blank except for a message which said that that certain
stories could not be printed because of government regulations. Fiji Television's main evening
news bulletin was cancelled in protest at the restrictions. It was replaced by a programme
about fishing. The Fiji Media Council said the censorship of the press was a tragedy for a
country where free and vigorous reporting has become a proud tradition.

Fiji has been run by its army chief, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, since December 2006,
when troops ousted an elected government that senior officers said was corrupt and
discriminating against the ethnic Indian minority. Last week, the military take-over was
declared illegal by the country's Court of Appeal, which prompted Commodore Bainimarama
to step down as interim prime minister.

Fiji's President, Ratu Josefa Iloilo, who is a loyal supporter of the armed forces commander,
responded by scrapping the constitution and dismissing the judiciary.

The military administration was reinstated, its grip on power now stronger than ever.

 

[KingKikapu]

heh I was just leaving Fiji at around the time of the last coup.  Things were pretty crazy back then.  I immediately traveled to Thailand where I stayed for 3 months and managed to just miss another coup there.  I did manage to however see the massive protests in just about every major city, and the block that I stayed at in Hat Yai was even bombed a week after I left the town by Southern Muslim insurgents.

Looks like nothing's changed in either country.

FWIW the Fijian people are the most friendly people I've ever met, but at the same time they are without a doubt a xenophobic people too.  It's an irony not lost on me.

 

[Yrys]

Outcast Fiji faces new sanctions

Australia and New Zealand have warned the military chief of Fiji, Frank Bainimarama,
that he faces new trade and travel sanctions.
...

"We've effectively got a self-appointed dictator. It's now a very much less predictable
place than it was," New Zealand's Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully told Radio
New Zealand. "We are seeing a very ugly side of the regime where they are clamping
down on personal freedoms, media freedoms and there [is a] serious sense of a
crackdown on the institutions and individuals who are defying the government,"
he added.

Australia's Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said it was "almost inevitable" Fiji would be
ejected from regional groupings and the Commonwealth of former British-ruled nations.
Both ministers said the challenge was to find a way to target Mr Bainimarama and his
allies without hurting the Fijian people, many of whom rely on the tourism industry.

Media hit

Veteran Pacific reporter Sean Dorney, from Australia's ABC, together with a reporter
and cameraman from New Zealand's TV 3 network, were told by Fiji's information
ministry they were to be deported, they said.

Late on Monday, a Fiji Television journalist was taken in for questioning, and Mr Dorney
was driven to the airport accompanied by several soldiers, witnesses told AFP.

"The curtailment of media access and freedom of speech and, as already evident, the
disregard for judicial independence are especially worrying," a statement by Pacific
Islands Forum Secretary General Tuiloma Neroni Slade said. The forum earlier this year
threatened to suspend Fiji from the grouping if it did not set a date by May for elections
to be held before the end of the year.

Mr Bainimarama said on the weekend that there will not be democratic elections until 2014.