The overthrow of the Fiji Labour Party-led government "is not a struggle between indigenous Fijians and Indo-Fijians" BRIJ LAL, a professor of history at the Australian National University and a director of the ANU's Centre for the Contemporary Pacific, told Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly's JONATHON SINGER on June 1. Lal was one of the people who drafted Fiji's 1997 constitution.
"This is a struggle for power by a band of men who were defeated in last year's election or are missing out on the gravy train on which they were riding in the 1990s", Lal said.
"A great deal has been lost" with the overturning of the 1997 constitution, Lal explained. The constitution "was prepared after a great deal of consultation in Fiji and overseas. We travelled around the country, received something like 800 submissions from individuals, political parties and organisations. We received an enormous amount of assistance from constitutional experts from around the world.
"The report that we wrote, which formed the basis of the constitution, was widely praised. The constitution itself was unanimously endorsed by the parliament and the Great Council of Chiefs (GCC)."
The constitution, according to Lal, embodied "multi-ethnic cooperation, coalition and government, and a fair and just society which protected indigenous rights but opened the space for democratic politics. All of those things are now gone."
Unacceptable
The situation in Fiji is now moving in opposition to "international norms of human, civil and political rights. The thought that you can ... enshrine the racial supremacy of one group is simply wrong, and is not acceptable." Attempts by conservative Melanesian Fijian leaders to reverse aspects of the bill of rights — such as the provision that prevents discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation — "will not stand international scrutiny", said Lal.
"We are looking at a situation that is dangerous, and not just for the rest of the South Pacific. The idea that if you disagree with any aspect of the constitution you can simply hijack parliament, terrorise the people ... and get the constitution revoked is a very dangerous thing for any democracy in the Third World."
Lal said the GCC had been constitutionally recognised for the first time in 1997, having the right to nominate the president and vice-president as well as 14 of the 32 senators. "Traditionally, the GCC has played the role of an umbrella organisation of indigenous Fijian interests, but increasingly it began to see itself as the custodian of national interests.
"Today, it stands as a diminished body, ridiculed and humiliated. It failed to live up to the expectations the people had of it and gave in to [coup frontman George] Speight's demands.
"It refused to stand by the constitution it unanimously endorsed. There was no place in its deliberations for principles of democracy and the voice of the government held in detention."
Lal told Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly that the credibility of the Fijian military is "in tatters" and that it is deeply factionalised. "Sections of the military joined Speight. How is it that sophisticated armaments stolen from the military are now in the hands of thugs roaming the streets of Suva? How is it that this military that can be terrorised by hooligans?
"A truism is that once the colonels are out of the barracks they don't go back. To rule the country under martial law for three years does not serve anyone's interests, except for those who are now in power and are supported by the army."
Australia must respond
Australia has a very important role to play in opposing the crushing of democratic rights in Fiji, Lal argued. "This is partly because the descendants of Indians are in Fiji because of Australia; they went there as indentured labour to work on [the Australian company] CSR's plantations."
Lal said: "There will be other Speights, so an immediate and concrete response from Australia is needed to send the message that the Speights of this world cannot hijack a parliament and get away with it. The Australian government should take immediate action. Postponing sanctions until a later day will be highly counterproductive."