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POLITICS-FIJI: West Unmoved by Court Support For Coup

Analysis by Shailendra Singh

SUVA, Oct 14 2008 (IPS) - A landmark Fiji High Court decision upholding the powers assumed by the country’s president after a military coup in December 2006 has come as a boost for coup leader and interim prime minister, Commodore Frank Bainimarama.

But last Thursday’s ruling has caused an uproar in some quarters that has yet to subside, with critics saying the courts had in effect legitimised the illegal takeover of an elected government.

The ruling by judges Anthony Gates, John Byrne and Devendra Pathik was in response to a writ by the ousted Prime Minister, Laisenia Qarase, challenging the powers assumed by the President, Ratu Josefa Iloilo, after the takeover.

The decision not only upheld the dismissal of the Qarase government by the President, but also the granting of immunity to Bainimarama and other soldiers who participated in the military takeover.

The verdict came on the eve of this Pacific island nation’s 38th anniversary independence from Britain. Within eyeshot of the colonial-style government building where the decision was being heard, soldiers could be seen parading in the nearby Albert Park rehearsing for the celebrations.

In case anyone was unaware of their presence, a gun salute was sounded, which would have served as reminder of who was in control in a country that has experienced four coups in the last 20 years.

While Bainimarama’s interim government may have been buoyed by the decision, the international reaction must have come as a dampener.

Regional giants, and Fiji’s major trading partners and aid donors, Australia and New Zealand, made it clear that there would be no lifting of sanctions or travel bans. The United States and the EU took a similar stance.

In a region that is nowadays synonymous with civil unrest and insurrection, the message being sent was that the international powers would not tolerate coups or unelected regimes, whatever the decision by a country’s courts.

New Zealand’s Defence Minister Phil Goff said they would continue to press Fiji to move towards constitutional and democratic governance, while Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith said Bainimarama was obstructing elections.

A statement from the U.S. Embassy said the court decision would not affect the countries’ bilateral relationship. “The suspension of certain U.S. assistance to the Fiji Government under section 508 of the Foreign Appropriations Act will remain in place until the President or Secretary of State determines that Fiji has made measurable progress toward the restoration of democratic rule,” the statement said.

The ruling said that the President acted legally in assuming executive authority during a crisis, and that the dismissal of government and the appointment of a caretaker prime minister were valid and lawful acts.

It added that the President’s decision to make and promulgate legislation in the interest of peace, order and good government in the intervening period prior to fresh elections and a new Parliament were also valid and lawful.

Stunned by the court ruling Qarase denounced it as a “miscarriage” of justice. “The judgment virtually gives you a passport to future coups and all you need to do is run to the President and he takes it up,” he said.

Bainimarama, while giving no concrete details of when elections may be held, has invited all registered political parties for a meeting as soon as possible “to discuss and agree on an agenda for the way forward towards constitutional and democratic governance”.

“The judgment affords us the opportunity again to renew my invitation to the former prime minister and his supporters to come and join the National Council for Building a Better Fiji and the proposed President’s Dialogue Forum.

The President, Ratu Josefa Iloilo, in a national address on independence day, admitted that Fiji “faces some very major problems” and was keen on constructive dialogue and cooperation to lay a more solid foundation.

The push for fresh elections both internationally and nationally is partly driven by concerns that the coup has worsened relations between the country’s two major races, indigenous Fijians and ethnic Indians, who are descendents of indentured labour brought in by British colonials.

Fijians are said to oppose the coup and supporting Qarase while Indians are assumed to be supporting Bainimarama, who said he acted to remove a racist, corrupt government that was implementing unpopular and divisive policies.

While previous coups were executed to restore power to indigenous Fijians, the Bainimarama coup was dubbed as a “clean-up campaign” and it removed an indigenous Fijian head of government.

In reality, a good number of Indian political and union leaders have been quite vocal against the coup, and Bainimarama is not totally without Fijian support.

The prime concern at the moment is Fiji’s economy. Already performing poorly, it was dealt another blow in December 2006.

Tourism, the major foreign exchange earner, is in decline. The sugar industry, another mainstay of the economy, is seriously ailing, with the national sugar mills recording millions in losses.

Recent increases in fuel prices and food costs have exacerbated an already fragile situation. Investor confidence is low and there are concerns that a worrying unemployment situation will only get worse until an acceptable political situation is found.