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SOUTH PACIFIC: Obama Win Inspirational

Shailendra Singh

SUVA, Nov 6 2008 (IPS) - Washington’s policy in the South Pacific is unlikely to change much with Barack Obama’s win in the U.S. presidential elections, but the historic victory should serve as an inspiration for the region, say commentators.

Pacific analysts and media have been quick to hail the Obama win as a beacon for democracy and a momentous event from which to draw lessons.

In trouble-prone Melanesia, politicians, newspapers and ordinary people also celebrated the victory and cited it as a significant occasion in world history.

Among the first from the region to congratulate Obama was Fiji’s interim Prime Minister, Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama, who staged a coup in the country in December 2006.

Bainimarama described the election results as a wonderful expression by U.S. voters of their confidence in Obama’s leadership and agenda for change.

He said Fiji was also pursuing governance change for the achievement of genuine parliamentary democracy. In his message to Obama, Bainimarama added: “I trust your administration will render us a more understanding and conciliatory approach in helping move Fiji forward.”

This may be wishful thinking on Bainimarama’s part as his reluctance to give firm dates for elections has made him an international pariah.

Morgan Tuimalealiifano, an associate professor in history at the University of the South Pacific (USP) in Suva, described Obama’s win as a “wonderful lift of the human spirit against seemingly insurmountable odds”.

Tuimalealiifano, a Samoan, told IPS the victory was remarkable when viewed in the context of Obama’s background, the product of a mixed-race marriage coming from a broken family. He became the first non-white president of the U.S. ‘’without fame, fortune or family name,” Tuimalealiifano added.

The USP student association president, Delphine Vuti, said that Obama was an example for young Pacific islanders who, because of cultural norms, often shied away from taking up leadership positions. “Obama is young and bringing in young leaders is bringing in new ideas and new innovations,” she said.

A veteran watcher of U.S. politics in the region, USP academic Som Prakash, said the Obama-McCain clash would have been the most closely followed U.S. elections in the South Pacific.

“There was a high level of interest because Obama is a black man. Pacific Islanders identified with him and wanted to see him succeed,’’ Prakash said. “Not only that, Obama was a great speaker and a very charismatic figure.”

Prakash said that the win was of significance for the Pacific, which has its own troubles with race, ethnicity and autocratic governance.

“Anything is possible in a truly free and democratic society,” said Prakash. “Anyone regardless of race should be allowed to become a powerful figure provided that he or she unites the people. Divisiveness does not work in the long run.”

Prakash said the fact that whites elected a black president is not only a great day for the U.S. but also a great day for humanity.

Fiji’s ousted prime pinister, Laisenia Qarase, used Obama’s victory to call on indigenous Fijian to accept changes and someday nominate members of races to be the prime minister or president of the country.

“I believe that one day someone from the minority community will lead our country and I am sure about that. It will happen,” Qarase told fijilive.com

Transition, said Qarase, is inevitable but would take place over time because Fiji was just a young democracy.

Fiji has suffered four politically and racially motivated coups in the last 20 years. In 1987, military strongman Sitiveni Rabuka ousted the Bavadra government, which he said was dominated by and under the influence of the country’s Indian population.

In 2000, self-styled champion of indigenous Fijians, George Speight, toppled Fiji’s first prime minister of Indian descent, Mahendra Chaudhry, claiming that his government was endangering Fijian political rights.

Fiji’s major newspaper, The Fiji Times, in an editorial titled “Free at last”, said Obama’s victory fulfilled a personal dream and the dreams of millions of Americans who had dreamt of the day when race would have no place in the politics of the nation. “We pray that the day will soon come to Fiji,” said the editorial.

Fiji’s Daily Post, which carried a full-page photo of Obama on the front-page, wrote: “For us in Fiji the Obama victory is a lesson in democracy and constitutional law that we can learn a lot from. The U.S. presidential elections offers hope for Fiji’s people that they will be able to exercise the same right too in the not too distant future.”

In Papua New Guinea, the two major daily newspapers had been giving a lot of space to the campaign. Following election results, both dailies, The National and the Post Courier, had Obama on the front page with his family.

Said the National: “American voters elevated not just one man, but in the eyes of the world, their nation onto a new stage. It gives us in PNG hope and a good feeling in the gut – almost as if it is a personal achievement.”

Senior PNG journalist Yehiura Hriehwazi told IPS that many people stayed home and watched the election countdown.

“I observed many young people with mobile phones switching to BBC and following (the elections) every step of the way. I heard one 18-year-old girl shouting, ‘Obama has won Pennsylvania and Ohio’ after hearing results over the mobile phone,’’ Hriehwazi said.

In Port Moresby, the capital of PNG, offices with TV sets had staff crowding around the screens at regular intervals. Hriehwazi said there was a palpable, positive mood in the capital. “Anyone, regardless of race or colour can make it to the top in world politics as long as he or she is honest, straight, smart, intelligent and can use good communication skills,” said Hriehwazi.

PNG’s foreign minister, Sam Abal, was another Pacific leader who had glowing praise.”America is a truly democratic country where race and colour fade into insignificance,” he said.

“This I believe is what makes America great. We also learn that in a democracy, we in PNG should never base the election of our leaders on regionalism, ethnic grounds and/or on the basis of colour, but to choose the best and most honest leader to lead,” said Abal.