THE CONTEMPORARY PACIFIC. SPRING 1990

The Literature ofthe Coups

The Fiji Economy, May 1987: Prob­ by Bruce Knapman. Leichhardt, NSW: lems and Prospects, by Rodney Cole Pluto Press, 1988. xviii + 198 pp, map, and Helen Hughes. Pacific Policy graphs, notes, index. A$II.95. Papers no. 4. Canberra: National Cen­ tre for Development Studies, Austra­ Fiji, Politics ofIllusion: The Military lian National University, 1988. xiv + Coups in Fiji, by Deryck Scarr. Ken­ 147 pp, tables, bibliography. A$2o. sington: New South Wales University Press, 1988. xvii + 161 pp, photo­ Rabuka: No Other Way, (His own graphs, notes, index. US$19.95. story of the Fijian coup as told to) Eddie Dean and Stan Ritova. Sydney: From the Mangrove Swamps, by Doubleday, 1988. 174 pp, photo­ Tomasi R. Vakatora. : Institute of graphs, index. A$12.95. Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific, 1988. vi + 98 pp, photographs, The Guns ofLautoka (The Defence of appendix, glossary, index. F$5. Kahan), by Christopher Harder. Auck­ land: Sunshine Press, 1988. xi + 249 The main sequence of events in Fiji's PP·~Z$19·95· recent political history is clear enough: in a general electionin April 1987 the . Fiji: Opportunityfrom Adversity? by government of Sir Wolfgang Kasper, Jeff Bennett, and , which had ruled Fiji Richard Blandy. CIS Pacific Papers I, through seventeen years of indepen­ St Leonards, NSW: Centre for Indepen­ dence, was defeated by Dr Timoci dent Studies, 1988. xvii + 168 pp, Bavadra's coalition ofthe recently appendixes, bibliography. A$16.95. formed Labour Party and the National . On 14 May, Lieuten­ Power and Prejudice: The Making of ant-Colonel , staff offi­ the Fiji Crisis, by Brij V. Lal. Wel­ cer in the Royal Fiji Military Forces, lington: Institute of took government members ofParlia­ International Affairs, 1988. viii + 204 ment into custody and assumed control pp, notes. NZ$16.50. ofthe country. After an abortive attempt by Governor-General Ratu Sir Coup and Crisis: Fiji-A Year Later, to find an accommoda­ edited by Satendra Prasad. Revised and tion between the political parties, enlarged. North Carlton, VIC: Arena Rabuka staged a second coup on 25 Publications, 1988. viii + II9 pp, September. A month later Fiji became a index. A$9.95. republic outside the British Common­ wealth. By year's end, Fiji was ruled by Fiji: Shattered Coups, by Robert T. an interim government with Ratu Sir Robertson and Akosita Tamanisau. Penaia Ganilau as president, Ratu Sir Foreword by Don Dunstan; Afterword Kamisese Mara as prime minister, and BOOK REVIEWS 199

Brigadier-General Sitiveni Rabuka in cent of all land in Fijian ownership, but the key Home Affairs portfolio with with much ofit leased to Indians, and control over the army, police, internal with most ofthe freehold land in the security, and a great deal more besides. hands of non- and foreign busi­ Although the sequence is clear, the ness interests, fear ofdispossession has cause and significance ofthe events, long been very real among Fijians and a and the motivations ofthe leading potent weapon in the hands ofpoliti­ actors, are still the subject offierce cians. Behind Rabuka's actions, and debate-a debate that is not fully certainly in the popular Fijian response resolved by the literature under review. to the first coup in particular, was a The first ofmany books on the coup fear of changes to the land law by an to appear was Rabuka: No Other Way, "Indian-dominated government" (45). the coup leader's own account of Emotive claims made by the Fijian events as told to, and by, two journal­ leadership totally ignored the constitu­ ists. Eddie Dean, an Australian, and tional entrenchment ofthe land laws; Stan Ritova, a Fijian, combined their and there is little evidence to suggest efforts to produce an account that gives that the Coalition contemplated chang­ great detail-most of it convincing­ ing the land laws in the manner on die logistics ofmounting the coups, claimed. Constitutionally, change establishing new governments, and would have been impossible without maintaining control; Rabuka also cov- the explicit approval ofthe Great . ers-insomede1:aiIRaouKa's·protractea Council oIaiiek'- The resI)onse repre­ negotiations with the governor-general sents a combination of a number of -and the gradual but inexorable shift issues-most notably, the failure to in the latter's stance-from the time of translate the constitution into the the coup through to his acceptance of Fijian language in nearly seventeen the presidency in the interim civilian years ofindependence, and the fact government. Through the photographs that, with or without encouragement as well as the text, the reader is pre­ by politicians, the Fijian people did not sented with Rabuka the family man, perceive the constitution as sufficient the sportsman, and the soldier, the protection for their land rights. charismatic leader of"his" men. There The postcoup strength ofthe Taukei is, indeed, a strong possessiveness (landowners) Movement demonstrates about Rabuka's attitude toward the the extent ofpopular Fijian support for men under his command-a loyalty Rabuka's move but raises other matters and affection that was obviously recip­ offundamental importance to any rocated. But dominant above all other explanation ofdevelopments after 14 facets of a complex character are May 1987. Rabuka argues that a major Rabuka the fundamentalist Methodist, reason for his action was the fear of and Rabuka the passionate Fijian unleashing taukei violence against Indi­ nationalist. ans and that, in a sense, the coup was The land issue remains central to protective ofIndian interests. An issue Fiji politics and to Rabuka's justifica­ that the book does not even begin to tion for the coup. With some 83 per- address was why the established Fijian 200 THE CONTEMPORARY PACIFIC. SPRING 1990 leadership did not invoke the tradi­ too well documented to be dismissed in tional mantle ofchieftainship-empha­ this way. Such omissions raise ques­ sized as the keystone ofFijian society­ tions as to how far the authors have felt either to control the taukei or to defend free to probe into areas of such sensi­ the established democratic process. tivity and how far they have accepted Nor does it explore how far the taukei Rabuka's views at face value. and Alliance politicians shared a com­ One area that is clearly docu­ mon agenda after the election of April mented, however, is Rabuka's religious 1987. The allegations ofcorruption in outlook, his "starkly fundamentalist the outgoing Mara government are Methodism" as the authors put it (II) touched on, but not explored. The sig­ -and his belief that sins and peccadil­ nificance of the new Coalition govern­ loes are readily forgiven by an under­ ment's inquiries into alleged corruption standing God. The irony of a coup in is not examined, nor is the reluctance defense of "traditional values" that sub­ of some politicians to renounce the sume a fiercely intolerant form of power and privileges to which they had Christianity draws little comment. become accustomed. Rabuka asserts that the coup was "a Rabuka's own operations order for mission that God has given me" (II) to the coup does offer some insight. The defend Fijian interests, the Fiji Military mission, he notes, is "to overthrow the Forces, and Methodist Christianity. govt and install a new regime that will Similarly a coup partly justified on pro­ e~s:':'re that the RF~lF and nado-nal -­ tectingFljI's-links witlidie Rritlsh­ interests are protected" (62). It is inter­ Crown has seen Fiji excluded from the esting, to say the least, that the inter­ Commonwealth. Declarations in ests of the RFMF come before national defense of"human rights" have been interest, or perhaps it is assumed that followed by oppressive decrees, a gag­ they are one and the same. But within ging ofthe media, and a proposed dis­ the military forces there was a fear that criminatory constitution. Action in under the Coalition, military strength defense of"the national interest" has at home and on peacekeeping duties been followed by a serious impact on overseas might be decreased. Rabuka the economy, particularly through a asserts that the Coalition government downturn in tourism, the flight of sav­ intended to introduce policies "which ings and investment capital, and a loss are bad for RFMF and our traditional of skilled personnel because of a sharp values" (61). increase in emigration. In two years The election results of April 1987 after the coup, Fiji lost more than half that produced the Coalition govern­ its doctors, two-thirds ofits lawyers, ment are not examined. The incidence one-third ofits accountants, and nearly of post-coup violence, intimidation, one quarter of its public servants. This and arson is also glossed over with may secure new opportunities for passing regret and specific reference Fijians, but at a considerable economic only to major incidents that were cost. widely reported. The routine maltreat­ Even on the evidence presented in ment of prisoners and detainees is now Rabuka, it would seem that the coup BOOK REVIEWS 201 leader did not fully appreciate the tion. That is for the future; for the implications ofthe coup-especially its past, one can only say that From the economic implications and interna­ Mangrove Swamps represents a lost tional ramifications. Developments opportunity to discuss in depth Fiji's subsequent to the first coup, however, politics over the past decade by one and Rabuka's eventual supremacy over whose perspective was from within the both Alliance politicians and the Alliance Party. taukei, reflect both a determination to Whereas the coup leader features secure his original ethnic and personal large in Rabuka-as one would expect goals, and a capacity to learn quickly he might-he is less prominent in Fiji: the ways ofgovernment and politics.· Politics ofIllusion by Deryck Scarr. In The only other personal account to the introduction to Scarr's book, emerge has been From the Mangrove Rabuka appears only in a list of Swamps, an autobiography by Tomasi acknowledgments (though first in the Vakatora, who had a public service list, xvi). Scarr's basic contention is career as soldier, leader, labor officer, that beneath a facade ofracial har­ and senior administrator before enter­ mony there were deep-seated tensions ing politics in 1976. Vakatora served between Fijians and Indians, and that the Mara administration as a minister, the coup was made inevitable by a then as Speaker. He asserts that, once Fijian fear ofdispossession once a gov­ the action was taken, about 90 percent ernment with an Indian majority had ofFijians-supported tnetoup-"Let tis been elected:]il this view, Raouka was not kid ourselves about it" (77). Vaka­ not so much the instigator ofthe coups tora talks not about the interests ofthe as an instrument ofinexorable forces in military forces, nor those ofMethodist Fijian politics. Christianity, but simply about fears From this basic thesis, or perhaps over dispossession ofland. Vakatora because ofit, Scarr is less concerned was involved in the governor-general's with the detailed events of1987 than discussions over the Deuba Accord, with an exploration ofbroader issues which provided for the formation of a -Fijian feelings toward Indians and caretaker government and a review of toward land, the intimacies oftradi­ the constitution. It is a pity that, where tional Fijian kin relationships and he could offer real insight into the political alignments that help to negotiations, Vakatora is content with explain the respective roles ofmajor a simple narrative ofthe main events. actors, and the emergence ofthe His own viewpoint is made abundantly Taukei Movement in defense ofindige­ clear-"My candid view is that when nous land rights. Inevitably, perhaps, normality returns, the Government the author concentrates on the Fijian must embark for a period ofyears on side ofthings with "Indians" appearing a policy of deliberate positive discrim­ on occasion as anonymous individuals ination in favour ofFijians in all in a largely homogeneous group. This fields ..." (89). This presupposes that is a weakness, but there is a counter­ "normality" means a Fijian-dominated vailing strength in the detail offered on government and discriminatory legisla- the views and activities ofthe promot- 202 THE CONTEMPORARY PACIFIC· SPRING 1990

ers and supporters ofthe coup. In par­ South Pacific, some ofwhom boycot­ ticular, the lie is given to Rabuka's ted a recent conference on Fiji at the claim to have acted virtually alone in University ofNew South Wales, which planning the first coup. There are also published Scarr's work. While individ­ revealing insights into the complex ual outrage is easily understood in the pressures on Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau, light of Scarr's scathing appraisal, what the governor-general-cum-president, as is in effect an assault on Scarr's free­ he grappled with his constitutional dom to publish sits incongruously obligations, his loyalty to his own peo­ alongside the Labour Party's avowal of ple from Cakaudrove, the considerable fundamental human rights. And while muscle exercised by the Great Council it might be seen as an explanation of of Chiefs and, at critical points, the events from a pro-Fijian perspective, very real possibility of serious violence. Politics 0/Illusion is no mere apologia In his analysis ofthe election of for the roles ofthe Alliance Party or the April I987, Scarr portrays Bavadra's Taukei Movement. Scarr does examine as a "middle-class at some length the allegations of cor­ urban-based, salaried-people's party, ruption within the Mara government mildly left wing" (34). It was not, he and the willingness ofpoliticians to says, a working class party and he seek and accept the perquisites of emphasizes the fact that in the commu­ power, though a greater emphasis is nal seats-the only place where voting placed on the "clumsy arrogance" of "a support coula be reliably measuted-=--it party-grown o~edt(YpOWer"(47). had the support ofless than IO percent Scarr sees the taukei as having a cru­ ofFijians. "To be brutal," he con­ cial role between the election ofApril cludes, "Labour was a front party for I987 and the declaration of a republic the National Federation Party" (35). in October, but as having been eased to Scarr makes constant reference to the the sidelines with a return to civilian naivete ofLabour politicians, ridicules government. He sees the return to the extravagant utterances ofits more office of Ganilau and Mara, as presi­ enthusiastic devotees (together with the dent and prime minister respectively, as excesses ofthe international media), a reflection ofboth customary status and makes a constant target ofLabour­ and political experience. The pillars of supporting "ideologues" among aca­ the preelection establishment were now demics at the University ofthe South back in place, though sharing power Pacific. Bavadra himself is portrayed as with Rabuka. a leader ofprinciple, but inexperi­ In Shattered Coups, Robert T. enced, naive, poorly advised by the Robertson and Akosita Tamanisau see academic ideologues, and manipulated the I987 coup and subsequent develop­ at distance by opportunistic NFP poli­ ments as being driven from the Fijian ticians. or Alliance side by the "I977 syn­ As might be expected, the book has drome"-a variation on the process not been well received among Labour that saw the Alliance Party returned to supporters and notably by some aca­ office after defeat in the I977 general demic staff at the University ofthe election. Further, the "collaboration" BOOK REVIEWS 2°3 with Rabuka by Mara and the Alliance ral society, as even a cursory examina­ establishment was a response ofthe tion ofintermarriage statistics, eco­ chiefly bureaucratic class to .the chal­ nomic roles, and the constitution itself lenge posed to its cliental relationships will show. The authors also seem to be by the Fiji Labour Party-cliental rela­ stretching a point in their claim that tionships developed by the Alliance Labour and the National Federation because ofits "failure to generate an Party were equal partners in the Coali­ independent viable bourgeoisie" (14). tion. At an organizational level this Aside from the inappropriateness of might be true, and Bavadra emerged as much ofthe jargon they use in the a leader ofprinciple and dignity (espe­ book, the authors suggest a further cially by contrast with some ofthose structural reason behind the coups in around him), but when it came to the the long-standing rivalry between east political realities, the Labour Party and west in Fiji, and something akin to simply did not have the votes. In the a conspiracy-nurtured by colonialism final analysis, the exact nature ofthe and brought to maturity by the Alli­ Coalition structure was immaterial; in ance-among the chiefly elites ofeast­ the eyes ofmost Fijians, Bavadra and ern , , and Lau to the Labour Party were seen as a threat ensure dominance over western Viti because oftheir perceived dominance Levu. The latter is culturally distinct by NFP interests. from the rest ofFiji and was a small­ Despite shortcomings, Shattered partplayer in precolonial politics; but Coups·does make a significant tonfri~ ­ is a major contributor to the economy bution to the literature ofthe coups not through the sugar and tourism indus­ simply because it documents a point of tries. view, but because it discusses in greater Certainly the west has supported depth than the other works the forma­ protest in the past, but it is by no tion ofthe Coalition and the interna­ means unique in this; although Bava­ tional response to the coups. The dra's home base is at Viseisei, his authors pay particular attention to the strongest support is to be found among rhetorical convolutions ofthe prime white-collar workers in Suva. It is ministers ofAustralia and New something of an exaggeration for Zealand, the fate ofthe British connec­ Robertson and Tamanisau to claim tion, and the ready acceptance ofthe that the Fiji Labour Party was, at any outcome by most ofthe governments in time, "outstandingly popular" (26), the region. and there are elements ofoverstate­ 's Power and Prejudice: The ment in the authors' enthusiastic Making ofthe Fiji Crisis stands out in endorsement ofLabour's position. the literature ofthe coups. Personally More serious, however, because they and academically, Lal is well-qualified mislead on some ofthe fundamentals to comment on Fiji politics, but he is ofthe situation, are other aspects of no dispassionate observer: "Nor is it this interpretation. By any common easy for me to forget what I have wit­ definition, Fiji was not a "multiracial nessed with my own eyes: the power of nation" (4) at independence but a plu- the ballot box ruthlessly crushed by the 2°4 THE CONTEMPORARY PACIFIC· SPRING 1990 power ofthe bayonet and a functioning grams to enhance educational and multiracial democracy sacrificed at the commercial opportunities for Fijians, altar ofracial chauvinism and personal as well as the protection and advance­ aggrandizement" (6). Here, too, we ment ofFijian interests outlined in the have the essence ofthe Lal interpreta­ Coalition's Speech from the Throne. tion ofthe crisis: "The Fiji coups were While Scarr has suggested that "public more about frustrated politicians bent interest" provisions might have been upon recapturing power lost at the used to alienate Fijian land, Lal dem­ polls than they were about ethnic prej­ onstrates quite clearly that no signifi­ udice, though the importance ofthe cant change to land tenure or land use latter cannot be ... lightly dismissed" legislation could have been made with­ (7)· out the acquiescence of the Fijian Again, the description of Fiji as a Affairs Board, the Great Council of "multiracial democracy" might be Chiefs, and the Senate. Inescapably, questioned, but Power and Prejudice this brings us back to the widespread is no mere polemic. In much greater ignorance ofthe protection ofFijian detail than the works discussed above, rights provided by the constitution and Power and Prejudice discusses the elec­ the role of taukei leaders (and, no less, tion results and documents the steady Rabuka) in manipulating widespread erosion ofAlliance support among Fijian fears. Fijians, culminating in April 1987 with In the final analysis, it was not the 9.opercenf ofFijiaft-communal vote·s constitutional provisions bot the-fears ­ going to the Coalition, 3.4 percent to (and whatever motives actuated politi­ the Western United Front and 5.4 per­ cal leaders) that became the political cent to the (45). reality. Lal examines the threat to the At least as important in the final defeat political dominance oftraditional ofthe Alliance was the high incidence Fijian leadership posed by the continu­ ofnonvoting (close to 30 percent) ing urbanization ofthe Fijian popula­ among Fijians. Turning the figures tion. More specifically, he discusses the around, the Alliance had the active challenge represented by the emergence support ofonly about 55 percent of ofBavadra, who was not from the potential Fijian voters, much less highest rank of Fijian chiefs, and his among Indians, and there was an ero­ support from a new generation of sion ofAlliance support among Gen­ urban-dwelling, Western-educated eral Electors. Following the coups, and Fijians allied with a tenuously united the politicization ofFijians by the National Federation Party. The Coali­ Taukei Movement, however, the tion not only attacked the role ofindi­ restored Alliance had a newly consoli­ vidual chiefs with its allegations ofcor­ dated power base in the Fijian elec­ ruption and incompetence, but also torate. aspects ofthe institution ofchieftain­ Lal examines in detail the constitu­ ship itself. The defense ofthe land, and tional provisions for the protection of Fijian rights ofindividual performance, Fijian interests and government pro- became subsumed into a broader issue. BOOK REVIEWS 2°5

The complexity ofthese factors makes' of Sir Arthur Gordon. The second it difficult to fix with certainty "the coup had the effect ofcurtailing the cause" ofthe coups. excesses of taukei leaders with a taste Lal's view, that the coups were more for power, leaving Rabuka with little about politicians seeking to recapture alternative but to build stronger links lost power than about ethnic prejudice, with the paramount chiefs ofthe Alli­ again challenges Rabuka's account of ance old guard. Whether Lal is right or his own role and his claim to have not, in his claim thai the coups were acted alone. The issue is best explored, engineered by Alliance politicians to perhaps, by an examination of subse­ protect their political and personal quent events. Although Ratu Sir Kami­ interests, it is certainly the case that the sese Mara and some ofhis colleagues effect ofthe second coup in particular, stood to one side, there were nonethe­ and its aftermath, has been to return less close links between Alliance politi­ them to power, though they now gov­ cians and the Taukei Movement. Politi­ ern under the watchful eye ofRabuka. cians who must have been fully aware There has been no serious attempt to ofthe constitutional protection that pursue the preelection allegations of existed for Fijian rights had little hesi­ corruption and abuse ofpower, and no tation in stirring up Fijians' feelings on evidence that Russians or Libyans were I the land issue. Betwee,n May and Sep­ backing the Coalition (or, for that mat­ tember, two processes were essentially ter, that the United States gave material proceeding in-parallel:-the first,involv­ .aid to the coup'). !tis also the- casethat, I ing the governor-general with Alliance with no immediate prospect of elec­ and Coalition politicians, saw negotia­ tions, little power is being shared with tions toward compromise constitu­ the mass ofthe Fijian people (except I tional arrangements; the second saw insofar as they are represented by their the exercise ofpower by ministers who chiefs), while the Indian population I included a number of taukei leaders. has no power at all. The latter development represented not At the end ofthe day, there is no only Rabuka's reward to his constitu­ sign that the simple soldier is interested I ents in the taukei, but was also a mea­ in returning to barracks. His mission to sure ofwidespread discontent among protect for all time the interests of Fijians with the Alliance's recent Fijians has yet to be fulfilled; Rabuka I record. obviously relishes the exercise of It might be argued, then, that power; and his earlier denials ofper­ Rabuka and some, at least, ofthe Alli­ sonal motives have been steadily ance politicians used the populist eroded by promotions to colonel, to taukei to achieve personal and political brigadier, and to major-general. While ends in the first coup. But it leaves too the complexity ofthe Fiji coups defies many loose ends to see both coups as the drawing oftoo many parallels with measures to secure the paramountcy of postcolonial theories and models, this Fijian interests that had been promised at least is in the classic mold. by cession and embodied in the policies The aftermath of the coups has also 206 THE CONTEMPORARY PACIFIC. SPRING 1990 produced its share ofpublications. later account ofthe issues that are the Most prominent among these is Coup subject ofthe book. and Crisis: Fiji a Year Later, edited by The other major area covered in the Satendra Prasad. The book's first, recent literature is the impact ofthe unofficial, publication at the Univer­ coups on the Fijian economy. A most sity ofthe South Pacific threatened to useful and readable short account is to bring troops back onto the campus, be found in Bruce Knapman's essay on and it was subsequently enlarged and "The Economic Consequences ofthe reissued from Australia. In document­ Coups," which appears as an afterword ing developments in the year after I4 to Shattered Coups. Knapman places May 1987, and in their examination of recent developments in the context of social and economic conditions in Fiji, the colonial economy and postindepen­ the authors-who include Dr Bavadra, dence trends. With a minimum of jar­ politicians ofthe Fiji Labour Party, and gon and clear illustrations, he reveals a stafffrom the University ofthe South sobering picture of an economy in Pacific-argue overall that the policies decline, and documents the measures­ ofthe postcoup regime represent "sus­ devaluation, currency control, reduc­ tained assaults on the working people" tion ofwages-taken to counter the ofFiji (I). Although this is a fiercely crisis. His prognosis for the future is partisan account, with most essays hardly surprising-"the economic out­ stronger on assertion than analysis, it look is gloomy" (187). provlaes useful material on the impact Knapman1s-themes and-eanclusions ofpolitical developments on educa­ are largely echoed in the more compre­ tion, employment (especially in the hensive work by Rodney Cole and public service), the trade union move­ Helen Hughes, The Fiji Economy, May ment, the economy, and foreign policy. 1987: Problems and Prospects. In a Partisan in a different way is The final chapter, "Future Prospects," the Guns ofLautoka, by Christopher authors not only underline the need for Harder, the Canadian-born, New a consistent policy in place of ad hoc Zealand-based lawyer who became decision making, but offer some mea­ involved with the cases ofthe seces­ sured advice to the government ofFiji. sionist chiefs of as well as ille­ The issue that remains is whether (or gal arms-shipper Mohammed Kahan. when) short-term political imperatives Both entanglements placed him firmly can give way to long-term planning. in opposition to the Rabuka regime The authors conclude that unless there (and earned a brief spell ofincarcera­ is an end to political uncertainty, and tion in Fiji), but the book is much more confidence is restored, "Fiji will revealing ofHarder than ofpolitics in become a poor country" (87). Fiji. With so much taken up with irrele­ A rather different approach is vant autobiography, anecdotes, and adopted by Kasper, Bennett, and meaningless detail, and the whole writ­ Blandy in Fiji: Opportunity From ten in a breathless style with its author Adversity? The three economists, all always at the center ofthe action, most from Australian universities, see the readers will tire quickly and await a aftermath ofthe coup and the tempo- BOOK REVIEWS 2°7 rary suspension ofAustralian aid as an publications for any issue in the recent opportunity for reassessing both the history ofthe Pacific Islands. In publi­ direction ofFiji's economic policy and cations (books or journals) on the the economic relationship between recent history and politics ofthe region Australia and Fiji. The book begins there has been no similar taking of with an analysis ofthe recent past, then sides or hastening into print. But for briefly considers the Fiji economy since the time capsule, or for the elusive gen­ the I96os; a major part is taken up by eral reader, we do not yet have the alternative scenarios for the future. reflective account, or the considered The first envisages economic decay in judgments. It is too soon for that, not association with racial and social insta­ simply because feelings still run high bility, all being the product ofinstabil­ and because most ofthese authors are ity and a loss ofconfidence traveling in protagonists to some degree, but tandem with a continuation ofthe poli­ because there is still argument over cies ofthe last thirty years. It will come events and details, full documentation as little surprise that the authors favor is not available, and, although each a second scenario that would have author makes use ofpublished sources, three components: a guarantee of civil their access to other information, like rights and protections; a rapid deregu­ their interpretation, is governed by lation ofthe economy; and smaller individual perspective. government. Perceived reforms would A deeper understanding ofFiji's nOt work; "Only cotnprenensive,bold recent p,,'fsf will deperid on an exchange and far-sighted reforms can rapidly ofinformation as well as debate on secure a prosperous and stable future" issues in dispute. The books reviewed (63)' This second scenario might be here were all written in some haste ! well based on economic theory, but it within a year or so ofthe coups. Each would make little headway against was presenting a point ofview, but the I political reality. The whole foundation authors were not addressing the same ofthe present government and the pro­ issues or each other. Improved under­ posed future constitution rest on the standing, by the major protagonists, I principle that civil rights and economic the people ofFiji, and the academic freedoms will be constrained in racial commentators, will depend on the terms; a scenario that would allow the debate; but that understanding, with I more commercially active (if politically wounds yet unhealed and a Fiji govern­ emasculated) Indian population to cap­ ment that has shown little tolerance of italize on a deregulated economy, and political debate, is still some distance I that depends on such entrepreneurs to away. rebuild the economy, will hardly BARRIE MACDONALD appeal to a Fijian-dominated govern­ I Massey University ment. Ethnic Fijians and Indo-Fijians alike will have to hope for a middle I way. The Fiji coups and their aftermath have generated an unprecedented list of I I I I I