DOCSLIB.ORG

Government Hostage

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Government Hostage The 2000 Speight coup in Fiji: An analysis of the role of The Fiji Times and the impact of partisan media Thakur Ranjit Singh A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master in Communication Studies (MCS) School of Communication Studies Auckland University of Technology January 2011 Research abstract The 2000 Speight coup in Fiji: An analysis of the role of The Fiji Times and the impact of partisan media. In May 1999, Mahendra Pal Chaudhry was sworn in as the first Indo-Fijian Prime Minister of Fiji. A year later, an unruly protest march opposing his leadership climaxed in a renegade soldier-led attempted coup. The rebel Counter-Revolutionary Warfare soldiers led by a failed businessman, George Speight, took the elected Fiji government hostage. As was the case with the original coup d’état in May 1987, the Labour-led Indo–Fijian dominated coalition government’s term in office was cut short by Speight and his ethno-nationalist forces. The May 2000 attempted coup, the dissolution of Chaudhry government and the lack of popular uprising to support democracy have been partially attributed to an alleged irresponsible journalism which put considerable pressure on the fledgling first Indo- Fijian-led government. Claims have been made that the media, particularly The Fiji Times, played a critical role in this event through the way it portrayed Chaudhry and his government. Such reporting has been challenged as having contributed to racial animosity, leading to political disorder. This research, conducted through content analysis between May 1999 and May 2000 along with an examination of documents and the coup literature, seeks to explore any role The Fiji Times may have played leading to political instability, culminating in the putsch, seizure of the Parliament and eventual imprisonment of George Speight after his death sentence for treason was commuted to life in jail. The thesis discusses the performance of The Fiji Times in the context of a range of media theories and models in a developing nation and examines possible contributory factors in the fall of democracy and the one-year rule of the Chaudhry government. The author of this thesis also draws on his own personal experience in the Fiji news media as the publisher of one of Fiji’s three daily newspapers, Fiji’s Daily Post; as a columnist; as a political commentator and as an independent Hindi programme presenter for the public broadcaster, Fiji Broadcasting Corporation, during this turbulent period. i Statement of Source I declare that the work presented in this thesis is, to the best of my knowledge and belief, original and my own work, except as acknowledged in the text. It contains no material either in whole or part, submitted for a degree at this or any other University. .............................................. .............................................. Ranjit Singh 25 January 2011 ii Acknowledgements My first gratitude rests with my mentor who later went on to become my supervisor and a good friend, Associate Professor and Head of Pacific Media Centre, Dr David Robie, who encouraged me to apply for the AUT/PIMA Postgraduate Scholarship in Communication Studies, and has been my constant guide all along. I take this opportunity to also thank AUT and the Pacific Islands Media Association (PIMA) for considering me worthy of this scholarship which allowed me to fulfil my childhood ambition of acquiring a journalism qualification. My special thanks go to my lecturers at AUT’s Communication Studies Programme, including Dr Robie, Dr Alan Cocker, Dr Janet Bedggood, Dr Rosser Johnston and Brad Mercer for their direction and contributions in their attempts at polishing this rough diamond. Of course the Alexander Turnbull (National) Library in Wellington and the Macmillan Brown Library at University of Canterbury, Christchurch from where I collected my data shots of The Fiji Times newspaper need special mention. My gratitude to my nephews and niece-in-laws respectively, Kashmir Kaur and Ajay Singh and their families in Kelson, Lower Hutt and Roshni and Vijay Singh, with son Renan in Christchurch, for being my hosts during data collection. I also acknowledge the encouragement of others who I have used as sounding boards every now and then. My fellow media columnists, Subhash Appana and Rajendra Prasad, author of Tears in Paradise, were my constant guides. Sue Knox, the tutor in Long Documents has shown me the methods of formatting this thesis and its layout is result of her guide and coaching. My immediate family members, wife Shashi and children Ranjeet Roshan and Ragni, and son in law Ravi, who appreciated why this old fella, wished to get a second Masters, so late in life. Finally, I thank all my extended families and friends, who understood and appreciated my excuse of being busy with my thesis when I wished to avoid them. Of course, the overall responsibility and accountability of my research, including any errors and omissions, rests with me and me alone. iii Contents Research abstract ................................................................................................................ i Statement of Source .......................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................... iii Table of Figures ............................................................................................................. viii List of Tables ................................................................................................................. xvi Terminologies, acronyms and abbreviations................................................................. xvii Map of Fiji ..................................................................................................................... xix Chronology ...................................................................................................................... xx PART I: A THEORETICAL BASE .............................................................................. xxiii Chapter 1: Introduction ..................................................................................................... 1 1.1 The Mooloolaba Paper (MLP) - the genesis of allegations on The Fiji Times ... 2 1.2 Why this research and thesis? ............................................................................. 3 Chapter 2: Media Theories ................................................................................................ 6 2.1 Siebert et al.’s Four Theories of the Press .......................................................... 6 2.2 The Propaganda Model ..................................................................................... 15 2.3 Four World’s News Values model .................................................................... 19 2.4 Development Journalism .................................................................................. 23 Chapter 3: General Literature.......................................................................................... 30 3.1 Allegations of media bias in Fiji ....................................................................... 30 3.2 Chaudhry versus The Fiji Times ....................................................................... 32 3.3 Other critics of The Fiji Times .......................................................................... 33 3.4 The indigenous angle ........................................................................................ 35 3.5 The race card in Fiji media ............................................................................... 37 Chapter 4: Previous media research ................................................................................ 42 4.1 Lynda Duncan ................................................................................................... 42 4.2 Susan Sandhya Kiran ........................................................................................ 45 4.3 Padmini Gaunder .............................................................................................. 47 4.4 Nwomye Obini .................................................................................................. 49 4.5 Christine Gounder ............................................................................................. 50 4.6 Pramila Devi ..................................................................................................... 51 4.7 A summary of this chapter ................................................................................ 52 Chapter 5: Methodology ................................................................................................. 53 5.1 The literature ..................................................................................................... 53 Chapter 6: The research: Steps and direction of the content analysis ............................. 58 6.1 Research questions ............................................................................................ 58 6.2 Sampling strategy .............................................................................................. 58 6.3 Recording unit to depict direction and orientation ........................................... 58 iv 6.4 Categories for analysis ...................................................................................... 59 6.5 Interpretation and analysis ...............................................................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Fiji's Road to Military Coup, 20061
    2. 'Anxiety, uncertainty and fear in our land': Fiji's road to military coup, 20061 Brij V. Lal Introduction If civilization is to survive, one is driven to radical views. I do not mean driven to violence. Violence always compromises or ruins the cause it means to serve: it produces as much wrong as it tries to remedy. The State, for example, is always with us. Overthrow it and it will come back in another form, quite possibly worse. It's a necessary evilÐa monster that continually has to be tamed, so that it serves us rather than devours us. We can't do without it, neither can we ever trust it.2 Fiji experienced the whole gamut of emotions over the course of a fateful 2006. The year ended on an unsettled note, as it had begun. Fiji was yet again caught in a political quagmire of its own making, hobbled by manufactured tensions, refusing to heed the lessons of its recent tumultuous past, and reeling from the effects of the coup. Ironies abound. A Fijian army confronted a Fijian government, fuelling the indigenous community's worst fears about a Fijian army spilling Fijian blood on Fijian soil. The military overthrow took place 19 years to the day after frustrated coup-maker of 1987 Sitiveni Rabuka had handed power back to Fiji's civilian leaders, Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau and Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, paving the way for the eventual return to parliamentary democracy. The 2006 coup, like the previous ones, deposed a democratically elected government. Perhaps more importantly, it peremptorily sidelined the once powerful cultural and social institutions of the indigenous community, notably the Methodist Church and the Great Council of Chiefs (GCC)3 ± severing with a startling abruptness the overarching influence they had exercised in national life.
    [Show full text]
  • Melanesia in Review: Issues and Events, 2000
    Melanesia in Review: Issues and Events, 2000 Reviews of Papua New Guinea and tion of May 1999, became more overt West Papua are not included in this in the early months of 2000. Fijian issue. political parties, led by the former governing party, Soqosoqo ni Vakavu- Fi j i lewa ni Taukei (sv t), held meetings For the people of Fiji, the year 2000 around the country to discuss ways to was the most turbulent and traumatic oppose if not depose the government in recent memory. The country and thereby return to power. These endured an armed takeover of parlia- meetings helped fuel indigenous Fijian ment and a hostage crisis lasting fifty- unease and animosity toward Chaud- six days, the declaration of martial hry’s leadership. Signaling its move law and abrogation of the 1997 con- toward a more nationalist stance, the stitution, and a bloody mutiny in the sv t terminated its coalition with the armed forces. These events raised the Indo-Fijian–based National Federa- specter of civil war and economic col- tion Party in February, describing the lapse, international ostracism, and a coalition as “self-defeating.” future plagued with uncertainty and In March, the Taukei Movement ha r dship. Comparisons with the coups was revived with the aim, according of 1987 were inevitable, but most to spokesman Apisai Tora, of “rem o v - observers would conclude that the ing the government through various crisis of 2000 left Fiji more adrift legal means as soon as possible” (Sun, and divided than ever before. 3 May 2000, 1). In 1987 the Taukei The month of May has become Movement had spearheaded national- synonymous with coups in Fiji.
    [Show full text]
  • The Daily Post Sale
    MEDIA BUY OUTS 1 The Daily Post sale Opposition parties and media groups have protested over the Fiji Government's buying of a major stake in the Daily Post, one of the country's two daily newspapers. But the Government insists that it is for the benefit of the nation. By JOHN KAMEA IT HAS been the Fiji Government's reform policy to sell public assets that continue to make losses and cannot run efficiently. On 10 February 1999, Government took a change of direction when it went on a shopping spree and bought 44 per cent of the shares in Daily Post. This somewhat contradiction of Government's policy received criticism and was met with public outcry, especially from political and media circles. Many organisations have questioned the move, saying that it would undermine the role of the media as a Government watchdog and threaten media freedom and independence. Some even say it was an attempt by the Government to control the media on the eve of the May 1999 general elections. The country' s media fraternity believes the Government should not be in the business of running and controlling independent media organisations. How­ ever, the Government is adamant it bought 44 per cent of the shares from the Fiji Development Bank with the objective of developing the paper, floating it on the Stock Exchange and ultimately giving the people of Fiji an opportunity to own shares in the Daily Post. Government also argued that the move was its political obligation and it was its wish some years back to establish a Fijian-owned newspaper.
    [Show full text]
  • Emergency Contact Numbers of Indian Missions & Posts Abroad For
    Emergency contact numbers of Indian Missions & Posts abroad for grievances as on 01.08.2017 Name of Name of Telephone/Mobile S. No. Mission / Name of the Officer Email ID Country number Post K.U.P. Mishra, Attache/Tech 0093-706131611 [email protected] (Public Affairs Wing) 0093-705127830 Kabul [email protected] Shailesh Kumar, Attache 0093-707739565 [email protected] (Cons) Jaideep, CG 0093-789980348 [email protected] Herat J P Singh, Consul (Cons) 0093-789981499 [email protected] R K Singh, VC (Admn) 0093-789981319 [email protected] Dhirendra Singh, CG 00 93 799358985 [email protected] Yogendra Bhardwaj, Consul 00 93 705076412 Jalalabad [email protected] (Cons) 00 93 706492622 [email protected] Sukhbir Singh, VC (Admn) 00 93 793970142 1. Afghanistan N.P. Singh, CG\n 0093-703750087\n Rajeev Goswami, HOC\n [email protected]\n 0093-708827123\n Kandahar Umesh Bajaj, Consul (Cons)\n [email protected]\n 0093-700320746\n R.P. Singh, Vice Consul [email protected] 0093-702222085 (Admn) Brajabashi Sarkar, Consul 00-93-785891300 [email protected] Mazar-e- General 00-93-785891301 [email protected] Sharif Rahul Yadav, Consul (Cons.) 00-93-785891302 [email protected] Ramesh Chander, VC (Admn) 00-93-785891303 00213-661483374 2. Algeria Algiers Kumar Abhay, SS (C&E) [email protected] 00213-021-793332 (M) Angola 00244-922988549 Equatorial* P. Harigovindan, FS (Cons) [email protected] 3.
    [Show full text]
  • Melanesia in Review: Issues and Events, 2002
    Melanesia in Review: Issues and Events, 2002 Reviews of West Papua and Solomon mined, circumvented and ignored by Islands are not included in this issue. the highest in the land including those who were sworn in to uphold it” Fiji (Times, 19 May, 10). During the final The political and economic highlights months of 2002, the Fiji Labour Party in Fiji in 2002 have again brought and some quasi-political civil society into sharp focus a lesson painfully movements like the Citizens Constitu- learned after the 1987 military coups: tional Forum (ccf) questioned why it takes years to recover from the neg- some members of Parliament had been ative ramifications of any national permitted to continue serving in Prime political upheaval. The economic and Minister Qarase’s cabinet despite sociopolitical fallout of the May 2000 videotaped evidence of their close civilian coup in Fiji continued to involvement in the May 2000 civilian impact major events in both the uprising. The extensive video footage politico-legal and economic domains of siege activities at the Veiuto Parlia- of the nation during the year. The mentary Complex emerged during the path to economic recovery and socio- first treason trial of Josefa Nata and political normalcy was generally shaky Timoci Silatolu, which commenced on and fraught with difficulties. The local 26 November and featured deposed tabloids regularly featured major Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry scams within the civil service, exacer- as a key state witness (Post, 27 Nov, bated by gross fiscal mismanagement 2; Times, 29 Nov, 1). Following the by the state and a general lack of 14 November conviction of fifteen political goodwill between the major former Counter Revolutionary War- political parties—the ruling Soqosoqo fare Unit soldiers who had been found Duavata ni Lewenivanua (sdl) and guilty of the November 2000 mutiny the opposition Fiji Labour Party (flp).
    [Show full text]
  • The Complexities of Fiji's Four Coups Sanjay Ramesh
    The Complexities of Fiji’s Four Coups 125 Brij Lal (1988, 1992) saw the defeat of the Alliance Party that ruled Fiji from 1970 to 1987 as the principal cause of the coup. He argued that the Alliance Party led by indigenous chiefs did not want to relinquish 1987 to 2007: The Complexities of Fiji’s Four Coups power to an indigenous Fijian commoner or to the trade union members of the Fiji Labour Party. Victor Lal (1988) analysed the possibility of for- Sanjay Ramesh eign involvement in the Fiji coup and contextualised the events of May 1987 within the cold war political framework. Victor Lal argued that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had worked with the indigenous Fijian Introduction pro-western military and indigenous nationalists to undermine the newly elected government in 1987. Robert Robertson and Akosita Tamanisau Fiji politics is often conceptualised as two distinct ethnic groups, (1988) and William Sutherland (1992) argued that the rise of the FLP- one indigenous and the other migrant, warring within the bosom of a sin- NFP coalition was an expression of multiethnic class aspiration which al- gle state. However, the December 2006 non-racial coup raises questions legedly threatened the neo-traditional chiefly political hegemony whereas about the ‘ethnicist’ arguments of the past. It shows that previously ethnic Michael Howard (1991) and Stephanie Lawson (1991) highlighted that race analysis was used to mask indigenous power struggles. This paper the eastern chiefs – the eastern chiefly oligarchy - were not prepared to provides an account of Fiji since the first coup in Fiji on 14 May 1987 relinquish their traditional political authority to a commoner indigenous and shows how race was used by the various Fiji governments and in- Fijian.
    [Show full text]
  • Confronting Fiji Futures
    CONFRONTING FIJI FUTURES EDITED BY A. HAROON AKRAM-LODHI Published by ANU eView The Australian National University Acton ACT 2601, Australia Email: [email protected] This title is also available online at eview.anu.edu.au National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Title: Confronting Fiji futures / A Haroon Akram-Lodhi (editor). ISBN: 9781921934292 (paperback) 9781921934308 (ebook) Subjects: Fiji--Politics and government. Fiji--Economic conditions. Fiji--Social conditions. Other Creators/Contributors: Akram-Lodhi, A. Haroon (Agha Haroon), 1958- editor. Dewey Number: 320.099611 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. Cover design and layout by ANU Press. Cover photograph by M M (padmanaba01): www.flickr.com/photos/43423301@N07/3997565309/ First published 2000 by Asia Pacific Press This edition © 2016 ANU eView Stop Press Confronting the Present: The Coup of May 2000 A Haroon Akram-Lodhi On 19 May 2000, as With widespread doubt community politics that it ConfrontingFiji Futures went about who was in charge of suggested was not universal. to press, a group of 7 men the country, the Great It can be argued that the armed with machine guns Council of Chiefs met. On25 failure of the senior entered the Parliamentary May, following an intensely members of the government Complex in Suva. They took divided meeting, the council to recognise and seek to the Prime Minister, authorised the President to strengthen the fragility of Mahendra Chaudhry, establish, pending the the political consensus members of the Cabinet, and release of the hostages and helped create a climate that other members of the Fiji the resignation of the Prime made the coup possible.
    [Show full text]
  • 5. Fragments from a Fiji Coup Diary
    DIVERSITY, IDENTITY AND THE MEDIA 5. Fragments from a Fiji coup diary ABSTRACT Fiji has endured four coups in the past 22 years. On 10 April 2009, President Ratu Josefa Iloilo suspended the Constitution, sacked the judi- ciary, postponed any general election until 2014 and appointed himself as head of state. He reinstated 2006 coup leader Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama as interim Prime Minister, who in turn reappointed his cabi- net in defiance of international condemnation. A censorship crackdown on the media and civil society followed. The author is a media educator and journalist who worked for a total of 11 years at the University of the South Pacific, including experiencing both the 2000 and the 2006 coups. He later returned to Fiji as social media educator for the National Council for Building a Better Fiji (NCBBF). The Council was critical of the media during the period it developed a draft of the People’s Charter. It recom- mended changes to the law to establish a Media Tribunal, which was also planned to encourage qualified local personnel for editorial, subeditorial and publisher positions; provide a wide diversity of local programmes for television media and develop community radio and community television through a media tax. While the People’s Charter was seen as a neces- sary and constructive contribution to the future of Fiji, the leadership of Bainimarama was questioned after the repeal of the constitution. This arti- cle, opening with the author’s open letter to Bainimarama after the Easter putsch, offers reflections from a coup diary. PATRICK CRADDOCK Media educator, New Zealand AN open letter to the interim regime leader of the Republic of Fiji: ear Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama, So—only good news can be reported.
    [Show full text]
  • Elections and Politics in Fiji
    i ii iii Co-Published by ANU E Press and Asia Pacific Press The Australian National Unversity Canberra ACT 0200 Email: [email protected] Website: http://epress.anu.edu.au National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Lal, Brij V. Islands of turmoil : elections and politics in Fiji. Bibliography. Includes index. ISBN 0 7315 3751 3 ISBN 1 920942 75 0 (Online document) 1. Fiji - Politics and government. 2. Fiji - Social conditions. 3. Fiji - Economic conditions. I. Title. 996.11 This work is copyright. Apart from those uses which may be permitted under the Copyright Act 1968 as amended, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission from the publishers. The views expressed in this book are those of the author and not necessarily of the publishers. Editor: Bridget Maidment Publisher: Asia Pacific Press and ANU E Press Design: Annie Di Nallo Design Printers: University Printing Service, The Australian National University Cover photo, Nukulau Prison, is copyright and used with permission (www.fijilive.com). Author photo by Darren Boyd, Coombs Photography. First edition © 2006 ANU E Press and Asia Pacific Press For the people of the Fiji Islands There is a dawn at the end of the darkest night v Contents Abbreviations vii Preface viii 1. The road to independence 1 2. Continuity and change 24 3. Things fall apart 49 4. Back from the abyss 77 5. Rabuka’s republic 100 6. Charting a new course 126 7. A time to change 155 8. George Speight’s coup 185 9. In George Speight’s shadow 206 10.
    [Show full text]
  • Invisibility in the Media: a Comparative Analysis of the Coverage Given to Female Election Candidates in the 1999 and 2006 Elections by the Fiji Times and Fiji Sun
    INVISIBILITY IN THE MEDIA: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE COVERAGE GIVEN TO FEMALE ELECTION CANDIDATES IN THE 1999 AND 2006 ELECTIONS BY THE FIJI TIMES AND FIJI SUN by Shazia Shareen Bi Usman A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Copyright © 2012 by Shazia Shareen Bi Usman School of Language Arts and Media Faculty of Arts and Law The University of the South Pacific July, 2012 DECLARATION Statement by Author I, Shazia Shareen Bi Usman, declare that this thesis is my own work and that, to the best of my knowledge, it contains no material previously published, or substantially overlapping with material submitted for the award of any other degree at any institution, except where due acknowledgment is made in the text. Signature …………………………… Date………………………… Name ……………………………………………………………….. Student ID No. ……………………………………………………… Statement by Supervisor The research in this thesis was performed under my supervision and to my knowledge is the sole work of Ms. Shazia Shareen Bi Usman. Signature…………………………….. Date ……………………….. Name...……………………………………………………………… Designation ………………………………………………………… DEDICATION For Usman and Anisha, the best parents a feminist could have For Tabrez and Hamza, always keeping me grounded ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This thesis is dedicated to my family for the unconditional love, support and understanding they have always given me. My father and mother, in particular, have been my driving force. No daughter is more blessed than one, whose parents put her education as their number one priority. I have never had a sister but the two I found in the USP journalism newsroom during my undergraduate years were surely meant to be mine.
    [Show full text]
  • Before the Storm: an Analysis of the Fiji General Election of 1987
    BEFORE THE STORM: AN ANALYSIS OF THE FIJI GENERAL ELECTION OF 1987 Brij V. Lal University of Hawaii at Manoa On 7 April 1987, the people of Fiji went to the polls for the fifth time since attaining independence from Great Britain in 1970. After a long three-month campaign and a week’s polling, the newly formed Fiji Labour Party-National Federation Party Coalition won a convincing and historic victory over the long-reigning Alliance party, capturing twenty-eight of the fifty-two seats in the Fiji Parliament. Dr. Timoci Bavadra, the new prime minister, assumed power with quiet dignity but unmistakable firmness, and quickly set in motion a government intent on delivering early on its various election pledges. Bitterly disap- pointed with the unexpected results of the election, Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, the defeated Alliance leader, conceded defeat in a terse statement and urged his party to accept the verdict of the ballot box. This surpris- ingly smooth, textbook transfer of power led Sir Leonard Usher, the doyen of local journalists, to write, with premature optimism as it turned out, “It had been a long--too long--campaign, and at times some unpleasant elements of bitterness had crept in. These were now set aside. Democracy, clearly, was well and alive in Fiji.”1 The 1987 election results both reaffirmed the dominant trends in Fiji’s ethnically-based electoral politics and heralded the faint begin- nings of a new era that promised to break away from it. In the circum- stances, it was change and the promise--as well as the fear--of further divergence from the established patterns of political behavior that Pacific Studies, Vol.
    [Show full text]
  • In the Court of Appeal, Fiji Islands at Suva
    IN THE COURT OF APPEAL, FIJI ISLANDS AT SUVA APPELLATE JURISDICTION CIVIL APPEAL NO. ABU0077 OF 2008S [On an Appeal from the High Court, Suva in Civil Actions No. HBC 60 and HBC 398 of 2007] BETWEEN : LAISENIA QARASE of Suva, Politician RATU NAIQAMA LALABALAVU of Suva, Politician RO TEIMUMU KEPA of Lomanikoro Village, Rewa, Politician RATU SULIANO MATANITOBUA of Suva, Politician JOSEVA VOSANIBOLA of Suva, Politician APPELLANTS (Original Plaintiffs) AND : JOSAIA VOREQE BAINIMARAMA Commander of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces of Queen Elizabeth Barracks, Delainabua, Suva. FIRST RESPONDENT (Original First Defendant) AND : THE REPUBLIC OF FIJI MILITARY FORCES SECOND RESPONDENT (Original Second Defendant) AND : THE STATE OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE FIJI ISLANDS THIRD RESPONDENT (Original Third Defendant) AND : THE ATTORNEY - GENERAL of the Interim Regime FOURTH RESPONDENT (Original Fourth Respondent) AND : FIJI HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION FIRST AMICUS CURIAE AND : CITIZENS’ CONSTITUTIONAL FORUM LIMITED SECOND AMICUS CURIAE Coram: Randall Powell, JA Ian Lloyd, JA Francis Douglas, JA Hearing: Monday, 6th April 2009, Suva Tuesday, 7th April 2009, Suva Wednesday, 8th April 2009, Suva Counsel: Bret Walker SC ] Rachel Pepper ] for the Appellants Tevita Fa ] Richard Gordon QC ] Gerard McCoy QC ] Christopher Pryde, ] Kerry Cook ] for the Respondents Dr Shaista Shameem ] for the Fiji Human Rights Wilfred Golman ] Commission Sonanatabua Colovanua ] Dr Melissa Perry QC ] Nicola McGarrity ] for the Citizens Constitutional ] Forum Limited Date of Judgment: Thursday, 9th April 2009, Suva JUDGMENT OF THE COURT The Parties and these Proceedings 1. On 17 March 2006 Ratu Josefa Iloilovatu Uluivuda (“President Uluivuda”) was re- appointed by the Great Council of Chiefs for a further 5 years as President of the Republic of the Fiji Islands (“Fiji”).
    [Show full text]