DOCSLIB.ORG

Political Reviews

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Political Reviews Political Reviews The Region in Review: International Issues and Events, 2015 nic maclellan Melanesia in Review: Issues and Events, 2015 jon fraenkel, michael leach, howard van trease The Contemporary Pacic, Volume 28, Number 2, 429–488 © 2016 by University of Hawai‘i Press 429 Melanesia in Review: Issues and Events, 2015 New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, expansion: 4.6 percent in 2013, 3.8 Papua, and Solomon Islands are not percent in 2014, and an expected 4.3 reviewed in this issue. percent in 2015 (adb 2015a; imf 2015). Despite this, Fiji’s gdp per FIJI capita remains below the level reached For the most part, 2015 was a good in 2006 (Chand 2015, 204). Tourism year for the government led by Josaia and remittance earnings have been the Voreqe “Frank” Bainimarama. With main drivers of growth, while sugar 59 percent of the 2014 national vote has continued to stagnate with many at the September 2014 election, and farmers exiting the industry and a con- 32 of the 50 seats in Parliament, the traction of the land area under cane governing FijiFirst Party had a strong cultivation. Visitor arrivals over 2015 mandate. In view of the disarray of were substantially above 2012–2014 the Opposition, FijiFirst had good levels, and capital investment during prospects of winning the next election, 2013–2015 has been sustained above scheduled for 2018. Robust economic 25 percent of gdp—driven upward by growth continued for a third succes- heavy public spending on roads and sive year in 2015, and the government bridges (rbf 2015). In May, Standard sustained its modernizing agenda with & Poor’s raised Fiji’s sovereign credit extensive infrastructure spending as rating from b to b+. In September, well as legal and educational reforms. the Fiji government was able to roll Nevertheless, stability remains elusive. over its 2016 maturing loan, with Sections of the indigenous commu- a fresh f$200 million bond at 6.6 nity are deeply hostile to the FijiFirst percent interest (f$1.00 is equivalent administration. The Republic of to around us$0.46). Public debt has Fiji Military Forces (rfmf) remains fallen from 55 percent of gdp in 2010 determined to clamp down firmly to 49.5 percent in 2015 (adb 2015b, on any potential or perceived threat. 5), excluding the liabilities of state- Efforts by Police Commissioner Ben owned corporations (entailing approx- Groenewald, an expatriate South imately an additional 30% of gdp). African, to bring to justice members The sugar industry remains deeply of the security forces for human-rights troubled, despite some improvement abuses were frustrated by rfmf inter- over 2011–2014. The Fiji Sugar Cor- vention. In November, Groenewald poration (fsc) was suspended from resigned, more in despair than protest. the Suva stock exchange owing to The Fiji economy is growing severe financial difficulties in October strongly. Two sluggish years (2.7% 2009 and was officially delisted in gross domestic product [gdp] growth 2010. It reported negative earnings of in 2011, 1.8% in 2012) have been f$36.8 million in 2009 and f$179.1 followed by three years of more rapid million in 2010, but thereafter showed 449 450 the contemporary pacific • 28:2 (2016) some signs of recovery with operating European Union announced its phased losses claimed to be diminishing from decline, however, actual EU market f$32 million in 2011 to f$14 million prices diverged sharply upward in 2012, f$10 million in 2013, and above the EU reference price over f$5 million in 2014 (Fiji Times, 14 2011–2013 (ec 2015). This assisted May 2015; Narsey 2015a). Accord- Fiji’s sugar earnings, as did the 20 ing to the official figures, the govern- percent Fiji devaluation in 2009 and ment paid f$175 million in 2010 and “Fairtrade” premiums paid by Tate f$36.5 million in 2012 to cover fsc & Lyle. (“Fairtrade” certification is deficits (Fiji Times, 13 Feb 2015). The a device to improve earnings for cane fsc reported assets of f$227 million growers if the industry meets certain in 2014, but its liabilities amounted to standards; see Fairtrade International f$374 million (fsc 2014). According 2015.) Subsequently, over 2013–2014, to National Federation Party (nfp) the EU market price fell to closer to leader Biman Prasad, the number of the official reference price, and as of sugarcane growers has fallen from late 2015 both the EU official price 18,000 to 13,000 over 2007–2015 and the actual market price paid were (Fiji Times, 13 Feb 2015). Many of close to levels on the open world those “farmers” who remain now market (ec 2016). Refiners like Tate cultivate diminished plots solely to pay & Lyle have effectively been restricted their Taukei Land Trust Board (tltb) to supplies from ACP countries by rents but rely on ancillary incomes sizable EU tariffs on non-ACP sugar, for other basic needs. Farmers report thus encouraging a divergence between increasing difficulty recruiting cane the European internal/ACP sugar cutters at harvesting time. price and the world market price, but Partial stabilization over 2012– preferential access to the European 2014 occurred with assistance from market will end in 2017, after which US-owned refiner Tate & Lyle, which fsc Chief Executive Officer Abdul continues to purchase the bulk of Fiji Khan anticipates a 30 percent price sugar for European markets. The relief decline (Fiji Times, 18 July 2015). Tate is likely to be temporary. Fiji sugar & Lyle’s 2015 decision to cancel the prices had widely been expected to Fairtrade premium (around 15%) paid decrease over 2009–2015 in tandem to Fiji growers eliminated another with the 36 percent phased decline important lifeline for the industry (Fiji in the European Union’s officially Times, 11 Aug 2015). declared “reference price.” In ear- The 2015 budget set out ambitious lier years, the European Union (EU) targets for privatization, with earnings reference price had fluctuated around anticipated to reach f$507 million two or three times the price paid for over the year (imf 2014; FijiLive, 21 raw sugar on the open world market. April 2015), but the most significant Until 2010, the price actually paid divestments have been to the coun- by European refiners for sugar from try’s main pension provider, the Fiji the African, Caribbean, and Pacific National Provident Fund (fnpf). In (ACP) countries (including Fiji) closely November, government announced a tracked the reference price. After the f$100 million partnership deal for 59 political reviews • melanesia 451 percent of the shares of the hitherto reliance on greater sourcing from Fiji’s wholly government–owned Fiji Ports biggest industry. Regular switches in Corporation Ltd, with the fnpf to government policy and absence of con- purchase 39 percent and Sri Lankan– sultation with stakeholders are often based company Aitken Spence to seen as harmful to commercial con- acquire a 20 percent stake (Fiji Sun, fidence, but Fiji business leaders—as 10 Nov 2015; Fiji Government 2015). well as offshore companies operating In 2013, Aitken Spence had acquired in Fiji—remain mostly supportive of 51 percent of Fiji Ports Terminal Ltd, the Bainimarama-led administration. which manages the Suva and Lautoka The projected 2015 budget deficit was international ports, with government a modest 2.5 percent of gdp (Dornan retaining a 49 percent share (Fiji Sun, 2014), but the government split its 3 Feb 2015). In December, the govern- roads and infrastructure expenditure ment sold half of its remaining stake to spread the load over 2015–2016. in Amalgamated Telecom Holdings The results of the 2014 polls indi- Group (ath) for f$89 million, mostly cated an electoral calculation likely to the fnpf (Fiji Times, 23 Dec 2015). to be sustained over the medium term ath subsidiaries include Telecom Fiji (see Fraenkel 2015a, 2015c). With Limited, Internet Services Fiji (Con- proportions of the population now nect), Fiji International Telecoms (fin- tilted around 62 percent/34 percent tel), and, since July 2014, the 100 in favor of i-Taukei (as indigenous percent locally owned Vodafone Fiji Fijians are now called under the Ltd (ath 2014). Major state assets, 2013 Constitution) compared to Fiji such as the Fiji Electricity Authority Indians, the 2014 outcome turned and Airports Fiji Ltd, have proved on the ethnic Fijian vote, which was more difficult to sell. The fnpf, which split between Bainimarama’s FijiFirst faces heavy restrictions on foreign Party and the major Opposition party investment, owns f$4.5 billion in sodelpa (better known by its acro- net assets, most of which have been nym than by its full title, the Social transferred from government entities Democratic Liberal Party. sodelpa (fnpf 2014). is the largely indigenous Fijian party The 2016 budget reduced the value- of the government that was deposed added tax (vat) from 15 percent to in the 2006 coup. It was forced by a 9 percent, reversing a rise signaled in decree abolishing Fijian party names the 2011 budget. At the same time, to stop calling itself Soqosoqo Dua- the zero duty on some basic food- vata ni Lewenivanua and then by stuffs and medicines was removed. So another decree to drop the acronym the net effect does not entail a major sdl. It opted for “sodelpa” to retain reduction in government vat earnings. the publicly well-known initials sdl). To boost revenues, the Service Turn- The Fiji-Indian vote for FijiFirst is over Tax was doubled from 5 percent much more assured and unlikely to go to 10 percent, and a new 6 percent to any other party. With some justifi- “Environment Levy” was imposed on cation, Bainimarama could claim that tourism operators, entailing a major “under my Government, the iTaukei shift in government taxation toward [sic] are more secure, have more 452 the contemporary pacific • 28:2 (2016) opportunities” and he could point to ties against the Speaker, Jiko Luveni state delivery of “better roads, better (Fiji Sun, 22 May 2015).
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Disaster Risk Reduction in Australia
    Disaster Risk Reduction in Australia Status Report 2020 Disaster Risk Reduction in Australia Status Report 2020 ADPC Editorial Team Aslam Perwaiz Janne Parviainen Pannawadee Somboon Ariela Mcdonald UNDRR Review Team Animesh Kumar Andrew Mcelroy Omar Amach Cover photo: anakkml/ Freepik.com Layout and design: Lakkhana Tasaka About this report The disaster risk reduction (DRR) status report provides a snapshot of the state of DRR in Australia under the four priorities of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030. It also highlights progress and challenges associated with ensuring coherence among the key global frameworks at the national level; and makes recommendations for strengthening overall disaster risk management (DRM) governance by government institutions and stakeholders at national and local levels. As this report is based on information available as of the end of the year 2019, an update on the COVID-19 impact, response and recovery using a risk-informed approach by countries is provided at the beginning of this report. This report has been prepared by the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) on behalf of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) through country consultations and a desk review of key documents, including legal instruments and DRR policies, plans, strategies and frameworks, etc. UNDRR and ADPC acknowledges the government, international organizations and stakeholder representatives who contributed their valuable input and feedback on this report. This report was made possible by a generous contribution made by the Government of Australia, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, as part of the Partnership Framework with UNDRR on ‘Supporting Implementation of the Sendai Framework.’ This report serves as a reference document for the implementation and monitoring of the Sendai Framework.
    [Show full text]
  • 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]
  • 2016 Country Review
    Fiji 2016 Country Review http://www.countrywatch.com Table of Contents Chapter 1 1 Country Overview 1 Country Overview 2 Key Data 4 Fiji 5 Pacific Islands 6 Chapter 2 8 Political Overview 8 History 9 Political Conditions 10 Political Risk Index 42 Political Stability 57 Freedom Rankings 72 Human Rights 84 Government Functions 87 Government Structure 92 Principal Government Officials 100 Leader Biography 101 Leader Biography 101 Foreign Relations 104 National Security 109 Defense Forces 111 Chapter 3 114 Economic Overview 114 Economic Overview 115 Nominal GDP and Components 117 Population and GDP Per Capita 118 Real GDP and Inflation 119 Government Spending and Taxation 120 Money Supply, Interest Rates and Unemployment 121 Foreign Trade and the Exchange Rate 122 Data in US Dollars 123 Energy Consumption and Production Standard Units 124 Energy Consumption and Production QUADS 125 World Energy Price Summary 126 CO2 Emissions 127 Agriculture Consumption and Production 128 World Agriculture Pricing Summary 130 Metals Consumption and Production 131 World Metals Pricing Summary 133 Economic Performance Index 134 Chapter 4 146 Investment Overview 146 Foreign Investment Climate 147 Foreign Investment Index 151 Corruption Perceptions Index 164 Competitiveness Ranking 175 Taxation 184 Stock Market 184 Partner Links 185 Chapter 5 186 Social Overview 186 People 187 Human Development Index 188 Life Satisfaction Index 192 Happy Planet Index 203 Status of Women 213 Global Gender Gap Index 215 Culture and Arts 225 Etiquette 227 Travel Information 228 Diseases/Health Data 237 Chapter 6 243 Environmental Overview 243 Environmental Issues 244 Environmental Policy 252 Greenhouse Gas Ranking 253 Global Environmental Snapshot 264 Global Environmental Concepts 275 International Environmental Agreements and Associations 289 Appendices 314 Bibliography 315 Fiji Chapter 1 Country Overview Fiji Review 2016 Page 1 of 327 pages Fiji Country Overview FIJI Fiji became independent in 1970 after nearly a century as a British colony.
    [Show full text]
  • Timor-Leste's Growing Engagement with the Pacific Islands Region
    110 Regionalism, Security & Cooperation in Oceania Chapter 8 Acting West, Looking East: Timor-Leste’s Growing Engagement with the Pacific Islands Region Jose Kai Lekke Sousa-Santos Executive Summary • Timor-Leste is situated geopolitically and culturally at the crossroads of Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands region, and has pursued a two-pil- lared neighborhood foreign policy of “comprehensive and collective en- gagement,” which is defined by “Acting West” and “Looking East.” • Timor-Leste is seeking to integrate itself within regional governance and security structures, and institutions of both Southeast Asia and the Pa- cific Islands, thereby increasing its strategic role as a conduit for cooper- ation and collaboration between the two regions. • Timor-Leste is of increasing geostrategic importance to the Asia Pacific in view of the growing focus on the Pacific Ocean in terms of resource security and the growing competition between China and the United States. • Timor-Leste could play an increasingly significant role in regional de- fense diplomacy developments if the Melanesian Spearhead Group re- gional peacekeeping force is realized. Timor-Leste’s Engagement with the Pacific Islands Region - Santos 111 “We may be a small nation, but we are part of our inter- connected region. Our nation shares an island with Indone- sia. We are part of the fabric of Southeast Asia. And we are on the cross road of Asia and the Pacific.” 1 - Xanana Kay Rala Gusmao Introduction Timor-Leste is situated geopolitically and culturally on the crossroads of Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands region and has, since achieving in- dependence in 2002, pursued a two-pillared neighborhood foreign policy of ‘Acting West’ and ‘Looking East.’ Timor-Leste claims that its geographic position secures the “half-island” state as an integral and categorical part of Southeast Asia while at the same time, acknowledging the clear links it shares with its Pacific Island neighbors to the west, particularly in the areas of development and security.
    [Show full text]
  • PISA 2015: Financial Literacy in Australia
    PISA 2015: Financial literacy in Australia Sue Thomson Lisa De Bortoli Australian Council for Educational Research First published 2017 by Australian Council for Educational Research Ltd 19 Prospect Hill Road, Camberwell, Victoria, 3124, Australia www.acer.org www.acer.org/ozpisa/reports/ Text © Australian Council for Educational Research Ltd 2017 Design and typography © ACER Creative Services 2017 This book is copyright. All rights reserved. Except under the conditions described in the Copyright Act 1968 of Australia and subsequent amendments, and any exceptions permitted under the current statutory licence scheme administered by Copyright Agency (www.copyright.com.au), no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted, broadcast or communication in any form or by any means, optical, digital, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher. Cover design, text design and typesetting by ACER Creative Services Edited by Kylie Cockle National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Creator: Thomson, Sue, 1958- author. Title: PISA 2015 : financial literacy in Australia / Sue Thomson (author); Lisa De Bortoli (author). ISBN: 9781742864785 (ebook) Subjects: Programme for International Student Assessment. Educational evaluation--Australia--Statistics. Students, Foreign--Rating of--Australia--Statistics. Young adults--Education--Australia--Statistics. Financial literacy--Australia--Statistics. Other Creators/Contributors: De Bortoli,
    [Show full text]
  • How Do Dictators Achieve and Maintain Power?
    FAIRFAX COUNTY PUBLIC SCHO OLS - SOCIAL STUDIES – C3 INQUIRY LESSON FO R WORLD HISTORY 2 World History & Geography II Inquiry (240-270 Minutes) How Do Dictators Achieve and Maintain Power? Fidel Castro speaking at Havana’s May Day Celebration, May 2, 1961, http://www.historyofcuba.com/history/speech1.htm Supporting Questions- These are used to structure and develop the inquiry 1. What political, social, and economic challenges support the rise of dictators (Interwar Nazi Germany is used as a case study)? Overview – Dictators and Power 2. How do totalitarian states operate? 3. WhereHow do dictatorialare dictators governments able exist to today achieve and how do and they function?maintain power? Designed by Jeff Vande Sande & Craig Perrier 1 FAIRFAX COUNTY PUBLIC SCHO OLS - SOCIAL STUDIES – C3 INQUIRY LESSON FO R WORLD HISTORY 2 WHII.10: The student will apply social science skills to understand World War I and its worldwide impact. WHII. 11: The student will apply social science skills to understand World War II and its VA SOL Content worldwide impact. Standard WHII.12: The student will apply social science skills to understand the conflicts during the second half of the twentieth century. WHII.14: The student will apply social science skills to understand the global changes during the early twenty-first century VA SOL Skills 1a – Using Information Sources, 1c – Interpreting Information, 1e – Comparing & Contrasting, Standard 1 1f – Determine Cause/Effect, 1g- Making Connections 1j – Using Content Vocabulary Portrait of a Graduate Correlations HOOK: Students will analyze images of historical and contemporary dictators and complete a Introducing the “brain-dump” activity in which they list what they know about these leaders and their Question governments, and the concept of dictatorship in general.
    [Show full text]
  • Fiji Elections: Bainimarama Rebuked but Returned
    Published on November 16, 2018 Officials at work in the results centre for the Fiji election (Credit: ABC News/Michael Barnett) Fiji elections: Bainimarama rebuked but returned By Stewart Firth Fiji went to the polls on 14 November in its second election since the restoration of democracy in 2014. Fiji’s experience with democracy since independence in 1970 has been a tortured one. Three coups have interrupted democratic government in the last thirty years – in 1987, 2000 and 2006 – and the last was followed by eight years of military Link: https://devpolicy.org/fiji-elections-20181116/ Page 1 of 6 Date downloaded: September 30, 2021 Published on November 16, 2018 rule, with Frank Bainimarama as self-appointed Prime Minister. Bainimarama then led his Fiji First party to victory in the 2014 elections and became the elected Prime Minister under a constitution of his own devising. A kind of stability has since settled on Fiji, though the country has not returned to democracy in its fullest sense, that is with a fully independent judiciary and media. Instead, people who cast their vote on 14 November knew that unless they returned the Bainimarama Government, another coup was possible. The victory of Bainimarama’s Fiji First party was predicted in the polls and likely given the arithmetic of Fiji elections. With a large majority of Indo-Fijians supporting him, Bainimarama needed only to gain the backing of a minority of indigenous Fijians to win. Indo-Fijian voters remain grateful to Bainimarama for overturning a pro-indigenous Fijian government in the 2006 coup, and for abolishing Fiji’s racially-skewed system of voting under which race was a key category.
    [Show full text]
  • Executive Summary 2 INDIA – PACIFIC ISLANDS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE Introduction
    INDIA–PACIFIC ISLANDS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE ‘Furthering the FIPIC Agenda through Sustainability Initiatives’ 25 – 26 May, 2017 | Suva, Fiji In association with Executive Summary 2 INDIA – PACIFIC ISLANDS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE Introduction The Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India hosted the ‘India–Pacific Islands Sustainable Development Conference’ in Suva, Fiji, from 25 to 26 May, 2017. The conference was held under the framework of the Forum for India Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC). The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) was the key knowledge partner for this event. Minister of State for External Affairs, Gen. (Dr) V K Singh (Retd.) hosted heads of state, ministers and senior officials from the Pacific Island Countries at the conference. A total of eleven island countries marked their presence at the conference. The dignitaries included Hon’ble Baron Waqa MP, President, Republic of Nauru; Hon’ble Toke Tufukia Talagi, Premier of Niue; Hon’ble Fiame Naomi Mataafa, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Natural Resources & Environment, Samoa; Hon’ble Maatia Toafa, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance and Economic Development, Tuvalu; Hon’ble Mark Brown, Minister of Finance, Cook Islands; Hon’ble Semisi Fakahau, Minister for Agriculture, Food, Forests & Fisheries, Kingdom of Tonga; Hon’ble Ham Lini Vanuaroroa, Minister of Climate Change Adaptation, Meteorology, Geo-Hazard, Environment, Energy and Disaster Management, Vanuatu; Hon’ble Tekena Tiroa, Member of Parliament, Kiribati; Ms Makereta Konrote, Permanent Secretary, Minister for Economy, Republic of Fiji; Ms Hakaua Harry, Secretary, Department of National Planning and Monitoring, Papua New Guinea; and Mr Shadrach Fanega, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Development Planning and Aid Coordination, Republic of Solomon Islands.
    [Show full text]
  • Can Australian Multiyear Droughts and Wet Spells Be Generated in the Absence of Oceanic Variability?
    1SEPTEMBER 2016 T A S C H E T T O E T A L . 6201 Can Australian Multiyear Droughts and Wet Spells Be Generated in the Absence of Oceanic Variability? ANDRÉA S. TASCHETTO AND ALEX SEN GUPTA Climate Change Research Centre, and ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia CAROLINE C. UMMENHOFER Department of Physical Oceanography, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts MATTHEW H. ENGLAND Climate Change Research Centre, and ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia (Manuscript received 1 October 2015, in final form 28 April 2016) ABSTRACT Anomalous conditions in the tropical oceans, such as those related to El Niño–Southern Oscillation and the Indian Ocean dipole, have been previously blamed for extended droughts and wet periods in Australia. Yet the extent to which Australian wet and dry spells can be driven by internal atmospheric variability remains unclear. Natural variability experiments are examined to determine whether prolonged extreme wet and dry periods can arise from internal atmospheric and land variability alone. Results reveal that this is indeed the case; however, these dry and wet events are found to be less severe than in simulations incorporating coupled oceanic variability. Overall, ocean feedback processes increase the magnitude of Australian rainfall vari- ability by about 30% and give rise to more spatially coherent rainfall impacts. Over mainland Australia, ocean interactions lead to more frequent extreme events, particularly during the rainy season. Over Tasmania, in contrast, ocean–atmosphere coupling increases mean rainfall throughout the year.
    [Show full text]
  • View Order Paper
    PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF FIJI _____________ ORDER PAPER Tuesday, 26 May 2020 at 9.30 a.m. 1. Prayer 2. Confirmation of Minutes. The Leader of the Government in Parliament to move – “That the Minutes of the sitting of Parliament held on Monday, 25 May 2020, as previously circulated be taken as read and be confirmed.” 3. Communications from the Chair 4. Presentation of papers and certain documents 5. Presentation of reports of committees 6. Ministerial Statements 7. Consideration of Bills 8. Motions for which notice has been given (see Schedule 1) 9. Questions (see Schedule 2) ----------------- SCHEDULE 1 — MOTIONS FOR DEBATE 1. Hon. Sanjay Kirpal to move – “That Parliament debates the ‘2013-2014 Consolidated Annual Review of the Water Authority of Fiji’ which was tabled on 4 April 2019.” (Parliamentary Paper No. 19 of 2019) 2. Hon. Viam Pillay to move – “That Parliament debates the ‘Report on Annual Review of the Fiji Association of Sports and National Olympic Committee, 2017’ which was tabled on 1 April 2019.” (Parliamentary Paper No. 05 of 2019) 3. Hon. Prof. Biman Prasad to move – “That Parliament forms a Special Committee under Standing Order 129 to conduct a holistic inquiry into all aspects of health and medical care service and delivery at our public hospitals and centres and the Committee shall comprise the following – (a) Hon. Dr Salik Govind (Chairperson); (b) Hon. Alexander O’Connor; (c) Hon. Jale Sigarara; (d) Hon. Dr Ratu Atonio Lalabalavu; and (e) Hon. Lenora Qereqeretabua.” 4. Hon. Ro Filipe Tuisawau to move – “That Parliament resolves to establish a Special Committee under Standing Order 129 to inquire into the socio-economic impact of COVID- 19.
    [Show full text]
  • Media Intimidation in Fiji's 2014 Elections
    5 ‘Unfree and unfair’?: Media intimidation in Fiji’s 2014 elections David Robie Introduction Fiji was a media pariah among Pacific nations, as well as a political outcast, for much of the eight years after Voreqe Bainimarama’s military coup in December 2006. But while some media credibility was restored in the months leading up to the 2014 general elections and during the ballot itself, the elephant is still in the room: the 2010 Media Industry Development Decree (Fijian Government 2010). While this Decree remains in force, Fiji can hardly claim to have a truly free and fair media. Just seven months out from the September 17 elections, Fiji was ranked 107th out of 179 countries listed in the 2014 World Press Freedom Index prepared by the Paris-based global media freedom organisation Reporters Without Borders (RSF). That ranking was an improvement on the previous year (RSF 2014a), rising 10 places from the 2013 ranking. The major reason for this improvement was the adoption of the new Constitution on 6 September 2013, criticised as 83 THE PEOPLE Have SPOKEN it was in many quarters during that year, and the promise of ‘free and fair’ elections by 30 September 2014. The elections gave Fiji’s ranking a further boost, rising 14 places to 93rd (RSF 2015). There was considerable hope among news media and civil society groups that the general elections would open the door to a free media climate, which had been lacking since the coup. Over the past few months there has been a marked improvement in public debate and news media have been relatively more robust in terms of published political comment and debate, particularly in news columns and in letters to the editor.
    [Show full text]
  • 'The People Have Spoken …'
    1 ‘The People Have Spoken …’ Steven Ratuva and Stephanie Lawson Fiji’s general elections of 17 September 2014, held eight years after Fiji’s fourth coup, saw some significant firsts, generated largely by new constitutional arrangements. These included a radically deracialised electoral system in which the entire country forms a single electorate and utilises open-list proportional representation. This system, brought in under the regime of coup leader Voreqe (Frank) Bainimarama, was designed first and foremost to encourage a shift away from previous patterns of electoral behaviour which, due in large measure to provisions for communal electorates and voting, were inevitably attuned to communal political identities and the perceived interests attached to them. Elections under such a system certainly allowed ‘the people’ to speak, but in a way which gave primacy to those particular identities and interests and, arguably, contributed to a political culture that saw democracy itself severely undermined in the process. This was illustrated only too clearly by the recurrence of coups d’état between 1987 and 2006 that all revolved, in one way or another, around issues of communal identity expressed through discourses of indigenous Fijian (Taukei) rights versus those of other ethnic or racial communities, especially of those of Indian descent. These discourses remain highly salient politically but, under the Constitution promulgated by the Bainimarama regime in 2013, they are no longer supported institutionally via electoral arrangements. As a result, political parties have generally been forced to at least 1 THE PEOPLE Have SPOKEN attempt to appeal to all ethnic communities. These institutional changes have brought Fiji’s political system much closer to the standard model of liberal democracy in which ‘one person, one vote, one value’ is a basic norm.
    [Show full text]