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 Pacic, 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, ’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 , 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 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 (, 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 (nfp) the EU market price fell to closer to leader , 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 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 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 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 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 , 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, state delivery of “better roads, better (Fiji Sun, 22 May 2015). Opposition housing, better medical facilities, free leader Ro , Roko Tui medicine, [and] free water” (quoted in Dreketi (paramount chief of Rewa and FijiLive, 30 April 2015; note that the the broader confederacy) “i” in i-Taukei is the definite article, said the suspension was an abuse of so stating “the i-Taukei” is like saying powers by the Speaker, and sodelpa “the the indigenous Fijians”). Many briefly boycotted Parliament (rnzi, Taukei had switched to FijiFirst in 22 May 2015; FijiLive, 6 July 2015). 2014 because of these developments, In the budget debate in November, but it is still too early to assess the sodelpa’s Isoa Tikoca—in a charac- impact of Bainimarama’s reform teristically gruff voice—accused the program, critical features of which government of corruption. Attorney commenced only in the run-up to the General Sayed-Khaiyum reacted by 2014 polls. What is clear is that the parodying that voice and gesturing next election will likewise depend on with arms akimbo like a monkey. the battle for the indigenous vote, and When accused of racism, Sayed-Khai- much of the energy of the government yum claimed to have been mimicking over 2015 was directed toward sus- the voice of Darth Vader from the taining and building on that support. movie Star Wars (Fiji Sun, 21 Nov Fiji’s Parliament, now returned to 2015). Few could recall such gestures its pre-1987 coup location in central by those on the “dark side.” Suva, still echoes the bitter rivalries The paired authority of Bainima- associated with the 2006 military rama (now civilian prime minister, takeover. In February, an Opposition minister of i-Taukei affairs and sugar) ­member called the prime minister and Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum (now “kaisi” (person of low rank) in Parlia- attorney general, minister of finance, ment, echoing the cleavage between public enterprises, public service, and high-ranking Taukei chiefs on the communications) has been accentu- Opposition side and those outside the ated in the wake of the 2014 polls. traditional indigenous establishment Sayed-Khaiyum runs much of the on the government side. Bainima- business of the government, while rama, who was commander of the Bainimarama embarks on frequent rfmf until March 2014, retorted that official trips around Fiji and overseas. Parliament should work like a mili- Sayed-Khaiyum (of Muslim descent) tary establishment, where “nobody is often reviled by conservative ethnic really gives two hoots about your title, Fijians and anti-regime blogsites as supposedly your blue blood” (Fiji spearheading an “Islamic takeover,” Times, 8 March 2015; FijiLive, 10 and he travels within Fiji with a strong Feb 2015). In May, sodelpa’s personal security detail. By contrast, , the Bainimarama is regularly celebrated as (paramount chief of Cakaudrove, a compassionate and accessible leader with authority extending into Bua and who is sensitive to the interests of Macuata provinces) was suspended i-Taukei. Bainimarama welcomes text for two years for uttering obsceni- messages on his mobile phone to alert political reviews • melanesia 453 him to respond to the plight of Fiji ing as a bloc on nearly all occasions citizens but leaves Sayed-Khaiyum—as (Fiji Parliament 2015). In April, the finance minister—to fund the associ- government announced that schools ated expenditures. Casualties of the that once served as bastions of indig- new order often report that their ter- enous chiefly authority, such as Queen mination was ordered after they had Victoria School, Adi Cakobau School, fallen out with the attorney general. and Ratu Kadavulevu School, would Reports of military disquiet centered henceforth cater primarily for rural on Sayed-Khaiyum were confirmed in students (Fiji Times, 2 April 2015; 2011 by now-imprisoned former Land Islands Business, 14 April 2014). Ro Force Commander Pita Driti and the Teimumu said it was part of the plan exiled former Third Infantry Regiment to destroy Fijian institutions and a commander, Ratu Tevita Mara (who continuation of the strategy that had now resides in ). Another former seen Fiji’s dis- military officer, , min- banded in 2012 (abc, 13 April 2015). ister for infrastructure and Over 2015, sodelpa chose to make (but formerly permanent secretary in indigenous rights its primary focus. At the Prime Minister’s Office, 2009– the 14th session of the United Nations 2014) resigned his parliamentary seat Permanent Forum on Indigenous in May 2015, ostensibly for health Issues in New York in April, pro- and reasons (Tikoduadua 2015; FijiLive, anti-government representatives did 11 May 2015). Within Fiji, his rift battle with each other on the issue with the attorney general was public of whether or not those rights were knowledge, at least among the urban adequately protected under Fiji’s 2013 elite, but so too were the whispered constitution (FijiLive, 23 April 2015). allegations about financial misman- Other issues, such as corruption agement in his ministry. and human rights abuses, obtained Throughout 2015, FijiFirst made a lesser focus. Speaker Jiko Luveni ample use of its majority on the floor had allowed the Opposition to take of Parliament. By the end of 2015, chairmanship of the Public Accounts the splendidly refurbished Parlia- Committee (pac), triggering some ment website reported forty-eight acts controversy in her FijiFirst party. passed and 184 divisions since Octo- Opposition leader Ro Teimumu Kepa ber 2014 (in parliamentary procedure, appointed nfp leader Biman Prasad a “division” is an alternative to a to take the post. Most of the issues voice vote in which members of Parlia- raised in the pac’s May 2015 Consoli- ment rise from their seats). Leaving dated Report on the auditor general’s aside absences, the government side 2007–2009 reports concerned cases remained solid in all 184 votes, aside of maladministration of government from just three occasions when there finances rather than evidence of gross was a single dissenting vote and two corruption. The report highlighted cases of abstention. The Opposition cases of extravagance, weak tendering was only slightly less homogenous, and procurement, and poor collection with the fifteen sodelpa and three of revenues (pac 2015). Neverthe- nfp members of Parliament vot- less, the government was angered by 454 the contemporary pacific • 28:2 (2016) this novel scrutiny of its expenditures, restricted additional information to and Sayed-Khaiyum claimed that the the media, along with the explanation pac was acting beyond its jurisdiction that “the contracting out of payroll (rnzi, 27 July 2015). Parliamentary service was deemed necessary at that deliberation was clearly vexing those time to ­create efficiency and maintain accustomed to rule by decree. In July, confidentiality of personal information the government used its majority to given the political and administrative secure a reduction in sitting times, climate” (Fiji Sun, 8 Oct 2015). The from seven to four weeks (Fiji Times, report said that such irregular pay- 9 July 2015) ments had since been discontinued, In its 2014 annual report, the Fiji but it did not reveal the amounts Independent Commission against involved (see Narsey 2015b). Corruption (ficac) recorded 79 The fallout from the 2014 elec- convictions since its inception in tion defeat has taken a heavy toll on 2007; 26 cases acquitted, withdrawn, sodelpa. In August 2015, an internal or declared nolle prosequi (charges party document, the Gaunavinaka discontinued); and 121 cases pend- report, was leaked to the media. It ing. Scores were still being settled revealed considerable disquiet about with those associated with the ousted the party’s leadership and aired allega- pre-2006 government. Former tltb tions of mishandling of Opposition Chief Executive Kalivati Bakani and office funds. The authors accused his director, Keni Dakuidreketi, were the sodelpa leadership of aiming to sent to prison for three and six years, “paddle their political ambitions” but respectively, and the chief executive without “conviction for the indige- and directors of the Fiji Post were nous cause.” It claimed that the “pub- handed down jail sentences, but two lic is of the opinion that the Leader of cases were dropped against deposed the Opposition is weak, has no vision Prime Minister due and has compromised the principles to “insufficient evidence” (ficac of the party with her hidden agendas 2015). ficac is an institution that to cling to power.” Ro Teimumu was “sends shivers down some people’s berated for lack of consultation and spines,” boasted the attorney general was told to support any caucus deci- as ficac’s employees assembled for sion “whether it’s right or wrong” their annual awards night (Fiji Sun, (Bulitavu and Radrodro 2015). One 17 Jan 2016). Cabinet ministers feel of the report’s authors, Member of less threatened. Allegations that the Parliament , threat- government was—over 2010–2011— ened to resign unless action was taken secretly paying unspecified ministe- and claimed to have the backing of rial salaries through Aliz Pacific, the Bua, Cakaudrove, and Macuata an accounting firm owned by the sodelpa offices (Fiji Sun, 19 Aug attorney general’s aunt, Nur Bano 2015). From Burebasaga, the loyal Ali, were confirmed by the Auditor Jese Sikivou wrote that the “vanua General’s Office in 2014 (for details, of Rewa” was deeply hurt about the see Fraenkel 2015b). In October 2015, allegations against their chief (Sikivou the government tentatively released 2015). Gaunavinaka report authors political reviews • melanesia 455 were equally offended by claims that In October, Bulitavu wrote to Ratu Naiqama, the Tui Cakau, was the Fiji Sun denouncing sodelpa’s “asking [for] money” from “embar- efforts to restore Fiji’s Great Council rassed Fijians” while on tour in Amer- of Chiefs on the grounds that this ica (Bulitavu and ­Radrodro 2015). was a vehicle for the supremacy of The schism stopped short of cul- Island (off the eastern coast of minating in a sodelpa split in 2015. Fiji’s main island, Viti Levu) through Ratu Naiqama distanced himself the confederacy system (Bau was the from the Gaunavinaka report, and home of Ratu Seru Cakobau, who in September Ro Teimumu and Ratu ceded Fiji to Queen Victoria in 1874). Naiqama issued a joint statement The claims of the Vunivalu kei Bau rejecting claims of a rift between them (paramount chief of Bau) to serve (rnzi, 1 Sept 2015). After the release as the “supreme chief of the iTaukei of the report, 1992–1999 prime people” were repudiated in favor minister and 1987 coup leader Sitiveni of the ancient and supposedly more Rabuka resigned from the party, egalitarian claims of the Ratu Mai claiming that sodelpa was headed Verata (Verata is located to the north toward self-destruction and evidently of Bau, also on Viti Levu’s east coast). frustrated that Ro Teimumu’s faction on Vanua Levu (Fiji’s second had blocked his leadership aspira- largest island) were said to recognize tions (Rabuka 2015). Bulitavu was that their “Vu” (first ancestor) came pardoned by sodelpa’s management from Verata and to have honored “a board in order to prevent further tax system of i sevu” entailing trib- ruptures. An internal investigative utes from Wailevu, , , team headed by former Permanent Natewa Bay, and Udu Point (in the Secretary found some extreme east of Vanua Levu). Buli- support for allegations of financial tavu’s article called on the Bainima- impropriety. Principal Administration rama government to “realign the Manager at the Office of the Leader of tribal history” in accordance “with the Opposition —a rare the preamble of the 2013 Constitu- part-European politician in the other­ tion” by conferring authority on this wise fairly solidly Taukei sodelpa “Verata ancient heritage.” The govern- firmament—was sacrificed in Decem- ment was also enjoined to renounce ber. The gloating Fiji Sun, which had “the breach of tribal rights surround- triumphantly exposed the Gaunavi- ing the signing of the Deed of Ces- naka turmoil, described the departing sion 1874” (Fiji Sun, 10 Oct, 30 Sept Beddoes as “Mr Unpopular” and “the 2015). Homogeneity in the sodelpa Man with the Donald Trump Mouth” response to Bainimarama had clearly (Fiji Sun, 31 Dec 2015). It was the end been breached, even if the Bau/Verata of a fifteen-year political career for cleavage was a poor fit for Opposition a man who had traversed the spec- reconfiguration if only because chiefs trum of Fiji politics from leader of the from both Bau and Verata had become Opposition under the sdl govern- closely associated with support for the ments (2002–2004, 2006) to sodelpa FijiFirst government. Bulitavu, who stalwart. had been arrested some years earlier 456 the contemporary pacific • 28:2 (2016) for defacing road-safety billboards federal Fiji—with provinces serving as featuring Bainimarama’s image, was Australian-style state governments— denounced by sodelpa loyalists for had greater resonance. He died in endorsing the FijiFirst government’s April 2015, but the flag of the would- destruction of the Great Council of be Nadroga-Navosa Christian state Chiefs. continued to fly above Gavidi’s bure More evidence of indigenous (traditional thatched house) at Cuvu disquiet had emerged in November until the newly installed Turaga Na Ka 2014, when Nadroga chief Ratu Levu (paramount chief) of Nadroga, Osea Gavidi purported to establish Ratu Kinijoji Vosailagi, requested that a sovereign “Christian state” and to the police take it down in August (Fiji have presided over the swearing in of Sun, 14 Aug 2015). eighteen cabinet ministers at Cuvu, Kiriwin also claimed to be behind near the Shangri-La’s Fijian Resort another secessionist bid in Ra Prov- (Fiji Sun, 8 Nov 2014). A statement ince, in northeastern Viti Levu, and from the group echoed familiar ethno- in Australia she had separatist flags nationalist themes about alleged Brit- designed for both breakaway “Chris- ish failure at the time of independence tian states.” On 28 October 2014, at in 1970 to return Fiji to descendants Uluda in the Nakauvadra Mountains, of the original signatories of the 1874 the Ra group denounced the “oppres- Deed of Cession. Australian resident sive, dictatorial and tyrannical nature and indigenous rights campaigner Oni of the Bainimarama/Khaiyum regime” Kiriwin, styled “attorney general” of with its “nirvana concept of a polity of the new state, had reportedly been dis- equality” and “dream” of a “modern patched to “Buchigham Palace” [sic] progressive Fiji.” The Uluda Declara- to “officially meet Her Majesty THE tion purported to express the aspira- QUEEN” (Fiji Sun, 8 Nov 2014). In tions of “ethnic peoples, first nation May 2015, Oni Kiriwin reported on peoples of Fiji and therefore sovereign her Facebook page that “Almighty people of this land” and paid hom- God” had spoken to her and that the age to Kosovo’s “right to secede Nadroga group had passed into law from an oppressive government.” It “ten commandments” (Kiriwin 2015). criticized the government’s “perverse In November, sixteen Nadroga chiefs form of social engineering which appeared before the Lautoka High employs constitutionally enshrined Court charged with sedition and incit- laws of ‘mainstreaming’ with which ing communal violence (Fijivillage, it enforces intensive assimilation that 26 Aug 2015; rnzi, 7 Nov 2015). selects only the native Fijian race as Gavidi was well known in Fiji for its target group” (Uluda Declaration, crackpot schemes over the previous reproduced in Field 2015). It was no decade but generally not taken greatly accident that the group was making seriously, at least by urban profession- its statement from the Nakauvadra als in Suva. In Nadroga, now hosting ranges, onetime home of Navosa- several substantial new resorts and an vakadua and the nineteenth-century international golf course at Natadola Tuka cult (see Nicole 2011). In mid- Beach, Ratu Osea’s proposal for a 2014, news filtered out that indige- political reviews • melanesia 457 nous Fijians in the Ra hills were being ing “communal antagonism,” with a trained, using wooden replica guns, by heavy military presence on the town’s a former soldier in the British army. streets (Fiji Times, 26 Aug 2015). By Police Commissioner Groenewald said the end of August, more than seventy the group was “more like a cult” and dissidents had been arrested and Oni posed no threat to national security Kiriwin had been banned from Fiji (rnzi, 14 Aug 2015). (rnzi, 25 Aug 2015; Fiji Sun, 29 Aug The reaction of Bainimarama was 2015). Lawyer Aman Ravindra-Singh, much less relaxed. “There will be no representing some of the Ra rebels, so-called independent states in Fiji,” said that a clerk from his law firm had he thundered: “Anyone who swears been grabbed and bundled into a car an illegal oath will face the full force by men wearing “military boots” and of the law” (fbc, 15 Aug 2015). “We had then been repeatedly “pricked by Will Crush Any Revolt: pm” roared a needle” and “injected” with “some the front page of the Fiji Sun (15 Aug sort of liquid” (rnzi, 4 Dec 2015). 2015). In his address at the open- Plans by the Parliamentary Standing ing of Parliament, outgoing Presi- Committee on Foreign Relations and dent Ratu told the Defence to look into Singh’s allega- assembled members that should they tions were blocked by the attorney fail to condemn the would-be upris- general (Fiji Times, 16 Dec 2015). ing it would “cast doubt” on their Other signs emerged of the still commitment to democracy (Nailati- fragile security situation. In November kau 2015). Since the 2013 constitu- 2015, Police Commissioner Groene­ tion had been imposed without any wald resigned, stating that one reason referendum or any deliberation by a for his departure was government constituent assembly, that argument cover-up of cases of brutality by the won negligible Opposition support. security services (abc, 20 Nov, 11 Nov Defence Minister 2015). He had been appointed in said that “more influential people” May 2014, in the wake of seven and a were behind the rebels (Hansard, 27 half years of military control over the Aug 2015). sodelpa said it had no police force. Groenewald had earned links with the secessionists (Fiji Sun, some popular acclaim by confronting 1 May 2015). In Australia, Fiji-born five burglars during a restaurant rob- Australian National University (anu) bery in Flagstaff and forcing them out Professor Brij V Lal, still banned from with a chair, leaving himself with inju- his homeland, said it was a “diver- ries that required thirteen stitches (Fiji sionary” tactic to deflect criticism Times, 22 May 2015). He had staked from the government (sbs, 31 Aug his reputation on investigating several 2015). Others thought it signaled tricky police brutality cases, includ- indigenous disorientation in the ing the Vilikesa Soko murder case, the wake of Bainimarama’s abolition of arrest and beating of Joseva Bilitaki, the Great Council of Chiefs. On 26 and the assault of Iowane Benedito August, thirty villagers from Ra were and Epeli Qaraniqio. Vilikesa Soko brought before the court in Tavua had been arrested for a robbery charged with “sedition” and foment- in November 2014 and died after a 458 the contemporary pacific • 28:2 (2016) vicious beating while in police custody. of camaraderie with considerable Joseva Bilitaki was a retired teacher resonance for a coup-prone and heav- who had complained of the use of his ily militarized state like Fiji. One of songs by FijiFirst during their 2014 those implicated was found to be Pita election campaign, precipitating an Matairavula, formerly the prime min- angry exchange of text messages with ister’s personal bodyguard. The police Bainimarama. Following that corre- chief had informed Bainimarama of spondence, he was arrested in Decem- his intention to arrest the five officers, ber 2014 and beaten up by members but the rfmf protected Matairavula. of the security services (rnzi, 10 As a result, Groenewald—understand- Oct, 20 Oct 2015). The most widely ably—found his position untenable, reported of these cases, the torture of though his resignation letter also recaptured escaped convicts Iowane included comments about unsani- Benedito and Epeli Qaraniqio in 2013, tary living conditions (rnzi, 20 Nov was recorded on video and released 2015). He returned to South Africa. on YouTube. The gruesome footage The new acting police commis- showed five members of the security sioner was the rfmf’s Qiliho, who forces beating Benedito with a metal had himself been implicated in several pipe in an effort to cripple him and human rights abuse cases (including setting dogs on Qaraniqio, both as the 2009 assault on anu historian punishment for absconding and as Professor ). Lawyer Richard a method of preventing any repeat Naidu, an Opposition nominee on the escape (YouTube, 2013). Suffering Constitutional Offices Commission, serious injuries, Qaraniqio had his leg resigned in protest at the appointment. amputated shortly thereafter. On his Facebook page, Naidu said Bainimarama had said at the time, that the commission was acting in a “I will stick by my men,” and he “haphazard fashion, mostly on the proved true to his word. The prime basis of last minute emails, reflect- minister told the media that the ing either disorganisation or a lack of three police officers and two military interest in good governance” (Naidu officers had “done their duty in look- 2015). Rivalry between the military ing after the security of this nation and the police force had remained and making sure we sleep peacefully acute since the military takeover in at night” (interview on Fiji­village, 2006, but the brief resurrection of 9 March 2013). Groenewald’s inves- police independence under Groene­ tigations were frustrated when the wald was soon quashed. Under Qiliho, three police officers, who had been it was announced that most of the suspended, were recruited into the senior police officers would be retired rfmf. Land Force Commander (Fiji Sun, 14 Jan 2016). Sitiveni Qiliho explained that they had Groenewald was not the only been “abandoned by the police” and official in a top security post to resign echoed Bainimarama in stating “we in 2015. In August, it was announced will stand by our men and women that Brigadier General Mosese Tikoi- through thick and thin” (rnzi, 9 toga had resigned as rfmf com- Nov, 10 Nov 2015), evoking a spirit mander and that Captain Viliame political reviews • melanesia 459

Naupoto was to take his place in an echoing a pattern from earlier post- “acting” role. Tikoitoga had only been 2006 coup years. Permanent Secretary appointed eighteen months earlier, in the Ministry of Information ­Sharon after Bainimarama stepped down Smith-Johns resigned in October, as commander to pursue a career in ­citing personal reasons (Fiji Sun, 29 civilian politics. Rumors swirled on Oct 2015). In November, disillusioned the overseas blogsites about renewed spin doctor Graham Davis resigned his tensions in the rfmf, as well as about consultancy with Qorvis MSLGroup, an awkward extramarital affair. The supposedly to return to Australia official statement said Tikoitoga had (Fijileaks, 10 Nov 2015. Qorvis is a resigned to become Fiji’s new high US-based public relations firm that has commissioner to South Africa. The earned us$20 million globally since real reason was that Tikoitoga had 2010 representing countries with poor been showing increasing indepen- human-rights records; see cpi 2015). dence, replacing those appointed by Aisake Taito resigned as chief execu- his predecessor to powerful posi- tive officer of the fnpf in April (Fiji tions and preventing Bainimarama’s Times, 5 May 2015). In November, personal bodyguards from entering Permanent Secretary for the Minis- the officer’s mess. The South African try of Finance Filimone Waqabaca High Commission was a new post resigned to become ambassador to commenced only in 2011, but in . Acting Permanent November it was announced that Fiji’s Secretary Basundra Kumar departed mission in Pretoria was to be closed. A her post in the Ministry of Education diplomat at the South African mission in December 2014 and in her resig- in Suva had been involved in a fatal nation letter denounced “parochial- drunk-driving incident in August but ism, cronyism and favoritism” in the pleaded diplomatic immunity. The Fiji ministry, for which she was vigorously government had asked South Africa to denounced by her minister, Mahen- waive that immunity (Fiji Sun, 21 Oct dra Reddy (Fijileaks, 1 Jan 2015; Fiji 2015), but without success. Instead Times, 7 Jan 2015). Dr , of the Pretoria post, Fiji would open the former health minister, resigned a new embassy in Ethiopia “given its from Parliament in April. The website strategic importance in Africa” and Fijileaks had revealed that the ficac its role in the Organization of African was pursuing charges against Sharma Unity (fbc, 19 Nov 2015). It was for manipulating tendering processes a sign of how far and how rapidly (rnzi, 6 Nov 2014). When new per- Tikoitoga had fallen from grace that manent secretaries were announced he would now be deployed to the in December 2015, only three of Horn of Africa. the twenty had been the previous Aside from the police commissioner, incumbents in those roles (Fiji Times, the military commander, and the once 18 Dec 2015). powerful Minister for Infrastructure Ratu Epeli Nailatikau’s term as Pio Tikoduadua, many other influ- president ended in 2015. A former ential figures in the Bainimarama military officer, Major General Jioji government resigned during 2015, Konrote, was selected as the new 460 the contemporary pacific • 28:2 (2016) president, the first non-Taukei and tions, but Fiji continued to reposition the first non-chiefly candidate to hold itself on the international front. Echo- the post. The Opposition’s nominee ing debates in New Zealand about was Ratu , the former changing the national flag so as to defense minister who had resigned drop its inclusion of the Union Jack, from the Bainimarama government in Bainimarama announced a competi- 2010. Like the departing incumbent tion in February to come up with a president, Ganilau is married to one new flag for Fiji. “We need to replace of the daughters of Ratu Sir Kamisese the symbols on our existing flag that Mara, Fiji’s long-serving post-inde- are out of date and no longer ­relevant, pendence prime minister (1970–1987, including some anchored to our 1987–1992) and then president colonial past,” said the prime minister. (1993–2000). That Ganilau now “The shield on our flag has the British featured as sodelpa’s favored choice Lion and the Cross of St George,” he for a president was a sign of how said, asking, “What does this have to closely the Mara dynasty had become do with us?” (Bainimarama 2015). associated with the Opposition. The The queen has also vanished from Gaunavinaka report even speculated Fiji’s banknotes and coinage, which that Adi Koila Mara—the retiring now feature native birds and fauna president’s wife and daughter of Ratu and national landmarks. The new flag Mara—might become sodelpa’s would remove the Union Jack and next leader. At the September 2014 escutcheon, the shield on the flag that polls, —covering the includes depiction of the dove that was scattered islands of eastern Fiji—was the symbol of Ratu Seru Cakobau’s the only one of Fiji’s fourteen prov- precolonial 1871–1874 kingdom. inces to record a sodelpa majority. Another target was the country’s coat Lau is also the ancestral home of the of arms, which features the escutcheon Mara family, where Ratu Sir Kami­ held up by two Taukei warriors, one sese was Tui Lau and Tui Nayau (see bearing a spear and the other a war Scarr 2008). In October 2015, it was club. Former Foreign Minister Kalio- announced that the next Tui Nayau pate Tavola, Fiji’s unsuccessful candi- would be Ratu Mara’s eldest son, date for the position of Pacific Islands Ratu Finau (Fiji Times, 3 Oct 2015). Forum (pif) secretary-general in 2014, In , the government chose wondered whether “our history” had a politician with a stellar military been declared a “no go zone” (Tavola record but without a strong political 2015). base. Exiled Professor Brij Lal said In his 2013 New Year’s address, that Konrote was “widely believed” Bainimarama had deemed the flag to be keeping “the presidential seat change necessary “to reflect a sense of warm until Bainimarama is ready to national renewal, to reinforce a new move up to Government House after Fijian identity and a new confidence another term or two in parliament” in being Fijian on the global stage” (Lal 2015). (quoted on abc, 2 Jan 2013). Yet The September 2014 election her- by mid-2015, market research poll- alded the end of international sanc- sters were reporting that 53 percent political reviews • melanesia 461 of respondents wanted to retain the New Zealand Prime Minister John existing flag, and 86 percent wanted a Key said it was just Bainimarama referendum on any change (Fiji Times, “mouthing off” and hinted none 27 June 2015). In June, the National too subtly that Australia and New Flag Committee released twenty-three Zealand would withdraw funding potential designs for a new flag (rnzi, if excluded (rnzi, 13 April 2015). 12 June 2015). Bainimarama rejected Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa the Opposition call for a referendum Sailele Malielegaoi suggested that the on the issue. The committee selected pif Secretariat headquarters be moved five finalists but was then instructed out of Fiji and said that Bainima- by the attorney general to seek addi- rama’s specialty was to “play the tional options (rnzi, 22 June 2015). [military] drum and yell left, right, The plan had been to raise the new stop” rather than effectively engage in flag on the forty-fifth anniversary of regional affairs. The Fiji prime minis- independence in October, although ter retorted that Tuilaepa was Austra- Bainimarama showed no great urgency lia and New Zealand’s “lapdog” and in finalizing the decision (Fiji Times, that Canberra and Wellington’s pre- 22 Dec 2015). This was one of several paredness to “dangle funding in front issues with potential to offend indig- of us” betrayed a “poor view of what enous sensibilities that the prime min- our relationship should look like” ister handled cautiously. In the New ( Observer, 19 April, 26 April Year, he announced that a new flag, 2015). Other less partisan commenta- preserving only the navy blue color of tors sympathized with Bainimarama’s its predecessor, would be hoisted on call for some reconfiguration of the Constitution Day, 7 September 2016 Forum (Fry 2015). (Fiji Times, 17 Jan 2016). Fears of growing Chinese influence The scheduled February 2015 have been a major factor encouraging meeting in Australia to deliberate Australia’s 2010–2015 reengagement on changes to the Pacific’s regional with the Bainimarama government as architecture did not go ahead. The well as with the rfmf. In July, hmas Fiji government remained committed Leeuwin became the first Royal Aus- to a restructure of the Pacific Islands tralian Navy vessel to visit Fiji since Forum so as to diminish the influence the 2006 coup, and it conducted joint of—or exclude altogether—Australia surveillance of waters around and New Zealand. Nevertheless, the with the Fiji Navy (Staples 2015). earlier position of nonattendance at According to one analysis, Chinese annual pif summits was softened. bilateral assistance to Fiji surpassed Although Fiji government officials that from Australia over 2006–2013 would attend, Bainimarama said (Brandt 2015; Lowy Institute 2015). that “as Head of Government, I will In June, a delegation from China’s not participate in any Forum Lead- Guangdong Province signed twenty- ers’ Meeting until the issue of the four project agreements with Fiji gov- undue influence of Australia and New ernment and private agencies (FijiLive, Zealand and our divergence of views 1 June 2015). Results of Chinese is addressed” (Fiji Sun, 7 May 2015). assistance have been of mixed quality. 462 the contemporary pacific • 28:2 (2016)

The Chinese-constructed Nadarivatu If we had to rely solely on our own hydroelectric dam opened in 2012 but boats we would have shut down” (Fiji has experienced difficulties owing to a Sun, 28 Dec 2015). With regard to its failure to negotiate conclusively over own oceangoing activities, Fiji Fish water catchments with local land- has diversified out of tuna to concen- owners (jica 2015, 24), and, more trate on snapper, mahimahi, and other urgently, low rainfall over 2014 and higher-value fisheries exports. probably also 2015 (for 2013–2014 The Bainimarama government has data, see fea 2015). The long-planned cultivated diplomatic relations with low-to-medium-cost housing project other nontraditional partners. Fiji now in the Suva suburb of Tacirua never has nineteen missions abroad, includ- got off the ground (Housing Authority ing posts in the Republic of Korea, of Fiji 2015), although 210 Chinese- Brazil, and United Arab Emirates, constructed public rental flats in Rai- costing the country f$42 million per wai were opened in September 2014 annum (Fiji Times, 28 Dec 2015). (Fijivillage, 1 Sept 2014). Chinese New relationships entail a variety of contractors have been heavily engaged trade-offs. In January 2016, twenty- in Fiji’s road-building activities, draw- five shipping containers arrived in ing sizable supplies of gravel from Suva from Russia, carrying weapons, inland riverbeds. The Nabouwalu- ammunition, and trucks for Fiji’s Dreketi road on northern Vanua Levu peacekeepers serving in ’s Sinai was completed in late 2015, a f$228 desert and along the -Syria fron- million project requiring construction tier on the Golan Heights. Ahead of of fourteen bridges (Fiji Sun, 31 Dec their deployment, Bainimarama had 2015). brokered a 2013 deal with Russian The costs of Chinese assistance are Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to difficult to assess. Competition from supply the new equipment. In 2014, subsidized Chinese fishing vessels has Fiji abstained from voting on the decimated the Fiji fishing fleet, 75 United Nations motion condemning percent of which is reported as having Russia’s occupation of the Crimea. ceased operations over the past five The year 2015 was one of cults years (Fiji Sun, 26 Sept 2015). Never- and invective but also one of tentative theless, some of the established indus- signs of political reconfiguration. As try players have survived by moving it drew to a close, the Fiji Sun gave both up and down the supply chain. Bainimarama their “man of the year” Fiji Fish Chief Executive Graham prize yet again and filled its pages Southwick pointed out that “ironi- with fawning celebrations of “our cally, we make good money from the first true people’s prime minister” (Fiji very boats that are causing us prob- Sun, 31 Dec 2015). Letters to the Fiji lems: all the Taiwanese and Chinese Times likewise applauded the “high boats. We have 55 boats supplying power” of the prime minister (Fiji fish to us that we trade, and we sell Times, 27 Dec 2015). Counter-cults fuel and bait to these boats and service in Nadroga and Ra had betrayed an the whole fleet. The money we make inward-looking indigenous response of from this supports our own fleet. . . . seeking to breakaway from the central political reviews • melanesia 463 state. The trading of obscenities inside Opening of the Aid Office and Parliament showed just how person- Announcement on the National Flag, alized the power struggle remained Fijian Government. 2 March. http://www after eight years of rule by decree .fiji.gov.fj/Media-Center/Speeches/HON but also signaled that the Opposition --PM-BAINIMARAMA-SPEECH-AT -THE-OFFICIAL-OPENING.aspx was struggling to respond to Fiji­ [accessed 15 June 2015] First’s developmental agenda. On the other hand, the FijiFirst government Brandt, Philippa. 2015. The Geopolitics had not adjusted easily to civilian of Chinese Aid: Mapping Beijing’s Fund- rule nor relinquished its authoritar- ing in the Pacific. Foreign Affairs, 4 March 2015. Also available at http:// ian ­proclivities. 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Samoa Observer. 2015. Online newspaper. http://sobserver.ws/ Timor-Leste sbs, Special Broadcasting Service. Sydney. Bitter divisions within Timor-Leste’s http://www.sbs.com.au/ small political elite have been a regular feature of post-independence Scarr, Deryck. 2008. Tuimacilai: A Life of Ratu Sir . Goolwa, South politics. These were aggravated by the Australia: Crawford House Publishing. political-military crisis of 2006 that saw a breakdown in the security insti- Sikivou, Jese. 2015. E-mail message, tutions and the fall of the first govern- 21 September. Reproduced on Fijileaks, ment, and by acrimonious disputes September. http://www.fijileaks.com/ 24 in the wake of the 2007 and 2012 home/standing-up-for-rewa-and-his elections. Remarkably, interparty -chief-jese-sikivous-stinging-e-mail-to -sodelpa-top-brass-in-defence-of-ro relations improved dramatically in -kepa-and-the-condemnation-of-those 2015 with the emergence of a de facto -who-have-been-trying-to-belittle-the government of national unity between -chiefly-seat-of-ro-tui-dreketi [accessed the two major parties, the National 5 April 2016] Congress of the Timorese Reconstruc- tion (cnrt) and the Revolutionary Staples, Natalie. 2015. Royal Australian Front for an Independent East Timor Navy Returns to Fiji. Navy Daily [Royal Australian Navy news website], 16 July. (fretilin). This rapprochement saw http://news.navy.gov.au/en/Jul2015/ an opposition figure appointed as Fleet/2180/Royal-Australian-Navy prime minister to facilitate former -returns-to-Fiji.htm#.VqKIqPGmT7E resistance leader Xanana Gusmão’s [accessed 26 March 2016] move to the Ministry of Planning and Strategic Investment. This conver- Tavola, Kaliopate. 2015. Raising a New gence in Dili’s political elite built on Flag. Pacific Institute of Public Policy, 16 February. http://pacificpolicy.org/2015/ a newfound consensus style of poli- 02/raising-a-new-flag/ [accessed 26 March tics, evident since 2013. But behind 2016] the political stability and slowly improving development indicators Tikoduadua, Pio. 2015. Message to the lay deeper questions of sustainability, Fijian People from Honourable Pio Tiko­ with finite petroleum resources under duadua, Minister for Infrastructure and pressure from large budget expendi- Transport and Leader of the Government in the . 5 November. tures, and a demographic bulge of http://www.fiji.gov.fj/Media-Center/Press young East Timorese about to enter -Releases/STATEMENTS-ON-THE an overstretched labor market. Some -RESIGNATION-OF-THE-MINISTER concerns were also expressed over -FOR-.aspx [accessed 24 March 2016] the lack of an effective parliamentary political reviews • melanesia 467 opposition in Dili as 2015 came to a in East Timorese politics, Gusmão’s close. departure from center stage was Formed in the wake of the 2012 a known watch point for political parliamentary elections, the multiparty stability. This extraordinary remaking coalition government Bloku Governu of the government was also designed Koligasaun (Government Coalition to smooth the transition from the Bloc) headed by Gusmão’s cnrt party “1975 generation” of leaders that put Timor-Leste’s oldest continu- has dominated post-independence ing party, fretilin, once again in politics since 2002. Gusmão’s continu- opposition. Through 2013 and 2014, ing presence comes with oversight of there had been clear signs of public the National Development Agency, rapprochement between the two key which keeps him centrally involved in figures of Prime Minister Gusmão infrastructure policy and will aid the and the opposition fretilin leader, new government in its dealings with former Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri. the critical constituency of military This was evidenced by fretilin’s resistance veterans. Gusmão’s move unprecedented support for budget away from direct responsibility for votes in Parliament and the appoint- defense and police, meanwhile, was ment of Alkatiri as the head of a a significant indication of increasing major project to develop the exclave confidence in stability, despite ongoing of Oecusse as a special economic zone. tensions with restive dissident veterans The long-anticipated resignation of groups, including the Sagrada Familia, prime minister and former resistance led by disaffected former guerrilla leader Xanana Gusmão still surprised commander Cornelio “l7” Gama. observers in early 2015 when Dr Rui Although Rui Araújo comes from Araújo, a high-profile member of the opposition party, his relationship the opposition party fretilin, was with Gusmão dates back to the early appointed as his successor. The new 1990s when he was a clandestine prime minister was sworn in alongside messenger in the student resistance. three new ministers from fretilin, After training as a doctor in who joined a smaller, revamped min- and working in Dili in the late 1990s, istry dominated by Gusmão’s cnrt Araújo undertook a master’s degree in party. Though Gusmão’s retirement public health in New Zealand, focus- had been on the cards since 2013, and ing on models for a new health system a government of national unity has for Timor-Leste. He served as health been discussed for many years, the minister in the first post-independence outcome was still remarkable in light government from 2001 to 2007 and of the bitter relations between the two was briefly deputy prime minister. A major parties as recently as 2012. widely respected figure, Araújo was a Smoothing a difficult political political independent until he joined transition, Gusmão took the position fretilin in 2010. Most recently, he of planning and investment minister, was a senior advisor to the health and a move designed to provide stability finance ministries and is regarded as as the new government took its first a highly competent and incorruptible steps. Given his enormous stature administrator. These aspects of his 468 the contemporary pacific • 28:2 (2016) public reputation were evidently criti- Though fretilin insisted the new cal to Gusmão’s choice (rtp 2015). ministers would serve as individuals That Gusmão was able to per- rather than as party representatives, suade his own party, cnrt, to back there was a clear sense that these this deal, given the known leadership moves formalized the accord that has ambitions of other senior figures, was prevailed between Gusmão and the a testimony to the importance of his fretilin leadership over previous charismatic authority to their political years. Some commentators worried, fortunes. In his swearing-in speech, not without justification, that account- the new prime minister described the ability might suffer under what is outcome as “a more pragmatic logic effectively a “grand coalition,” albeit of serving the national interest . . . the one best described as a power-sharing coming together of wills, experience executive. For more traditional East and skills will allow us to overcome Timorese outside the capital, however, the traditional political and demo- this attempt at a consensus politics cratic contest, so that we may meet resonates far more closely with local the challenges faced by the coun- notions of political legitimacy than the try” (Araújo 2015). Araújo warmly winner-takes-all model of party com- acknowledged the 1975 generation petition, which is often seen as divisive of leaders—Gusmão, former Prime and foreign. If the new power-sharing Minister Alkatiri, and José Ramos- executive performs well, there is a Horta, along with current President strong chance it could be taken to the Taur Matan Ruak—as “older broth- scheduled 2017 elections with rela- ers,” signaling this moment as one of tively minor modifications. It would generational change. prove a formidable opponent. Along with the prime ministership, For the other, smaller parties in fretilin took the key portfolios of Timor-Leste’s former governing foreign affairs and agriculture. The coalition, the outcome of Gusmão’s appointment of Hernani Coelho, a changes was less appealing. While former ambassador to Australia, to Fernando “Lasama” de Araújo, the the foreign affairs portfolio showed leader of the Democratic Party (pd) the priority of resolving key issues in and a former leader of the student that relationship, including spying clandestine resistance movement allegations and a growing rift between Resistência Nacional dos Estudantes the two countries over their maritime de Timor-Leste (renetil), retained a boundaries. cnrt continued to domi- senior coordinating ministry in social nate the rest of the ministerial posi- affairs and education, the former cnrt tions, with senior figures Agio Pereira coalition partner was left playing a (minister of state and of the Council of subsidiary role in the new government. Ministers) and Dionísio Babo-Soares In June 2015, Dili was rocked by de (state administration and justice) Araújo’s sudden death of a stroke at retaining major coordinating minis- age fifty-two. tries that saw them continue to wield The Program of the Sixth Consti- considerable power in the reformed tutional Government, issued in April government. 2015 (rdtl 2015c), offered some political reviews • melanesia 469 changes in direction, with Prime Min- political parties but is not supported ister Rui Araújo pledging to “fight the by the commercial partner in the culture of bureaucratisation in pub- Greater Sunrise gas field, Woodside lic administration” and promising a Petroleum. While domestic and inter- “new bureaucratic order that is leaner, national critics urged the government more professional, more technical to begin the long process of steering and less politicised.” He also signaled the country away from big-money a new economic direction, a halt to megaprojects and the overspending the “waste and the ineffective use of of Timor-Leste’s finite oil and gas public monies,” and a welcome com- revenues to focus more on health and mitment to economic diversification in education, the 2015 budget showed neglected areas such as tourism, agri- little sign of diverging from the former culture and fisheries (Araújo 2015). pattern of high spending on infrastruc- This shift in political culture toward a ture—mostly in the form of contracts more “rational-legal” mode of politi- let to the private sector. In 2015, this cal legitimacy, from the charismatic represented some 36 percent of the legitimacy of Gusmão, borne of his budget, including the Oecusse Spe- historic leadership of the resistance, cial Market Economy Zone (zeesm) would be a challenging one. Other Authority, which received us$82 themes of the speech included commit- million in public transfers. By com- ments to finalizing the long-delayed parison, expenditures on education Land and Property Law and prioritiz- (9.5%), health (4.6%), and agriculture ing education spending, particularly to (2.25%) have been modest. Pen- encourage women to enter the labor sion payments to the many veterans market. Welcome commitments to of Timor-Leste’s long independence fighting domestic violence and making struggle are a particular focus, repre- the formal justice system more actively senting 8.7 percent of the 2015 bud- bilingual were featured. get, a figure that exceeded the monies The key focus of government spent on the security sector (6%) (La‘o economic strategy remains the Stra- Hamutuk 2015). tegic Development Plan 2011–2030 Most growth was driven by govern- developed by former Prime Minister ment spending, drawing on returns Gusmão. A central component of from Timor-Leste’s petroleum fund, this ambitious plan is a South Coast which now stands at us$16.22 billion, Petroleum Corridor comprising a sup- representing its lowest value since ply base in the southern town of Suai, April 2014. Timor-Leste remained a refinery farther east in Betano, and a highly dependent on petroleum reve- liquefied natural gas (lng) processing nues at 95 percent of national income, facility in Beacu. To further this vision, second only to South in that major road infrastructure development regard, with the small balance domi- is proposed along the south coast, nated by coffee exports. While a new with highway links to Dili. The core middle class thrived on government aspect of this vision relies on onshore contracts for infrastructure develop- processing of liquefied natural gas, a ment, employment growth from the position that has united East Timorese oil revenues was relatively limited. 470 the contemporary pacific • 28:2 (2016)

The government’s policy of spend- national celebration in 2015. Coincid- ing above the Estimated Sustainable ing with the fortieth anniversary of the Income threshold of Timor-Leste’s unilateral declaration of independence sovereign wealth fund has been justi- in 1975, yearlong commemorations fied in terms of the need to accelerate took place, leading up to the highlight development, though local nongovern- of the 28 November celebration in mental organizations have warned that Oecusse. A government resolution in if government spending is not made April created an Organisation Com- sustainable, Timor-Leste’s current oil mittee for the Commemoration of the wealth could be depleted within ten five hundred years since the Affirma- to twenty years, just as a demographic tion of the New Timorese Identity explosion of young adults enters the (rdtl 2015a). The government labor market. Local nongovernmen- announced that the commemoration tal organization La‘o Hamutuk (the was intended “as a starting point, to Timor-Leste Institute for Develop- signal the arrival of the Portuguese ment Monitoring and Analysis, based navigators and missionaries to Lifau, in Dili) estimated that at the current Oecusse Ambeno, and represents a rate the petroleum fund would be historic mark in the affirmation of exhausted somewhere between 2025 the new Timorese identity and the and 2035, depending on varying construction of Timor-Leste” (rdtl scenarios for oil prices and the scale of 2015b). Promotion of the yearlong likely remaining deposits in the Timor commemorations heavily emphasized Sea (La‘o Hamutuk 2016). Agricul- the arrival of the Catholic Church, tural spending was not increased with plans for a reenactment of the despite this sector still representing the first arrival of Dominican priests. majority of East Timorese subsistence Some aspects of official celebra- livelihoods. In the meantime, Timor- tions attracted considerable criticism Leste’s high-cost, low-skills economy from younger East Timorese, confused was proving difficult to diversify, with by what appeared to be a celebration economic activity continuing to center of the colonial relationship that had on public-sector spending of oil and initiated generations of forced labor gas revenues, raising the specter of and chronic underdevelopment (see, the “resource curse,” in which devel- eg, Goncalves 2015). For the govern- opment of other more sustainable ment, however, the focus was clearly industries is neglected and maladies on the historical relationship with the such as political corruption and Catholic Church, seen as integral to ­clientelism may be facilitated. Notably, a distinctive East Timorese national President Taur Matan Ruak vetoed identity. the 2016 budget law in late December The new prime minister’s com- 2015, arguing that the budget did not mitment to increasing cooperation adequately tackle the pressing need of between State and Church was not poverty alleviation. just rhetorical. In August, to com- The five-hundred-year anniversary memorate the five hundredth anni- of the arrival of the Portuguese in versary of the Portuguese arrival, a Lifau, Oecusse, prompted a major concordat was signed with the Vati- political reviews • melanesia 471 can. These agreements offer particular cpd-rdtl and the Maubere Revolu- privileges to the Church and have tionary Council (krm) after members been relatively rare since the Second wearing uniforms conducted military Vatican Council. Earlier versions were exercises in the Baucau district. By criticized for compromising the sepa- mid-2014, tensions surrounding disaf- ration of Church and State, though fected veterans’ groups appeared to other signatories in recent years have calm considerably, only to flare up included Community of Portuguese again in January 2015 in a standoff Language Countries (cplp) members between the National Police of East Portugal and Brazil (Sainsbury 2015). Timor (pntl) and the krm, in Laga, in The mass celebrating the concordat Baucau District. Police blockades were was convened at Tasitolu, recalling the set up throughout the country in June 1989 visit of Pope John Paul II that and July to regulate the movements saw clandestine independence activists of these groups. In August 2015, krm unfurl protest banners. The concor- leader Mauk Moruk was killed during dat guaranteed a public role for the a confrontation with a joint force of Catholic Church “in line with consti- army and police in Baucau District. tutional norms and local legislation,” Despite krm claims of widespread in providing “spiritual assistance” in support, the country remained calm in prisons, hospitals, orphanages, and the wake of this episode. schools. The contrast with the former Relationships with its two major fretilin government’s opposition neighbors continued to occupy Dili’s to mandatory religious education in diplomats. The Program of the Sixth state schools was evident, with the Government committed more stri- freedom to profess and practice the dently to issues of national sover- Catholic faith publicly declared a eignty, and to “safeguarding the inde- “religious freedom.” The concordat pendence, sovereignty and territorial had been in development since 2006, integrity of our Nation” (rdtl 2015c, the time of the Second Constitutional 77). Most notably, a new Council for Government. Prime Minister Araújo Delimitation of Maritime Boundaries noted that the concordat confirmed was formed in 2015 for the purpose of that Catholicism and the Portuguese furthering maritime boundaries with language are “two elements which Australia and Indonesia (Ministry have shaped our identity as a nation” of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation (Sainsbury 2015). 2015). In the case of Indonesia, the The new moderation of politi- parties agreed on a schedule of major cal conflict also saw the state seek maritime boundary delimitation talks to tackle dissident veterans’ groups to take place in 2016 to determine like the Committee for the Popular some small remaining sections of their Defense of the Democratic Republic land border as well as the much larger of Timor-Leste (cpd-rdtl) who do issue of sea boundaries. not recognize the 2002 Constitution Relations with Australia continued and seek a return to the state declared at a low ebb, with no formal ministe- in 1975. In March 2014, Parliament rial visits between the two states since had moved to proscribe both the 2013. The government of Timor-Leste 472 the contemporary pacific • 28:2 (2016) continued its Permanent Court of the first time since the late occupa- Arbitration case to have the 2006 tion era, the key question at the close Certain Maritime Arrangements in of the year was whether the lack of the Timor Sea (cmats) treaty voided, an effective parliamentary opposition which delayed maritime boundary will create a vacuum for new political negotiations for fifty years, following entrants in 2016. allegations from a former Austra- michael leach lian Secret Intelligence Service (asis) operative that the Australians had spied on the East Timorese negotiat- References ing team in 2004 in order to secure a commercial advantage in revenue- Araújo, Rui. 2015. Speech of the new sharing talks. Timor-Leste seeks to Timor-Leste New Prime Minister on the have the cmats treaty nullified under Occasion of the Swearing-in of the New the wider principle, codified under Government, Lahane Palace, Dili, 16 Feb- the Vienna Convention on the Law of ruary. http://timor-leste.gov.tl/wp-content/ Treaties, that negotiations should take uploads/2015/02/Swearing-in-of-the-Sixth -Constitutional-Government- . . place in good faith. In 2015, Timor- 16 2 20151 .pdf [accessed 31 March 2016] Leste dropped a separate case against Australia before the United Nation’s Goncalves, Ivo Mateus. 2015. Civilization International Court of Justice after at What Cost? New Mandala (Coral Bell Canberra returned documents seized School of Asia Pacific Affairs, ­Australian National University), 1 December. http:// from Timor-Leste’s Australian coun- asiapacific.anu.edu.au/newmandala/2015/ sel (Hurst 2015). A third case over 12/01/civilization-at-what-cost/ [accessed assessment of pipeline tax revenues in 14 March 2016] the Joint Petroleum Development Area Hurst, Daniel. 2015. Timor-Leste also proceeded throughout 2015. In Welcomes Australia’s Return of Spying the wake of a twenty-four-year fight Documents Seized by Asio. The Guardian, for Timor-Leste’s independence, the 3 May. http://www.theguardian.com/ unresolved maritime border issue had world/2015/may/04/east-timor-welcomes become a totemic issue of national -australias-return-of-spying-documents sovereignty by 2015. Timor-Leste’s -seized-by-asio [accessed 14 March 2016] major political parties have united La‘o Hamutuk. 2015. General State around the need to settle these bound- Budget 2015. Updated 15 December. aries, a position that appears to have Available via http://www.laohamutuk strong support in the wider Timorese .org/econ/OGE15/14OGE15.htm society. [accessed 14 March 2016] With elections scheduled for 2017, ———. 2016. Timor-Leste Petroleum and the historical leadership of the Fund. Updated 7 February. Available via country transitioning out of politics, http://www.laohamutuk.org/Oil/PetFund/ Timor-Leste was poised for a genera- 05PFIndex.htm [accessed 14 March 2016] tional shift on the road to democratic Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Coop- consolidation. While 2015 saw a wel- eration. 2015. The Council for the Final come return to a position of national Delimitation of Maritime Boundaries. unity and “consensus” politics for Maritime Boundary Office, 4 June. political reviews • melanesia 473 http://static1.squarespace.com/static/ how intent the current government 544602fae4b076f26051926a/t/ was to pursue the investigation of 55aed867e4b025f8fc5e79ba/ alleged bribery involving a number of 1437522023679/MBO+Booklet members of Parliament (mps) dat- +040615+Med+Res+ENG.pdf ing back to the previous year (vdp, 2 [accessed 29 March 2016] Jan 2015). Indeed, the bribery case rdtl, República Democrática de Timor- dominated the news throughout 2015, Leste (Government of Timor-Leste). making it the most politically unset- 2015a. 500th anniversary of the Affirma­ tled year since ’s independence tion of the Timorese Identity. 5 September. in 1980. http://timor-leste.gov.tl/?p=13165&lang In early November , the local =en [accessed 21 March 2016] 2014 press reported that the leader of the ———. 2015b. Meeting of the ­Council of Opposition, Moana Carcasses, had Ministers of 14 April 2015. Press release, deposited a check for 35 million vatu 14 April. http://timor-leste.gov.tl/?p in his personal account at a local bank =11656&lang=en [accessed 29 March 2016] and subsequently transferred sums of money ranging from vt500,000 ———. 2015c. Program of the Sixth to vt1 million into the accounts of a Constitutional Government 2015–2017. number of s ( vatu [ ] aver- 3 March. http://timor-leste.gov.tl/wp mp 100 vt -content/uploads/2015/04/Program-of-the aged around us$.91 in 2015). Ten -Sixth-Constitutional-Government-2015 days later, the prime minister, Joe -2017.pdf [accessed 29 March 2016] Natuman, and deputy prime minister, Ham Lini, lodged a motion in Parlia- rtp, Rádio e Televisão de Portugal. 2015. Rui Araujo sera pm pela sua experiencia e ment to suspend sixteen Opposition conhecimento profundo do sistema finan- mps on charges of alleged bribery, ceiro diz Xanana Gusmao. rtp Notícias, based on provisions in the Leader- 9 February. http://www.rtp.pt/noticias/ ship Code that leaders in government index.php?article=803330&tm=7&layout should conduct themselves so as to =121&visual=49 [accessed 14 March avoid demeaning their office or the 2016] integrity of the Republic of Vanuatu. Sainsbury, Michael. 2015. Timor-Leste The next day, Carcasses tabled a to Sign Historic Treaty with the Vatican. motion of no confidence against the UCANews (Union of Catholic Asian Natuman government. News, Hong Kong), 6 August. Speaker of Parliament Phillip http://www.ucanews.com/news/timor Boedoro ruled that the two motions -leste-to-sign-historic-treaty-with-the should be dealt with in the order they -vatican/ [accessed March ] 74035 14 2016 were received; thus the bribery case against sixteen Opposition mps was debated first. Carcasses denied the allegation of bribery, claiming instead Vanuatu that he had offered the money as The headline in the Vanuatu Daily “loans” to any mp—either Opposi- Post on the first day after the New tion of Government—who was willing Year holiday—“Police Boss Orders to “pledge their allegiance to him.” Bribery Case Completion”—indicates On 25 November, however, Parlia- 474 the contemporary pacific • 28:2 (2016) ment voted for suspension of sixteen tee engaged to investigate the project mps on the basis that the Leadership had concluded “did not favor the Code specifically states that “a leader government, the people and Vanuatu must not accept a loan (other than on but ‘only foreigners and it could cause commercial terms from a recognized a catastrophe’” (Van Trease 2015, lending institution) and only if the 546–547, 554–556). Natuman cau- leader satisfies the lending institution’s tioned that “there were people around usual business criteria” (Leadership trying to get the Opposition to return Code Act [Cap 240], part 3—Breaches to government to reopen the agree- of Leadership, section 21). ment” (vdp, 5 Dec 2014). Whether The sixteen mps left Parliament and or not there was a link between the remained absent for the rest of the airport project and the alleged bribing session. Carcasses, however, turned to of mps remains to be seen, as the whole the Supreme Court for redress, argu- incident has yet to be fully inves- ing that “only the court has the right tigated—in particular, the original to punish anyone and not parliament” source of the vt35 million. (vdp, 26 Nov 2014). The court ruled The Public Prosecutor’s Office in favor of the sixteen mps, stating began preparing a case against those that the motion “to suspend the Peti- alleged to have been involved in the tioners from Parliament amounts to bribery, which it was expected to breaches of their Constitutional rights ­present in court around mid-March and is therefore invalid, void and of 2015. The investigations were dis- no effect” (vusc 2014). The accused rupted, however, due to the devas- mps were, therefore, reinstated. The tation inflicted on the country on Speaker, however, called for a judicial the night of 13–14 March by Super review, arguing that the court’s deci- Tropical Cyclone Pam—a category 5 sion had “intruded” in the affairs of hurricane. Maximum sustained winds Parliament—that it “interfered with reached 270 kilometers/hour (167 the separation of powers between the mph) in the capitol of Vila—mak- and the judiciary under the ing Pam one of the worst hurricanes in constitution of the country . . . [and] Vanuatu’s recorded history. The storm that the Parliament had a duty to act passed down the eastern side of the to protect its integrity by deciding to Vanuatu chain, veering westward as it discipline those members concerned” neared the central Shepherd group and (vdp, 4 Dec 2014). the main island of Efate, where Port Realizing they did not have the Vila is located, and continuing in a numbers to proceed, the Opposition southwestward direction, passing over allowed the motion of no confidence the islands of Erromango and Tanna. to lapse. Nevertheless, Prime Minister The islands directly affected by the Natuman responded to the accusa- hurricane suffered immense devasta- tions that had been leveled against him tion. Homes and government facili- as part of the motion. In particular, ties, such as schools and hospitals, he focused on the airport concession were destroyed or severely damaged. agreement signed by the Carcasses-led Most significant was the loss of food government, which an ad hoc commit- gardens and water supplies for those political reviews • melanesia 475 people on the outer islands affected distribution to the outer islands. by the cyclone. Compounding the The United Nations and most of the problem has been the onset of an El major international nongovernmental Niño weather pattern over the western organizations offered assistance and Pacific, which brought severe drought many sent representatives to oversee to Vanuatu. Replanting of gardens its distribution and work with local began everywhere after the storm, communities. but limited rain meant very slow and The Vanuatu National Disaster limited growth. Management Office was up and itself survived somewhat running from day one and put in a better, though most small corrugated- ­tremendous effort to deal with the iron houses lost their roofs or col- ­crisis. It was soon clear, however, that lapsed completely. Electricity was the biggest problem was not in attract- knocked out, with estimates of vt200 ing enough aid, but managing its dis- million in damages and restoration tribution (vdp, 20–24 March 2015). costs (vdp, 27 March 2015), but was Rumors circulated around Port Vila of restored throughout the urban area heated discussions between the direc- within a month. A representative of tor, who was determined to insure that the International Labor Organization Vanuatu officials and organizations present in Port Vila estimated that should maintain oversight and control Pam caused vt48.5 billion in eco- over the dispatching of relief supplies, nomic loss to the country (vdp, 5 June and representatives of some aid orga- 2015). nizations. Recovery around Port Vila was The Opposition picked up on this quicker due to the close proximity issue when it finally broke its silence of building supplies and transporta- two weeks after the hurricane, Car- tion links through which aid from the casses accusing the disaster manage- outside arrived. Eleven people lost ment office of lacking transparency their lives—but the number could have and not providing “guarantees that been far greater if not for the early any shipment will be received by [the warnings provided by the Vanuatu institution or organization] to whom Meteorological Service and aware- it is being consigned” (vdp, 28 March ness among the country’s population 2015)—the implication being that of what to expect and how to protect certain groups were being favored themselves when a hurricane strikes for political advantage. The response (vdp, 19 March 2015). from Prime Minister Natuman was Countries from around the world that members of the Opposition were offered their assistance with Vanuatu’s merely trying to “capitalize on a situ- traditional aid donors—Australia, ation and exploit the people’s misery France, and New Zealand—provid- and suffering for their own political ing immediate donations of food and gains” (vdp, 30 March 2015). materials for reconstruction. All three For the most part, however, politics committed their military air, sea, and remained quiet following Cyclone ground forces to transport supplies Pam until early May, when it was into the country and to assist in its announced that Prime Minister Natu- 476 the contemporary pacific • 28:2 (2016) man had decided to reshuffle his cabi- the charges out of hand, only the basis net, replacing the existing minister of on which they had been made. youth and sport, Don Ken (National While Opposition mps may have United Party member for Malakula), felt a sense of relief, their problems with John Lum ( member were far from over, as the police were for Santo). It was said that Nagriamel still investigating the bribery charges. had requested the move and the prime This, most likely, explains the decision minister declared that it was only fit- of Carcasses to again lodge a vote of ting that the two parties—Nagriamel no confidence against the government, and Vanua‘aku Pati—should be work- which coincided with the termina- ing together, as they both had been tion of two additional ministers in prominent in the struggle for indepen- the Natuman-led government—Sato dence (vdp, 6 May, 8 May 2015). That Kilman (foreign affairs) and Alfred they had been on opposite sides of the Carlot (justice)—who were replaced rebellion seems to have been forgotten by two members from the Opposi- and reflects possible changing political tion—Kalvao Moli and Hosea Nevu. alliances. Natuman explained to the press that A few days later, the “elephant the main reason for Kilman’s removal in the room” suddenly made itself was that he had misrepresented the known again. After more than five collective position of the government months—on 8 May—the Court of on a recent visit to Indonesia with Appeal handed down its decision on regard to West Papua, when he sug- the case, which Speaker Boedoro had gested that Vanuatu was preparing to lodged against the decision of the open an embassy in Jakarta. Vanuatu Supreme Court to reverse the action of governments on both sides of the Parliament on 25 November 2014 to political divide had long supported the suspend the sixteen mps (see above). West Papuan struggle and had taken a The presiding judges ruled in favor of strong stand recently in favor of West the mps, concluding that the decision Papua membership in the Melanesian to suspend them infringed their consti- Spearhead Group. Kilman’s comment tutional rights and was “invalid, void appeared to be sending the wrong of no effect” since no criminal offense signal. had been proved (vdp, 11 May 2015). Likewise, Natuman related how The judges went on to say, however, Kilman, on a recent visit to Russia, that they accepted “that Parliament is had made contact with a so-called legitimately concerned about con- foreign minister of Abkhazia, when duct of members outside Parliament the firm position of the Vanuatu gov- where their conduct might damage ernment was that Abkhazia is a part the integrity of Parliament” and that of Georgia with whom the govern- if allegations of misconduct have been ment has bilateral relations (vdp, 5 established and the facts proved, “Par- June, 10 June 2015). It would seem liament is then free to act as it thinks that Kilman continued to maintain appropriate on the facts established by links with representatives of Abkhazia the courts” (vuca 2015a). The Court dating back to late 2011, when he of Appeal, in effect, did not dismiss was prime minister and authorized political reviews • melanesia 477 recognition of the breakaway prov- not in order and closed Parliament ince involving questionable payments (vdp, 17 June 2015). of money to Thi Tam Goiset, who In response, the new Natuman-led had been appointed Vanuatu’s roving Opposition filed an urgent constitu- ambassador to Russia and other east- tional application with the Supreme ern European countries (Van Trease Court, seeking a declaration from the 2014, 529). Court that Speaker Pipite’s closing of The reasons given for the no-con- the first ordinary session of Parliament fidence motion included removal of on the 16th was unconstitutional. The the Opposition mps from Parliament, grounds given in the application were which was claimed to be unconsti- that the original motion of no confi- tutional; unfair distribution of funds dence against Kilman had been ruled and supplies relating to Cyclone in order and, therefore, could not be Pam; alleged misuse of funds relat- ignored—that is, that the decision to ing to the visa scheme operating in adjourn Parliament without allowing China; and claims that the prime the motion to be debated had denied minister was leading the country in the applicants their constitutional the wrong direction with regard to rights (vusc 2015b). Subsequently, economic development. Subsequently, the Supreme Court upheld the Oppo- the two dismissed ministers, along sition application and declared that with several of their supporters in the Parliament was still open and that the government, moved to the Opposi- decision by Pipite to close Parliament tion when the first ordinary session was unlawful and in breach of the of Parliament convened the next day, constitutional rights of the applicants providing the majority necessary to (vdp, 18, 19, and 25 June 2015). topple the Natuman government. Pipite countered with an appeal , president of the People’s against the decision (vdp, 29 June Progressive Party, became the new 2015), and a stay order was issued, prime minister, with Moana Carcasses extending the date for reconvening (Greens) as deputy (vdp, 6, 8, 9, and Parliament to 2 July (vdp, 30 June 12 June 2015). 2015). When Parliament met, the In response, less than twenty-four Opposition withdrew its motion for hours after losing the government, the lack of numbers needed to topple new Opposition tabled a motion of no the Kilman government (vdp, 3 July confidence against the Kilman-led gov- 2015). Some three weeks later, the ernment, which the existing Speaker, Court of Appeal handed down its , ruled in order. When judgment relating to Pipite’s appeal, Parliament met again on 16 June, ruling in favor of the Speaker (vuca the new government voted to replace 2015b). The argument given was that Boedoro with Marcellino Pipite from Speaker Boedoro did not comply with the —one Article 43 (2) of the Vanuatu Constitu- of the sixteen mps under investigation tion by listing the motion of no con- for bribery. Having taken over the fidence for debate on 18 June 2015, Speaker’s position, Pipite then ruled less than a week after he received it. that the motion of no confidence was According to the constitution, “At 478 the contemporary pacific • 28:2 (2016) least 1 week’s notice of such a motion Code Act against eighteen members shall be given to the Speaker.” Pipite’s of Parliament, of whom seven were response was to demand an apology ministers of state. Those charged from Boedoro during the next sitting included the deputy prime minister, of Parliament (vdp, 28 July 2015). (Port Vila, The bribery case itself was Green), who was alleged to have adjourned by the Magistrate Court corruptly offered loans of up to vt1 to 23 June, due to the ongoing First million to individual mps. Other min- Session of Parliament (vdp, 13 June isters alleged to have offered or taken 2015) and again to 14 July (vdp, bribes included Iauko Group members 24 June 2015), due to delays in the Thomas Laken (Tanna), Tony Nari preparation of necessary documents. (Pentecost), and Hosea Nevu (Santo). Meanwhile, the prosecution made an Two members of the Reunification application to prevent the defendants Movement for Change included Paul from interfering in the work of police Telukluk (Malakula) and Stephen investigators—that they be prohibited Kalsakau (Efate). Willie Jimmy (Port from “interfering ‘directly’ and ‘indi- Vila) was a member of the Vanuatu rectly’ with prosecution witnesses” Liberal Democratic Party, and Serge (vdp, 24 June 2015). Vohor (Santo) was a member of the Just at this complicated juncture, Union of Moderate Parties (ump). the nation was shocked to learn of Members of Parliament also listed the sudden death of one of its senior included ump members Silas Ratan politicians, the leader of the Opposi- (Tanna) and Tony Wright (Port Vila); tion, the Honorable Edward Nipake Kalvau Moli (Luganville, Indepen- Natapei, who passed away at the age dent); John Amos (Tongoa, People’s of sixty-one due to a sudden illness. Progressive Party); Green members Natapei was from the island of Futuna Arnold Prasad (Santo) and Jean Yves in the southern islands and began his Chabot (Port Vila); Sebastien Harry political career in 1983, representing (Tanna, Iauko Group); Marcellino the Vanua‘aku Pati as the constitu- Pipite (Santo, ­Vanuatu Republican ency’s elected member of Parliament. Party); Jonas James (Paama, Natatok); In 1988, he was asked by the party and Robert Bohn (Epi), member of to move to the Port Vila constituency, the Vanuatu Progressive Development where he was elected and served a Party. In addition, longtime business- total of eight terms. During his time in man Thomas Bayer—the nineteenth Parliament he had held the position of individual in the case—was charged prime minister three times, Speaker of with alleged complicity in bribery Parliament and, since 1999, president and corruption under the Penal Code of the Vanua‘aku Pati (vdp, 29 July Act (vdp, 7 Aug 2015). The accused 2015). were placed on bail pending their plea On 7 August, a preliminary court appearance the following week. hearing finally took place during When Supreme Court Justice Mary which the acting public prosecutor, Sey announced the start of the trial— John Timakata, brought charges under scheduled to last for two weeks, begin- the Leadership Code Act and Penal ning on 2 September—she noted that political reviews • melanesia 479 the number of defendants had been They described the scene in which reduced from 18 to 16 due to the deci- ministers and mps arrived in their sion of the Public Prosecutor to grant black cars, flying national flags, to immunity to two of the charged who face charges against them of bribery had agreed to provide evidence—mps and corruption, “as a mockery of the Kalvau Moli and Hosea Nevu, both lowest grade and detestable in the from Santo. Two additional mps, who eyes of the law. Such is unheard of had not been charged, were also given anywhere in the world.” As one of the immunity. defendants, Deputy Prime Minister When the Court convened, the min- Moana Carcasses, dismissed a plea ister of finance, Willie Jimmy, pleaded from the Opposition for Prime Minis- guilty to the two charges laid against ter Kilman to reshuffle his cabinet and him: one count of corruption and remove all those involved in the case, bribery of officials contrary to section labeling the charges against him and 73 of the Penal Code (Cap 135) and his colleagues as “politically moti- one count of acceptance of loans con- vated” (vdp, 5 Sept 2015). trary to section 21 of the Leadership The trial, which lasted for two Code Act (Cap 240). He had provided weeks, was presided over by Supreme a written statement to police prior to Court Justice Mary Sey, who is from the convening of the trial (vdp, 3 Sept Gambia and had been seconded by 2015). the Commonwealth Secretariat to All sixteen remaining defendants, Vanuatu in September 2014 from the who were divided into two groups— High Court in Swaziland. On the first the “givers and receivers” of the day of the trial, Judge Sey began by alleged bribes—pleaded not guilty formalizing the conviction of Finance to the charges. Tom Bayer, the only Minister Willie Jimmy. She announced non-mp, was charged with one count to him that he was convicted on his of complicity to bribery contrary to own guilty plea and, since he had done section 21 of the Leadership Code Act this at his earliest opportunity, she and one count of complicity to corrup- was mandated to give him a “substan- tion and bribery contrary to section tial reduction in whatever sentence 73 of the Penal Code Act. The court is meted out to you. You have not granted permission to separate his trial wasted the Court’s time and you have from that of the others, which would shown remorse” (vdp, 8 Sept 2015). be dealt with following the ­conclusion The prosecution presented twenty- of the main trial (vdp, 3 Sept 2015). four witnesses, including a Westpac Opposition leaders Joe Natuman Bank representative who testified to and Ham Lini spoke out strongly an inward transaction of us$500,000 against the unfolding situation. They from China Construction Bank pleaded in a news conference for Corporation Limited in Hong Kong Prime Minister Kilman to cease his via banks in the Netherlands and the overseas travel and attend to the con- United States to the account of the stitutional crisis facing the nation—the Pacific International Trust Co Ltd undermining of the “integrity of the (pitco), owned and operated by Tom institutions and the offices we hold.” Bayer. It was further revealed that 480 the contemporary pacific • 28:2 (2016)

Bayer authorized conversion of the the loan agreement had nothing to do money into Vatu (vt48.9 million) with the motion of no confidence.” of which “vt35 million was paid Moreover, he stated that, as an Oppo- through a check by the pitco Vatu sition mp, “it was his duty to sign any trust account to Moana Carcasses motion against the government” (vdp, on 28 October 2014.” The Westpac 16 Sept 2015). In addition, the various representative confirmed the trans- defense councils presented submissions fer of vt1 million to the accounts of to the court on behalf of their clients two of the accused mps, and an anz that there was “no case to answer” Bank representative confirmed—the and that the “evidences are irrelevant result of a search warrant the bank to their clients.” Judge Sey rejected the had received—that large sums were submissions, ruling that “the accused also transferred to the accounts of the persons have a case to answer” (vdp, other twelve mps charged (vdp, 9 Sept 17 Sept 2015). 2015). As part of her ruling, Sey explained The prosecution’s case then focused that the accused were entitled to on the purpose of the money transfers defend themselves by calling witnesses and the conditions under which the or to give evidence themselves, or they loan agreements were signed. ­Kalvao could choose to remain silent. All of Moli—one of four mps who had the fifteen accused facing criminal been granted immunity for providing charges had pleaded not guilty, but information—provided key evidence. at this point only Robert Bohn, mp He testified that Moana Carcasses, for Epi, decided to speak in his own then leader of the Opposition, had defense. He explained his understand- “made known to him of a loan scheme ing of the loans as being provided that mps could borrow from . . . but to a select group of mps to use “for Moana said he is offering vt1 million good works and development in the as the loan on the condition that he is constituencies of Vanuatu and it is made Prime Minister” (vdp, 10 Sept the people that would benefit from 2015). The prosecution also called a these good works.” He stated that number of mps to testify, who claimed the agreement was verbal between to have turned down the offer of him and mp Carcasses, without any money in return for a signature on a conditions. Moreover, he noted that motion of no confidence against the he had known Carcasses for “25 Natuman government (vdp, 11, 12, years, as a friend, a business associate, 14, and 15 Sept 2015). and more recently, as a colleague in The defense case was short and Parliament”—the implication being, tried to establish that the money was that such a loan would not have been intended as a loan to mps to use in unusual or improper (vdp, 18 Sept their constituencies. mp Hosea Nevu— 2015). another mp who had been granted Judge Sey handed down her verdict immunity—testified that the agree- on the 9th of October (vdp, 10 Oct ment was “between myself and the 2015). The Court found Carcasses Green Confederation Development guilty of eighteen counts of offering a Fund . . . [and] to my understanding, bribe; thirteen of the defendants guilty political reviews • melanesia 481 of accepting a bribe in breach of 73 vision in the constitution that states: (1) and (2) of the Penal Code; and “The President of the Republic may one of the defendants, Robert Bohn, pardon, commute or reduce a sentence not guilty (vusc 2015e). Following imposed on a person” (chapter 6, his conviction, Deputy Prime Minister ­section 38). Carcasses announced that he respected Citing political disturbances that the verdict and appealed for calm. had occurred in the past in Solomon It is significant to note that on the Islands and Papua New Guinea, Pipite day prior to the handing down of the explained in a press conference that verdict, Supreme Court Justice Daniel “as leader, symbol of peace and unity, Fatiaki ruled that the ombudsman had I do not want to see a similar situ- not made a proper inquiry and report ation happening in Vanuatu.” It is into the conduct of the members of significant to note that everything was Parliament who had been convicted peaceful and calm in Port Vila. Pipite’s of bribery under the Leadership Code, announcement was clearly uncalled nor had he given them the “opportu- for and could have had precisely the nity to reply to the complaints made opposite effect, undermining order against them” (vusc 2015a). As a and stability. The mood in Vanuatu result, Judge Sey decided that the was one of shock, but there were no charges of breaches of the Leader- public disturbances. In any case, given ship Code would be set aside and the the fact that none of the convicted defendants would only be tried for mps had been sentenced, it is doubtful breaches of the Penal Code Act (vusc whether a pardon was legally possible 2015e). at that point (vdp, 12 Oct 2015). Then, unbelievably, the people of mp Pipite also used his new posi- Vanuatu were shocked to learn the tion of power to suspend the ombuds- ­following day, 10 October 2015, that man, Kalkot Mataskelekele. Claim- the Speaker and acting president, ing gross misconduct, Pipite’s action mp Marcellino Pipite, had signed an ­followed the ruling by Judge Fatiaki instrument of pardon for himself and (as noted above) against the ombuds- thirteen other mps (including Car- man regarding his alleged failure to casses), who had been convicted of conduct an adequate inquiry or pro- bribery the previous day. The docu- duce a proper report as required under ment was gazetted by the State Law the Leadership Code. The ombudsman Office on Sunday, 11 October 2015. responded by requesting the State Law Willie Jimmy, who had pleaded guilty, Office to appeal the judgment (vdp, was not included. Pipite, as Speaker 9 Oct, 13 Oct 2015). The issue of the of Parliament, had assumed the posi- alleged violation of the Leadership tion of acting president during the Code was especially important to the absence of President convicted mps due to the provision from the country, as provided for in therein that would bar a leader from the Vanuatu Constitution (chapter 6, holding office for ten years if con- section 37[1]). As such, he took the victed of a criminal act. action to pardon himself and his fel- On his return to Vanuatu, President low convicted mps, based on the pro- Lonsdale expressed his deep ­sorrow 482 the contemporary pacific • 28:2 (2016) for what had been affecting the an attempt by the Speaker and other country, noting that “the important convicted persons to “stop Crimi- institutions of the country continue nal Case no. 73 (Bribery case) from to deteriorate and operate outside the proceeding towards its end, when Constitution . . . no one is above the sentences would be handed down on law . . . it is my duty to remind every 22 October.” The Court ruled that the citizen that the Constitution is the pardon by convicted mp and Speaker Supreme Law, and everything that we of Parliament, Marcellino Pipite, was do in this country must be guided by void and of no effect (vusc 2015c; it” (vdp, 13 Oct 2015). On 15 Octo- vdp, 21 Oct, 22 Oct 2015). ber 2015, the president revoked the Needless to say, the Opposition pardons. welcomed the convictions, proclaim- The following day, Speaker ­Pipite ing that “convicts have no place in and ten other convicted mps and their public affairs,” and called for the four lawyers—the group who met Kilman government, which still held and conspired to have themselves power despite the conviction and pardoned—were arrested and charged imprisonment of fourteen of its mem- without bail on suspicion of “con- bers, to step aside for the good of the spiracy to defeat the course of justice.” country. “The prime minister’s con- Prime Minister Sato Kilman, who tinued silence in the face of calamity had finally returned from overseas brought about by the El Niño-induced travel, removed mps Paul Tulukluk, drought and the nation’s brush with Tony Nari, Tony Wright, and Thomas anarchy, demonstrates his incapabil- Laken from their ministerial portfolios ity in running national affairs any (vdp, 17 Oct 2015). Willie Jimmy con- longer” (vdp, 12 Oct, 14 Oct 2015). tinued on for the moment as minister The problem they faced, however, was of finance. All those arrested were that Kilman refused to move aside and released several days later on strict simply juggled the portfolios of the bail conditions. discredited members of his parliamen- Both the Opposition bloc and tary majority. The Opposition finally the convicted mps launched judi- lodged a motion of no confidence, but cial reviews, which were joined and it was declared out of order when it dealt with together by the Supreme failed to secure the required twenty- Court. In his judgment, Justice Oliver seven signatures needed to call a spe- Saksak made the point that the case cial session of Parliament (vdp, 20 Oct was incomplete, as sentences had yet 2015). When Parliament is in session, to be delivered, and noted that “a only seven signatures (one-seventh of pardon granted under Article 38 of the the fifty-two members) is required on Constitution does not acquit a person a motion. of a conviction, but redeems a person Sentencing of the convicted mps from a sentence.” He surmised that finally took place on 22 October the haste with which the pardon docu- 2015. Carcasses was sentenced to four ment was drawn up—signed, sealed, years in prison, Toni Nari to three and published in the Official Gazette and a half years, and the remainder over a single weekend—could indicate to three years each. They were imme- political reviews • melanesia 483 diately incarcerated and remained in his free will and not due to pressure” prison for the rest of the year. Willie and sent them a letter explaining that Jimmy, who had pleaded guilty, was the legal appeals process must first sentenced to twenty months’ imprison- be completed before any reconcilia- ment, suspended during good behavior tion ceremonies could take place. The (vusc 2015f). The Court of Appeal chiefs never met with the president rejected the appeals by the defendants, and returned home (vdp, 2, 3, 4, and upholding both the convictions and 6 Nov 2015). the sentences in their entirety (vuca Contributing to the political 2015c; vdp, 20 Nov 2015). stalemate was the fact that, although In early November, prior to the the fourteen convicted mps had been appeal ruling and with the fourteen removed to jail after sentencing on mps in jail, a delegation of chiefs from 22 October 2015, they were still not Sanma, Malampa, Penama, Shefa, and required to vacate their seats in Parlia- Tafea provinces suddenly appeared ment. They were counted as part of in Port Vila, announcing that they the sitting Kilman government and had come to perform a “customary continued to receive their salaries. reconciliation” ceremony using high- Under the Members of Parliament value custom pigs known as ravwe (Vacation of Seats) Act, an mp con- and traditional mats, which they had victed of a crime is allowed thirty brought with them. The rumor around days to appeal before being obliged to Port Vila was that the trip and attempt relinquish his or her seat. They would, at intervention had been organized therefore, continue to hold their seats by the brother of one of the convicted at least until 21 November, when the mps and paid for by the Board of thirty-day window lapsed, depending Directors of the Northern Islands on the outcome of their appeals. The Stevedoring Company Ltd (niscol). same applied to mp Willie Jimmy, who They apparently hoped to influence was free on good behavior. As a result, the president to grant pardons to the following the convictions, Prime convicted mps. Minister Kilman continued to hold The delegation asked Chief Seni- onto power, commanding a majority mao Tirsupe, the president of the of 28 out of a total of 52 mps, which Malvatumauri Council of Chiefs, to included the 15 convicted mps. Parlia- facilitate a meeting with President ment was not in session, so the fact Lonsdale as the head of state. Echo- that they could not take their seats ing the feeling of many leaders, Chief made no difference for the moment. Tirsupe received them respectfully Attempts by the Opposition during but resisted their move to become this period to persuade Kilman to involved, noting that “there is a time hand over power or form a govern- for everything and as such things must ment of national unity failed. Indeed, happen at their appropriate time.” Kilman was successful in winning over Likewise, the leader of the Opposi- two Opposition bloc members, Don tion, Joe Natuman, cautioned the Ken and Isaac Hamariliu, by offering chiefs that “the Head of State must be them ministerial portfolios (vdp, 24 allowed to make his decision based on Oct, 28 Oct 2015). After 21 Novem- 484 the contemporary pacific • 28:2 (2016) ber, when their appeals were dismissed to request a dissolution, the president and the 15 convicted mps officially did not act. His position was that vacated their seats, Parliament’s num- there was still time for the parties to ber was reduced to 37, made up of 13 reach an agreement and dissolution government mps and 24 Opposition, would be a “last resort” (Vanuatu who then commanded the majority. Daily Digest, 26 Oct 2015). It would Nevertheless, the political stale- seem that the president preferred to mate continued, as Kilman refused to wait until the appeals of the fifteen authorize the recall of Parliament for convicted mps had been heard. If the the constitutionally mandated Second appeals were upheld, the mps would Ordinary Session. The first session resume their posts and a dissolution had taken place in May/June, but a would not be necessary (Vanuatu second session had never been con- Daily Digest, 31 Oct 2015). vened. Kilman clearly had no intention On 20 November, the day on which of summoning Parliament, since the the Court of Appeal announced that Opposition with their new majority the appeals of the fifteen convicted would easily have defeated his minor- mps had been rejected, the Opposi- ity government in a vote of no confi- tion filed an urgent constitutional dence. Moreover, it should be noted application with the Supreme Court that the failure of Parliament to meet to order the Speaker to call the Second deprived Kenneth Natapei (Vanua‘aku Ordinary Session of Parliament for Pati)—who had recently won a by- 2015 (vdp, 20 Nov 2015). However, election to replace his father in one of before the Court had met, Acting the Port Vila seats—the opportunity to Speaker Samson Samsen announced be sworn into office (see above). This that Parliament had been scheduled to would have added another member to meet on 14 December (vdp, 23 Nov Opposition numbers and was an issue 2015). It came as a surprise, therefore, that they would include in a subse- when the president announced the quent court challenge of the presi- next day that he had dissolved Parlia- dent’s decision to dissolve Parliament ment—especially since a resolution to (vusc 2015d). the political impasse was at hand with The other option was a dissolution the announcement of a date for the of Parliament, which Kilman actually Second Parliamentary Session. favored and the Opposition opposed. The president gave as his reasons Delegations from both the government the need to reestablish a strong func- and the Opposition had met with the tioning government due to the delay in president at the end of October and dealing with the aftermath of Cyclone discussed the situation. It was reported Pam and a decline in service delivery. over Radio Vanuatu that Kilman had Likewise, he pointed to the unneces- asked President Lonsdale to dissolve sary costs of holding by-elections for Parliament—a power vested in the the fifteen convicted mps (the fourteen president alone—in response to a imprisoned plus Willie Jimmy), given request from the Council of Ministers. the fact that the national election Despite the fact that on 16 October was not scheduled to be held until the Council of Ministers had agreed late 2016. He mentioned that he was political reviews • melanesia 485 aware of the decision to recall Parlia- political circumstances: “It is too ment but decided as he did due to the early to consider such, as it will make long period of unstable government a mockery of the justice systems in that had occurred and for “the welfare Vanuatu” (vdp, 27 Nov 2015). of the public of Vanuatu” (vdp, 25 The main issue for the Opposition Nov 2015). regarding a dissolution was that it The following day, the Opposi- would leave Kilman and his ministers tion filed a case against the decision in power as a caretaker government of the president, requesting that it be to continue what they viewed as declared null and void (vdp, 26 Nov ­corrupt practices. For example, there 2015). The submission questioned were rumors that the new minister of the delay between the request by the lands, , was intending Council of Ministers for a dissolution to ­intervene in a case against Lands and the decision of the president— Department staff who were issued over five weeks—at a time when the state land leases by the former minis- prime minister was running a minor- ter of lands, Steven Kalsakau, without ity government. It also questioned the tendering for land and assets valued issue of the composition of the council greater than vt15 million (vdp, 16 on the day the decision was made, “as July, 17 July 2015). only ten (10) members attended the While awaiting the court decision meeting instead of all the Ministers on the challenge to the president’s [13 . . . and] that five of the ministers decision to dissolve Parliament, the who attended the meeting were con- Electoral Commission went ahead victed in the bribery case [and] were and announced that a “snap” elec- yet to be sentenced” (vusc 2015d). tion would be held on 22 January The possibility of bias and conflict 2016 (vdp, 4 Dec 2015). The Elec- of interest was also raised, noting that toral Commission moved quickly, as the president had accepted a custom the constitution (paragraph 28 [4]) ceremony from the prime minister requires that an election must take involving an exchange of a pig and place not earlier than thirty days and he giving one in return, leading to the not later than sixty days following the suspicion that the government was dissolution of Parliament. receiving special treatment. Council Another unexpected development for the president argued that under occurred at this time, concerning the the Vanuatu Constitution (paragraph application of the Leadership Code 28 [3]), the president has unfettered in relation to the Penal Code Act. As authority to make such a decision. The noted above, the Leadership Code Supreme Court agreed and dismissed stipulates that a conviction under the the case (vusc 2015d). Penal Code Act is automatically a The decision to dissolve Parliament breach of the Leadership Code and coincided with rumors circulating that makes the individual concerned liable the president was about to pardon to dismissal from office and disquali- the jailed mps, which his office firmly fied from appointment to public office denied, noting the legal process that for a period of ten years. The interpre- would be required and the current tation of the link between the Leader- 486 the contemporary pacific • 28:2 (2016) ship Code and the Penal Code was defendants were “ordered . . . to repay what led to the dismissal of charges them forthwith” (vusc 2015g; vdp, 8 of bribery and the suspension of mps Dec 2015). Thus, after a tangled series in December 2014—that is, that the of judicial procedures, the fate of the defendants had not been found guilty accused mps had been resolved—at of bribery before being suspended least for the moment—though the from Parliament. issue of reduced sentences or pardons Judge Sey had been careful to would continue to be discussed. charge the accused mps under the There was, however, unfinished Penal Code, leaving the issue of business relating to the bribery case breaches under the Leadership Code that would have to wait until the to be dealt with later. This followed following year: Quite significant was a ruling by Judge Fatiaki on 9 Octo- the “conspiracy to pervert the course ber—the day before Judge Sey handed of justice” case involving ten of the down her judgments for the fifteen convicted members of Parliament who mps (as noted above)—that there had had conspired with their four lawyers been a breach of the Ombudsman’s for Marcellino Pipite, as acting presi- Act related to the production of an dent, to issue a pardon for all the con- official report by the ombudsman. victed mps including himself—exclud- Subsequently, however, the Court of ing mp Willie Jimmy, who had pleaded Appeal ruled that Judge Fatiaki’s judg- guilty. Yet to be heard was the “com- ment was “not binding on Judge Sey” plicity to bribery” case related to the and that she “should have proceeded source of the large amounts of money to determine the Leadership Code Act loaned by Carcasses to members of charges despite the decision of Justice Parliament, the source of which was Fatiaki” (vdp, 4 Dec 2015). traced to pitco and its manager, local As a result of this clarification, businessman and financier Thomas the newly appointed public prosecu- Bayer (Paterson 2015). tor, Josiah Naigulevu, applied to the Also on the immediate agenda for Supreme Court for a ruling in view of 2016 was the national election, sched- the convictions handed down under uled for 22 January. By mid-December, the Penal Code. Judge David Chet- prospective candidates were lodging wynd ruled that he was “satisfied their documents with Electoral Office beyond any doubt that the breaches officials and unofficially beginning to were and are serious” and confirmed campaign. There were rumors that the orders “dismissing all the Defendants fourteen jailed former mps were trying from office and disqualifying them to manipulate their followers from from standing for election or being inside, and several were said to be appointed as a leader of any kind for planning to run—expecting most likely a period of 10 years.” He also ruled a miracle or Christmas gift in the form that the defendants were not entitled of a pardon, which the ­president had to “payments or allowances” since made clear was not going to happen their dismissal and that disbursements anytime soon (vdp, 22 Dec 1015). that may have been paid prematurely The political chaos that began in should be recovered—that is, the late 2014 and continued to unfold political reviews • melanesia 487 in 2015 was unprecedented in the References short history of Vanuatu, and yet life remained remarkably peaceful Constitution of the Republic of Vanuatu. Available from Pacific Islands Legal Infor- throughout. For example, follow- mation Institute: http://www.paclii.org. ing the death of senior politician , a by-election was Leadership Code Act. 2006. Vanuatu held in mid-October 2015 for his Port Consolidated Legislation. Available from Vila constituency, which coincided Pacific Islands Legal Information Institute: http://www.paclii.org. with the announcement of the guilty verdicts and Pipite’s illegal pardoning Paterson, Donald. 2015. Comment: of convicted mps. The turnout was Chronicle of the Months of Political and low, which is not unusual for Port Constitutional Crisis in Vanuatu, 2014, . Journal of South Pacific Law Vila—around 10,236 out of 38,324 2015 ( ). School of Law, University of the registered voters cast their ballots— 2015 2 South Pacific, Emalus Campus, Port Vila, but the poll took place peacefully, as is Vanuatu (in print). the normal practice. Kenneth Natapei, representing the Vanua‘aku Pati, was Penal Code. 2006. Vanuatu Consolidated elected with 4,281 votes to replace his Legislation. Available from Pacific Islands Legal Information Institute: http://www father, and the election results were .paclii.org. announced on the day that the gov- ernment mps and their lawyers were Van Trease, Howard. 2014. Melanesia arrested following the cancellation of in Review: Issues and Events 2013: the illegal pardons. The elections of Vanuatu. The Contemporary Pacific the Luganville Municipal Council and 26:524–552. the Sanma Provincial Government also ______. 2015. Melanesia in Review: took place during 2015 without issues Issues and Events 2014: Vanuatu. or problems. The Contemporary Pacific 27:544–556. Vanuatu gained its independence Vanuatu Daily Digest. News blog. a mere thirty-six years ago, accom- vanuatudaily.wordpress.com/Category/ panied by a rebellion that involved the-news-digested/ violence and divided the population. It vdp, Vanuatu Daily Post. Newspaper. is, perhaps, the remembrance of that Port Vila. painful experience—and a desire that it should never be allowed to hap- vuca, Court of Appeal of Vanuatu. Available from Pacific Islands Legal Infor- pen again—that has led the people of mation Institute: http://www.paclii.org. Vanuatu over the years to develop a confidence in the work of the judiciary ______. 2015a. Civil Appeal Case 01 of and the rule of law. This was clearly 2015 (8 May): Boedoro v Carcasses [ ] . evident during 2015, when unprec- 2015 vuca 2 edented challenges to Vanuatu’s insti- ______. 2015b. Civil Appeal Case 21 of tutions of government were overcome 2015 (23 July): Speaker of Parliament v through the patient work of the court Natapei [2015] vuca 31. system—achieved without any public ______. 2015c. Criminal Appeal Case 12 violence or social unrest. of 2015 (20 Nov): Kalosil v Public Pros- ecutor [ ] . howard van trease 2015 vuca 43 488 the contemporary pacific • 28:2 (2016) vusc, Supreme Court of the Republic ______. 2015d. Constitutional Case 822 of Vanuatu. Available from Pacific of 2015 (16 Dec): Vanuaroroa v President Islands Legal Information Institute: of the Republic of Vanuatu [2015] vusc http://www.paclii.org 175. ______. 2014. Constitutional Case 10 of ______. 2015e. Criminal Case 73 of 2015 2014 (2 Dec): Carcasses v Boedoro [2014] (9 Oct): Public Prosecutor v Kalosil— vusc 155. Judgment as to verdict [2015] vusc 135. ______. 2015a. Constitutional Applica- ______. 2015f. Criminal Case 73 of 2015 tion 05 of 2015 (8 Oct): Nari v Republic (22 Oct): Public Prosecutor v Kalosil— of Vanuatu [2015] vusc 132. Sentence [2015] vusc 149. ______. 2015b. Constitutional Case 02 ______. 2015g. Criminal Case 762 of of 2015 (24 June): Natapei v Speaker of 2015 (7 Dec): Public Prosecutor v Kalosil Parliament [2015] vusc 92. [2015] vusc 173. ______. 2015c. Constitutional Cases 6 and 7 (21 Oct): Natuman v President of the Republic of Vanuatu; Vohor v Presi- dent of the Republic of Vanuatu [2015] vusc 148.