Melanesia in Review: Issues and Events, 2008

Reviews of Vanuatu and West Papua “elections alone will not bring about are not included in this issue. democracy nor guarantee stability or end all coups” ( Times, 18 Jan Fiji 2008). His statement set the tone for Fiji’s military-backed government what became the core ncbbf mes- dug in its heels during 2008, defying sage—an insistence on far-reaching pressure to hold elections. At home, electoral reforms to eliminate rac- interim Prime Minister Frank Baini- ism recycled as justifi cation for the marama courted popular backing for regime’s resisting pressure to hold a “People’s Charter” and sought to fresh elections by March 2009. Invita- restructure the tions to join the council were refused (gcc). Externally, relations soured fur- by deposed Prime Minister Qarase’s ther with Australia and New Zealand Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua over the breach of the commitment to (sdl) party and the Methodist hold elections by March 2009, several Church, indicating that the majority death threats directed at Australian of indigenous remained deeply High Commissioner James Batley, and opposed to the interim government’s the expulsion of additional journalists initiatives. Both of the major North and diplomats. The economy fared Indian organizations, the Arya Samaj poorly, despite the recommencement and the Shree Sanatan Dharm Pra- of gold mining at Vatukoula and some tinidhi Sabha, took up seats on the recovery in tourist arrivals. The inner national council. So too did Mahendra circle around Bainimarama tight- Chaudhry’s Fiji Labour Party, which ened after the Fiji Labour Party (flp) had been backed by the vast major- ministers—including party leader ity of Fiji Indians at the elections two Mahendra Chaudhry—left the cabinet. years previously. A small but vocal In October, a panel of three judges minority of Fiji Indians remained sitting on the high court in the Qarase aloof; the National Federation Party v Bainimarama case ruled that post- refused to participate, as did the main 2006 coup presidential decrees were South Indian organization, the Then lawful, thus legitimizing the actions of India Sanmarga Ikya Sangam, and the the interim government. Fiji Muslim League. In response, the In January 2008, the National regime cultivated rival South Indian Council for Building a Better Fiji and Muslim groups (for details, see (ncbbf) held its fi rst meeting. Open- Prasad 2009). ing the proceedings, Catholic Arch- The draft People’s Charter, released Petero Mataca echoed the in August, proposed a set of core position of his co-chair Frank Baini- shared values including sustainable marama by rejecting calls for a speedy democracy, a common national iden- return to the polls on the grounds that tity, enlightened leadership, poverty

337 338 the contemporary pacifi c • 21:2 (2009) reduction, and economic development reduced from 21 to 18. These were (ncbbf 2008a). Most were grand sensible proposals, which had been statements of principle that could have backed by many in pre-coup Fiji. The been embraced, at least rhetorically, by trouble was that they were now to be all of Fiji’s post-independence govern- introduced under the barrel of a gun, ments, and the document was largely with the regime backed by the Repub- silent on concrete steps to be taken. lic of Fiji Military Forces (rfmf) A few proposals stood out. “Main- urged to do so by Father David Arms streaming of indigenous Fijians in a (a Catholic priest) and others associ- modern, progressive Fiji” was to be ated with the Citizens’ Constitutional promoted by adoption of a common Forum (Arms 2008). “As the military name—“Fijian”—for all citizens (in regime [is] more or less acting out- contrast to the more usual everyday side the Constitution,” Father Arms usage of “Fijian” to refer to the indig- proposed, “the ncbbf should take enous community and “Indian” to the opportunity to push through refer to those descended from migrants the electoral reforms and amend the from the Subcontinent). Indigenous Constitution, by taking advantage of Fijians would henceforth be referred the military authority and ignoring the to as “i-Taukei” rather than “Fijian.” legal constitutional requirements for That sparked a familiar debate and making such changes.” The suggestion was predictably condemned by Qarase was condemned as “treasonous” by and the Methodist Church. In the former Leader of the Opposition Mick mid-1990s reformists had encour- Beddoes, who lamented that “men of aged usage of “Indo-Fijian” for those God” were in cahoots with “a mili- of Indian descent and “Fiji Islander” tary Junta, whose actions to date have for all Fiji citizens. But those terms been against the will of the people” never caught on in everyday speech (FijiLive, 6 June 2008). within Fiji, instead becoming confi ned The multiparty cabinet provision largely to polite liberal and schol- in Fiji’s 1997 constitution, entitling all arly discourse. The new terminology parties with over 10 percent of seats to is unlikely to acquire any greater participate in the cabinet, was also to currency. be dropped. These arrangements had The People’s Charter included not worked well during the 1999– proposals for a radical overhaul of 2000 Chaudhry or 2001–2006 Qarase the electoral system. The complex governments. However, after the May preferential system used at the elec- 2006 polls, Qarase had brought nine tions of 1999, 2001, and 2006 was flp members into the cabinet. For the to be dropped and replaced by an fi rst time since independence, both of open-list, proportional-representa- Fiji’s major parties—one representing tion system, as used in Finland and the ethnic Fijians and the other the Fiji Sri Lanka. Communal constituen- Indians—were cooperating together in cies, in which citizens vote separately government. In the rfmf newsletter, according to ethnic origins, were to Bainimarama had applauded “the evo- be replaced by a fully common roll lution of this great and new concept system, and the voting age was to be of power sharing at the executive level pol i t ical reviews • melanesia 339 of government” and demanded “total that he did not support the coup but support to the multi-party cabinet wanted to provide an ”exit strategy” from each and every member of the for the commander and his Fiji mili- Republic of Fiji Military Forces” tary forces. Yet Samy, like the Catholic (Mataivalu News, July /August 2006, archbishop, accepted that the military 3). In practice, the arrangement turned had every right to reshape Fiji’s future, out to be fraught with diffi culty. and that the country’s elected leaders Labour leader Mahendra Chaudhry and political parties could reasonably had stayed out, seeking at fi rst to be blackmailed—under the threat of retain the opposition leader’s offi ce, continued military control—into sign- then later protesting about the absence ing the charter. of clear “ground rules” for cabinet ncbbf moderates urged that if deliberations, and eventually publicly the People’s Charter was to halt the denouncing his colleagues for col- “coup culture” some discussion of laborating with Qarase. On the eve of the rfmf role was necessary. To this, the 2006 coup, Chaudhry insisted that the commander happily acquiesced: flp ministers follow the party whip the terms of reference for the working and vote against the government’s group on this matter urged extensive budget, while Qarase demanded col- rfmf involvement in government lective responsibility on the part of the deliberations on matters “related to cabinet. Had that experience shown national security” (ncbbf 2008b). that power sharing was unwork- The fi nal document notably dropped able, as many in Fiji and Australia that suggestion, proposing instead that argued? Was the weak design of the the Fiji military be “answerable to the power-sharing laws—which had been government and parliament in accor- belatedly inserted into the otherwise dance with our Constitution” (ncbbf Westminster-based 1997 constitu- 2008a, 7). This was an achievement tion—responsible? Most in Fiji blamed heralded by some as a major triumph the politicians and the soldiers, not the (see, eg, FijiLive, 8 Aug 2008). In design of the institutions. other respects, the charter embraced From the coup-makers’ standpoint, fashionable military phraseology; it the National Council for Building a urged that a “holistic approach to Better Fiji was a legitimizing device, human security be adopted by our and a convenient means for separat- security forces” (ncbbf 2008a, 8), ing collaborators from critics. It also and that this approach fi gure centrally provided a sense of purpose and in a “changing role for the rfmf that direction that was otherwise lack- brings it closer to the people” (ncbbf ing. For some civil society groups, the 2008a, 37). It aimed to “enhance the national council offered a platform for rfmf-community development part- the advancement of laudable objec- nership by strengthening its develop- tives—such as electoral reform, or just mental role to ensure that its profes- treatment for the poor and disadvan- sional, technical and social potential is taged. Director of the ncbbf Techni- fully realised”—a role that was to be cal Secretariat, John Samy, told view- achieved through an “expanded engi- ers of Fiji tv’s Close Up in January neering corps,” provision of “security 340 the contemporary pacifi c • 21:2 (2009) services,” biodiversity conservation, commissioners. The organs of state infrastructure rehabilitation, and were now extensively mobilized in a engagement in youth training pro- nationwide propaganda campaign. grams (ncbbf 2008a, 16). Stories emerged of undue pressure on Public outreach consultations to civil servants, including police and ascertain support for the charter schoolteachers (see, eg, Fiji Sun, 3 were launched in August, with plans Sept 2008). Fiji tv showed interviews to cover two-thirds of the adult Fiji with youths in Suva who had been population. Bainimarama said that cajoled into signing forms they found he intended to change Fiji’s constitu- out only later to be endorsements of tion, but both he and John Samy fl atly the charter (Fiji tv, 16 Nov 2008). rejected recalling Fiji’s Parliament, Conversely, i-Taukei ncbbf members despite this being the only constitu- condemned the Methodist Church for tional route for enactment of their soliciting signatures against the charter reforms. Instead, a President’s Forum (Vesikula and Tabakaucoro 2008). convened with Commonwealth and While the Methodist Church general United Nations assistance would, secretary, the Reverend Tuikilakila the commander hoped, encourage Waqairatu, insisted that 80 percent stakeholders to agree to the charter. of his fellow Methodists opposed the To demonstrate a commitment to charter, Bainimarama countered that dialogue, Bainimarama held talks with 92.5 percent of the wider population Qarase over draunimoli (lemon leaf backed it. When Bainimarama’s fi gures tea), brokered by the Catholic and were ridiculed, the interim government Methodist churches. In October, he issued a clarifi cation that 80 percent arranged a preliminary dialogue for (424,660) of the Fiji population ages registered political parties intended eighteen and older (533,782) had to set the agenda for the President’s been consulted. Of these, 372,311 had Forum, which was opened with the completed response forms. Of these, bald threat that, unless consensus 92 percent had affi rmed support for emerged around the commander’s the charter, 3 percent had requested favored reform program, there would changes, and 4.4 percent had rejected be a protracted delay before the next it. The government press release con- election (Fiji Times, 28 Oct 2008). cluded that 64.2 percent supported the Initial reports indicated negligible charter (Fiji Government 2008). Even turnout around the country at the the adjusted fi gures were not credible. meetings that were being organized Claims of overwhelming support to solicit support for the charter, for the charter sat oddly alongside the a verdict confi rmed by the exten- interim government’s reluctance to sion of the deadline for completion hold elections, which notably sharp- of consultations from October to ened over the course of the year. In December. Belatedly alerted to the October 2007, Bainimarama had com- popularity battle being lost, the mitted himself to elections by March ncbbf Secretariat countered that 2009 before a Pacifi c Islands Forum a strongly favorable response was summit in Tonga. A joint Forum–Fiji being conveyed through the divisional Government working group had been pol i t ical reviews • melanesia 341 entrusted with plotting further steps facilitative,” and “more engaging part- along the agreed roadmap toward the ners” (Fiji Times, 20 June 2008). But scheduled polls, and working through the new enthusiasm for Euro-Pacifi c the various technical obstacles that diplomacy proved short-lived. In July, both sides agreed stood in the way of Sayed-Khaiyum condemned the EU fresh elections (for a critique of this mission for inappropriately focus- view, see Fraenkel 2009). A popula- ing on the election timetable (Fiji tv tion census was allegedly needed, and News, 14 July 2008). Commonwealth constituency boundaries had to be envoy Sir Paul Reeves arrived in Fiji redrawn, although the interim gov- and came close to successfully bro- ernment showed few signs of haste kering negotiations, but his efforts in accomplishing these tasks, despite were also eventually rejected, and pressure exerted by Pacifi c Islands other, more sympathetic interlocutors Forum Ministerial Contact Group sought. In August, Bainimarama boy- visits in July and December. Similarly, cotted the Pacifi c Islands Forum meet- there was little urgency in arrang- ing in Niue, where leaders threatened ing talks with political parties or in to suspend Fiji unless the agreed elec- preparing for the promised President’s tion timetable was met. The interim Forum. Criticism of the electoral dead- prime minister now insisted that there line became a popular mantra among would be no elections until a new the regime’s supporters, who urged constitution, incorporating the Peo- that elections could not be held until ple’s Charter, was in place (FijiLive, the end of the hurricane season or the 25 Aug 2008). school holidays. That the real reasons Fiji’s post-coup political landscape were political, not technical, Bainima- was transformed in 2008 by the rama himself made clear: “we want to departure of Mahendra Chaudhry and have an election,” he said in one of his his Fiji Labour Party from the cabinet. unscripted remarks, “but we want to In January, Chaudhry’s position had have an election on my terms so that appeared to be consolidated, when we can cut out the coup mentality” a reshuffl e saw the sacking, among (Fiji Times, 31 May 2008). several others, of Poseci Bune, who An explicit public repudiation of was known to have fought with the the electoral commitment to the Pacifi c flp leader. Tom Ricketts entered the Islands Forum came in July and was cabinet, bringing the number of flp transparently linked to an effort to ministers to three. Chaudhry now held play the European Union (EU) and the an impressive array of portfolios— Commonwealth against the allegedly fi nance, national planning, the sugar Australia / New Zealand–dominated industry, and public utilities—and was Pacifi c Islands Forum. Aware that a seen by many as the de facto prime European Troika mission was due to minister. But the triumph was to prove visit, the commander publicly broke short-lived. In February, a report off linkages with the Forum working commissioned by Chaudhry, which group. Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed- recommended the de-reservation of Khaiyum extolled the virtues of the indigenous-owned lands (Krishna- EU mission as “more fl exible,” “more murthi 2008), generated an outcry, 342 the contemporary pacifi c • 21:2 (2009) echoing the land controversies during gested substantial withdrawals from the 1999–2000 government. Although 2001 onward. Under investigation, Chaudhry distanced himself from the Chaudhry had supplied firca with a report, by midyear he was confi dently letter written in September 2004 by assuring members of his National one Harbhajan Lal, which purported Farmers’ Union in Labasa that the to be a response to a query by the flp government intended to provide them leader as to the whereabouts of the with fi fty-year leases on native-owned money: “Respected Chaudhry Saheb, lands (Fiji tv, 1 June 2008). Nameste. We are hale and hearty here Other controversies threatened to and please accept our good wishes. I be more damaging. Since mid-2007, received your letter. You have asked Fiji’s newspapers had been report- for details of the funds. You may ing allegations of tax evasion by an recall that when you were here in the undisclosed minister. In February, year 2000, we had formed a com- the Fiji Times named that minister mittee, which requested you to leave as Chaudhry, sparking a f$1 billion Fiji and stay in Australia since the (us$650 million) lawsuit in which situation in Fiji was not safe and you the flp leader’s lawyers listed Fiji were not secure there. The committee Times owner Rupert Murdoch’s News also assured you that it would collect International among the respondents. funds for your settlement in Australia” The claims stemmed from United (quoted in Lal 2008a). Kingdom–based journalist, Victor This correspondence was, at Lal. As correspondent for the Fiji Sun, the very least, peculiar: Why was Lal alleged that a$1.6 million (us$1 Chaudhry inquiring about funds in million) had been deposited in bank 2004 that he had been withdrawing accounts in Chaudhry’s name dur- since 2001? And was it, as the letter ing 2000–2002 (some by the Indian alleged, accurate that popular fund- consul general in Sydney), and that raising in India had been intended to interest on those earnings had not assist the Labour leader to relocate been declared to the Fiji Islands Cus- to Australia in the wake of the 2000 toms and Revenue Authority (firca) coup, rather than—as most in Fiji (Lal 2008b). The money, it turned out, believed—to assist displaced Indian had come from India, and comprised farmers evicted during the turmoil donations made in the wake of the after George Speight’s coup? deposed 1999–2000 prime minister’s The plot thickened further when it world tour after the coup of May was revealed that two firca offi cials 2000. tasked with investigating Chaudhry’s A scandal was inevitable. Before tax fi les had been dismissed in June Parliament in 2005, Chaudhry had 2007 (Fiji Times, 23 Feb 2008). One been grilled about the whereabouts of the sacked offi cials, Lepani Rabo, of money collected on his 2000 told the media that military offi cers voyages and had denied knowledge were now encouraging him to speak of any such payments (Chaudhry out (FijiLive, 23 Feb 2008). With 2005). The bank records obtained by the controversy at last public, Fiji’s the Fiji newspapers, however, sug- shadowy Military Council urged that pol i t ical reviews • melanesia 343

Chaudhry step aside, until proven -2.5 percent (rbf, March 2007); then innocent. The interim government -3.1 percent (rbf, June 2007); -3.9 belatedly agreed to a firca investiga- percent (rbf, Dec 2007); -4.4 percent tion. But the terms of reference were (rbf, March 2008); and fi nally -6.6 so narrowly constructed—focused percent (rbf, July 2008). Growth in on whether firca had conducted the gross domestic product for 2008, its inquiries on the matter properly, initially anticipated at 2.2 percent not whether Chaudhry had lied to (rbf, Dec 2007), was downgraded Parliament in 2005 or misappropri- to around 1 percent by the end of the ated funds donated to Fiji’s Indian 2008, after the anz Bank suggested community—that the outcome was that the Fiji’s Reserve Bank predic- predictably a whitewash. The inquiry tions were too optimistic (anz Bank team even accepted that the three-time 2008). Severe declines were evident fi nance minister was unaware of firca in most sectors, but construction was procedures for handling interest pay- particularly badly hit. Fiji Islands ments on overseas deposits. Through Bureau of Statistics data covering all of this, Chaudhry issued no media building permits issued, and comple- statement attempting to reconcile tion certifi cates, suggested that the his tax records with his statement to post-crisis rebound in capital invest- Parliament or explaining to his flp ment—which was expected, following supporters the reason for his personal the pattern after the 2000 coup—had acquisition of donations collected in not materialized by the end of 2008 India after the 2000 coup. In the short (fibs 2008b). run, the flp faithful rallied around Where there were signs of recovery, their embattled leader. In the longer they were weak. Gold mining recom- run, his image was inevitably tar- menced in 2008 after the re-opening nished. A Times-Tebbutt opinion poll of the Vatukoula mine, but with a in early 2009 suggested that many Fiji workforce around a third the size Indians had transferred allegiances of that employed by Emperor Gold to the rfmf commander, while most Mines before its closure in 2006. The ethnic Fijians remained loyal to number of tourists visiting Fiji’s shores Qarase (Fiji Times, 21 Feb 2009). grew strongly in the second half of Chaudhry’s position was made 2008, encouraged by new fl ights from more precarious by the fact that, as Australia by Virgin Blue Airlines. fi nance minister, he was presiding over However, heavy post-coup discounting a severe austerity package, rendered of package deals ensured that earnings necessary by the post-coup slowdown. remained subdued. Major investments Fiji’s gross domestic product con- initiated prior to the coup had resulted tracted sharply in 2007, largely due to in a 16 percent increase in hotel- falling tourist earnings, weak perfor- bed capacity, rendering the discount mance in the sugar industry, and the deals all the more necessary. On the closure of the country’s gold mine at other hand, there were major tour- Vatukoula on Viti Levu. Reserve Bank ism infrastructure casualties. At the estimates of the depth of the 2007 large Momi Bay resort development contraction grew steadily worse: fi rst in southwestern Viti Levu, partially 344 the contemporary pacifi c • 21:2 (2009) completed bures (Fijian-style thatched at f$770 per tonne, and European villas) lay exposed to the elements prices around f$950 per tonne, the and water had seeped back into the country still earns a sizeable surplus drained lagoon. A post-coup shift in by importing Indian sugar (FijiLive, the interpretation of firca taxation 10 Oct 2008). The dilemma is that as rules helped to ruin Bridgecorp, the prices decline, growers will logically New Zealand company that fi nanced exit the industry, so that reaching the the project. The neighboring Natadola 250,000-tonne target will become Beach resort development, which had increasingly unlikely. Regular break- been taken over by new flp-associated downs at the four sugarcane mills, interim government appointees on the and deterioration of cane access roads board of the Fiji National Provident and rail infrastructure, are likely to Fund, also suffered setbacks, including compound those diffi culties. EU aid abandonment of the multimillion-dol- money aimed at assisting rehabilita- lar golf course designed by renowned tion of, and diversifi cation away from, Fiji-born golfer Vijay Singh. the sugar industry was cancelled for Sugar exports, long purchased by 2007 and 2008 as a result of the coup, the European Union at prices two to with larger allocations in 2009 and three times higher than those on the 2010 conditional on the holding of open world market, also weakened elections. The Fiji Sugar Corporation over 2007–2008. In May 2008, British announced a loss of f$19.3 million company Tate & Lyle announced a over the fi nancial year ending May contractual commitment to purchase 2008 (FijiLive, 31 Aug 2008). 250,000 –300,000 metric tonnes of Even before the coup, the national sugar per annum from Fiji during debt had been running at over 2009–2015. The deal was under the 50 percent of the gross domestic terms of the new Economic Partner- product. The post-coup slowdown ship Agreement with the European and the rescinding of the deposed Union, signed in December 2007. The government’s intended increase in price paid per metric tonne, initially the value-added tax further damaged €335.2, is nearly a third lower than government fi nances, putting pressure the 2007 price of €496.8 and is to on the fi nance minister to rein in the decline toward world market levels state’s annual defi cit, or to urgently by 2015 (around €250 at present). (In seek new sources of fi nancial sup- mid-2008, one euro was equivalent port—such as the f$230 million loan to approximately us$1.56.) A major Ambassador to China Jim Ah Koy was diffi culty is that the Fiji Sugar Corpo- busily negotiating in Beijing. Judged ration (fsc) has not been reaching the by the 2008 budget fi gures, Chaudhry output level of 250,000 metric tonnes, presided over substantial falls in state and for two years has had to import spending during 2007: the public sugar from India to meet domestic and sector wage bill fell by 9.7 percent, Pacifi c Islands demand. The company transfer payments by 15.9 percent, vehemently denies illegal re-exports of spending on goods and services by Indian sugar. fsc Chief Executive Deo 28.2 percent, and capital expenditures Saran insists that with import costs by 44.8 percent (see adb 2008, 235). pol i t ical reviews • melanesia 345

Nevertheless, interest payments rose Chaudhry had been told to clear his by 23 percent, and in fact the reported desk before the commander’s return. 9.7 percent wage bill fall stemmed Seeking to avoid a public sacking, largely from the halting of the previ- Chaudhry sought the support of senior ous accounting practice of showing flp executives for a resignation of all value-added tax on wages and salaries three flp ministers, which—despite (see Narsey 2008; Chaudhry 2008). some reluctance among those who had Pressure to make savings or to boost acquired lucrative and powerful posi- firca collection of revenues was tions in the new order—he eventually mounting, not least to fund a massive secured. coup-related blowout of budgeted Now outside the cabinet, Chaudhry expenditure on the Fiji military forces carefully distanced the Fiji Labour (see Firth and Fraenkel 2009). It was Party from the 2006 coup, arguing this fi scal dilemma that ultimately led that he had joined the interim cabinet to Mahendra Chaudhry’s fall from only because—based on the experi- military grace. ence of previous coups—a speedy In July, Chaudhry imposed export reversion to constitutional democracy duties at twenty cents per liter on was unlikely. Until this point, it had exports of bottled water, leading the been the Labour leader’s son, Rajen- ten mineral water export companies dra Chaudhry, who had articulated operating in Fiji to temporarily cease flp disenchantment with the regime, production in protest. The largest, condemning as “incompetent” the Natural Waters of Fiji Ltd, had over Fiji Independent Commission Against the preceding fi ve years skillfully trans- Corruption’s investigations into the formed its bottled artesian water from Fiji Sports Council (on which he Yaqara in northern Viti Levu into had sat as a board member) and the a global branding triumph (known Labour-led Nasinu Municipal Council. as Fiji Water), getting its distinctive A public spat with the rfmf media colorful square bottles pictured on spokesman, Major Neumi Leweni, hit television shows like Ally McBeal, culminated in an interview with the The Sopranos, and The West Wing. By younger Chaudhry on Fiji tv’s Close 2008, the company had three hundred Up talk show being pulled off the employees at its Yaqara plant and air by the police in June. In Octo- was extracting around 240 million ber, Rajendra Chaudhry attacked liters per annum. Fearful of the risks Bainimarama’s decisions over the of damaging one of Fiji’s few export previous months as “fl awed,” saying success stories, the cabinet rescinded that a tightening circle of “politi- the measure, severely weakening cal misfi ts” including Aiyaz Sayed- Chaudhry’s position. Fiji’s Military Khaiyum, John Samy, and Parmesh Council issued an ultimatum demand- Chand was exerting too great an ing Chaudhry’s resignation, echoing infl uence (FijiLive, 7 Oct 2008). That its previous response at the time of insight presumably came from his the controversy over the tax evasion father. The elder Chaudhry’s criticisms allegations. Bainimarama departed were more muffl ed; the rupture was overseas, and rumors spread that not yet complete. Nevertheless, out 346 the contemporary pacifi c • 21:2 (2009) of the cabinet, the Fiji Labour Party overseas (as estimated by extrapolat- criticized the “complicated” electoral ing forward the 1.9 percent growth proposals in the People’s Charter and rate witnessed during 1976–1986). rejected the ncbbf objective of abol- In tandem with the People’s Char- ishing the nineteen Indian communal ter, the interim government also seats (FijiLive, 22 Sept, 19 Sept 2008). pursued consultation exercises aimed At times the party even clamored for at reforming indigenous Fijian cus- speedy elections, reversing its earlier toms and hierarchical structures. A blunt rejections of the allegedly for- three-member review team headed eign-imposed electoral road map. by the Tailevu chief, Tu‘uakitau In mid-2008, the fi rst results of Cakanauto, found its core proposal the 2007 census of population were of an “apolitical” role for the Great published by the Fiji Islands Bureau Council of Chiefs ignored. Instead, the of Statistics. These indicated a sub- new fi fty-two-member council was to stantial demographic shift; whereas comprise only “traditionally installed” in the previous census (1996), indig- chiefs; chiefs who had served as mem- enous Fijians had comprised 50.8 bers of Parliament or the Senate were percent of the population and Fiji to be disbarred. The chairman was to Indians 43.7 percent, the balance was be the minister of indigenous affairs— now 57.3 percent to 37.6 percent in a position held at the time by Commo- favor of ethnic Fijians. High levels dore Bainimarama—who would also of out-migration of Fiji Indians since control gcc appointments. Cakanauto the mid-1980s were responsible. resigned rather than head the sched- Departures had peaked in the wake uled follow-up consultation, intended of the 1987 coup. By the mid-1990s, to solicit support for the new regula- continued high Indian emigration was tions, saying “it’s not ‘vakaturaga’ mainly responsive to higher standards (chiefl y) to go back to them and pres- of living available overseas and the ent something contrary to the discus- new possibilities generated by the sions we had” (FijiLive, 19 Feb 2008; establishment of signifi cant Fiji Indian Fiji Times, 20 Feb 2008). “This coup communities in New Zealand, North is all about dismantling the Fijian America, and Australia. Indian net chiefl y system, customs, traditions emigration fl uctuated around 4,500 and their institutions,” concluded Tui per annum during the 1990s, even Namosi and former sdl cabinet minis- rising slightly during Chaudhry’s year ter Ratu Suliano Matanitobua. “Who in offi ce, suggesting that pull factors is the leader of the army to dictate had become more signifi cant than the direction and the decisions of the push factors in determining the level gcc?” (Fiji Times, 22 Feb 2008). At of annual departures. The 2006 coup the annual Methodist conference in generated a new spike in Fiji Indian August, paramount chiefs of the three out-migration: 8,500 departed dur- confederacies handed a tabua (whale’s ing 2007, compared to just under tooth) to church leaders applauding 1,000 ethnic Fijians (fibs 2008a). their leadership in the struggle against Altogether, the Fiji Indian population the People’s Charter. was 42 percent lower by 2008 than it Some provincial chiefs indicated would have been without the exodus sympathies for the new order. Ratu pol i t ical reviews • melanesia 347

Tevita Uluilakeba Mara, commander Interim Indigenous Affairs Minister of the Third Battalion Fiji Infantry Ratu Epeli Nailatikau convened a Regiment, seized control of the Lau Bose ni Turaga (Council of Chiefs, Provincial Council in June, after as distinct from the Great Council of ensuring prominent sdl-associated Chiefs). This was a gathering for the rivals were locked out of a meeting on lower-rung chiefs, intended to under- the Suva seafront. Ratu Tevita’s father, mine the authority of the paramount Ratu Sir , Fiji’s former chiefs—such as Ro prime minister (1970–1987 and (Rewa), Ratu Inoke Takiveikata (Nai- 1987–1992) and president (1993– tasiri), and Ratu 2000), had died in 2004, an event (Cakaudrove)—who were closely viewed by many from those eastern associated with the deposed sdl and Tongan-infl uenced islands as government and vigorously opposed symptomatic of the end of the Lauan Bainimarama and his interim gov- ascendancy. Now Mara’s dynasty was ernment. Held at the army’s Queen back, and his sons-in-law, Ratu Epeli Elizabeth Barracks in Suva, the gather- Nailatikau and Ratu , ing brought together one hundred were in the interim cabinet. Bainima- twenty-fi ve lower-level chiefs (see Fiji rama, himself a “Mara man,” was Times, 18 Dec 2008) to hear—among echoing the elitist but moderately mul- other things—a presentation from the tiracialist themes of his mentor’s Alli- Institute of Fijian Language and Cul- ance Party. Traditional leaders from ture about lack of “common courtesy” other provinces (in particular Rotuma, and “respect” among younger Fijians, Serua, Bua, and Macuata) also sought as well as presentations about hiv, to accommodate the regime. Some appropriate technologies, and fi sher- provinces, like Cakaudrove—where ies; they also witnessed rfmf dem- bitter opponent of Bainimarama and onstrations of weaponry. While some ex-sdl minister Ratu Naiqama Lala- ridiculed the event as an occasion for balavu reigned as Tui Cakau—were Christmas shopping by village elders deeply split. In Ba, in the western part (FijiLive, 20 Dec 2008), sdl Director of Viti Levu, loyalty to President Tui Peceli Kinivuwai acknowledged that Vuda Ratu Josefa Iloilo encouraged “the meeting has effectively driven a some support from the Vuda area, but wedge between our paramount chiefs, several other prominent western chiefs Turaga I Taukei, and some Turaga ni were fi rmly opposed. A regular fi xture Yavusa” (FijiLive, 19 Dec 2008). That on Fiji tv’s nightly news shows was Rewa’s recently installed Vunivalu, Ratu Josefa Nawalowalo, who joined Ro Epeli Mataitini, was present at the both the National Council for Build- barracks revealed a schism with the ing a Better Fiji and the gcc Review Roko Tui Dreketi, Ro Teimumu Kepa, team and enthusiastically backed who had refused to attend Ro Epeli’s the reform program. As a result, he installation several months earlier. lost his chairmanship of the Kadavu Presence at the Bose ni Turaga, how- Provincial Council. ever, did not necessarily entail support, The new-look Great Council of and several of the chiefs at the event Chiefs held no meetings in 2008, urged the commander to go back to but toward the end of the year, new the polls, or beseeched their fellow vil- 348 the contemporary pacifi c • 21:2 (2009) lage elders to preserve Fijian identity requirements listed in the Chandrika in the face of the perceived challenge Prasad cases—that no alternative gov- from the People’s Charter. ernment existed or that there existed On 9 October, a year after the general popular “acquiescence” in the commencement of deliberations, the post-coup arrangements. High Court of Fiji issued a judgment Instead, state lawyers successfully in the Qarase v Bainimarama case pressed for the bench to ignore any (High Court of Fiji 2008). This was question about the legality or oth- the case brought by the deposed prime erwise of the 5 December coup. The minister against Bainimarama and focus was rather to be on the validity the president, contesting the consti- of rule by presidential decree after tutionality of the post-coup interim Ratu Josefa Iloilo was reappointed on administration. The panel of three 4 January 2007. The high court found presiding judges included acting Chief that the president had used extraordi- Justice Anthony Gates, Justice John nary “prerogative powers,” which— Byrne, and Justice Davendra Pathik. although not explicitly set out in the At the March hearings, the state’s 1997 constitution—exist in all Com- lawyers had abandoned the usual monwealth countries and are available international arguments intended for use in exceptional circumstances. to legitimize coups, for example, in “We fi nd that exceptional circum- Pakistan or Nigeria. Precedents set by stances existed, not provided for by the 2000 and 2001 Chandrika Prasad the Constitution, and that the stability cases in Fiji (Lautoka High Court of the State was endangered. We also 2000; Court of Appeal 2001)—the fi nd that no other course of action was fi rst of which had been heard by Jus- reasonably available, and that such tice Gates—rendered such arguments action as taken by the President was impossible. Fiji’s president could reasonably necessary in the interests of hardly have been claimed to be acting peace, order and good government” under the “doctrine of necessity” on (High Court 2008). 5 December 2006, since he was on The decision was widely con- that day jettisoned from offi ce, and demned by legal scholars and politi- when restored in January 2007 he had cal commentators (see Williams and made no attempt to bring back the others 2008). The 1997 constitution elected government. The other alterna- closely specifi es and restricts the tive, an appeal to Kelsen’s theory of powers of the president, rendering revolutionary legality (the so-called obsolete the sorts of “reserve powers” “doctrine of effectiveness”), was also occasionally found by judges in other an unworkable line of defense—not jurisdictions. “Exceptional circum- least because the interim govern- stances” clearly existed, but these had ment claimed that the 1997 constitu- arisen due to the military coup and tion was still intact. Had the 1997 could not be reasonably used to justify constitution instead been abrogated, the appointment, as prime minister, it would nevertheless have proved of the military commander who had impossible for defense lawyers to put carried out that coup. up a convincing case—following the While an appeal was set for April pol i t ical reviews • melanesia 349

2009, few predicted that it would and then again in December. Over the succeed. Fiji’s judiciary had been course of the year, lawyers associated extensively reshaped in the wake of with critics of the regime were, at one the 2006 coup. All six expatriate point, called into court to be berated judges on the panel of the Court of by an angry judge and, in another Appeal resigned in 2007, and others case, barred from entering Fiji. Judges followed suit in 2008. In his farewell indicated their preparedness to sit on address in January, Justice Roger appeals against their own judgments, Coventry warned that the judiciary where normal protocol would have had “hemorrhaged,” and urged Fiji suggested that they step aside. In the lawyers to remember that “acquies- wake of the High Court decision in cence is the friend of illegality.” Chief Qarase v Bainimarama, Fiji’s attorney Justice of Australia Robert French general threatened those criticizing the explained that he could not renew judgment with “contempt of court” his appointment to the Fiji Supreme proceedings. When both the Fiji Times Court because to do so would entail and the Daily Post published a let- an “implicit bargain” with the interim ter challenging the decision of Gates, government, and that “when faced Byrne, and Pathik, the government with a challenge to the lawfulness of took legal action. That both news- the government itself, such a judge papers pleaded guilty was indicative could be seen to have a confl ict of of the media’s increasing submission interest” (The Australian, 2 May under the new order. Fiji Sun publisher 2008). High Court Justice Gerard Russell Hunter had been deported Winter similarly concluded, “I could in February and Fiji Times publisher not renew my warrant in 2008 if the Evan Hannah was deported in May, military regime was still in power as both whisked out of the country at to do so would run contrary to my speed to avoid enforcement of court original oath of offi ce” (The Austra- orders. The once staunchly pro-sdl lian, 15 Aug 2008). Those judges who Daily Post was, by the end of the took up appointments were often year, reduced to dutifully publish- quite explicit about their support for ing pro–interim government propa- the military-transfi gured judicial order. ganda. Nevertheless, some courageous Victorian barrister Jocelynne Scutt, the local intellectuals—including lawyer former Tasmanian antidiscrimination Graham Leung, economics professor commissioner, was widely criticized Wadan Narsey, and former Vice Presi- in Australia after accepting a position dent Ratu —contin- on Fiji’s High Court (The Australian, ued to openly criticize the regime and 14 March, 22 Aug 2008). Thomas their comments were widely reported Hickie took an appointment in March, in the press. and thereafter regularly lambasted the A critical step in the effort to con- media for refusing to acknowledge the solidate a new legal order had been the independence of the judiciary. forced removal of Chief Justice Daniel During 2008, the International Fatiaki, who had been confronted by Bar Association was twice prevented soldiers with the option of resigning from entering Fiji, fi rst in February or going “on leave” in January 2007. 350 the contemporary pacifi c • 21:2 (2009)

In early 2008, charges were fi nally the fi nance minister and, indeed, the laid against Justice Fatiaki, includ- commander himself (whose receipt of ing falsifying tax returns, “failure to f$185,000 in back pay for leave not uphold the dignity and high stand- taken since 1978 was under investiga- ing of the offi ce,” and complicity in tion by the auditor general). Instead, assisting the Offi ce of the President in the multiracialist objectives of the drafting illegal decrees in the wake of People’s Charter had acquired primary the 19 May 2000 coup. In December, signifi cance in the quest for popular however, the attorney general reported legitimacy, but here too the emphasis having reached a settlement with the on the necessity for electoral reform deposed chief justice: in return for a looked increasingly like a delaying formal resignation and the dropping tactic. The dissolution of Fiji’s munici- of proceedings relating to his removal pal councils in December suggested from offi ce, Fatiaki was to receive that, far from heading back toward f$275,000 and to be allowed to draw constitutional democracy, the interim his pension and other benefi ts as a government was busy dismantling yet retired judge (Fiji Government 2008b). a further tier of elected government. In return, the interim government The worsening economic situation agreed to drop all charges against the inter nationally, coupled with Fiji’s former head of the judiciary, suggest- homemade and coup-driven slow- ing that the anticorruption rhetoric of down, looked set to make 2009 a the cleanup campaign was less impor- diffi cult year. tant than capturing the key levers of jon fraenkel judicial power. Acting Chief Justice Anthony Gates was formally sworn in as Chief Justice of Fiji. References Fiji ended 2008 with little cause for optimism. The “interim” government adb, Asian Development Bank. 2008. Fiji had entrenched and isolated itself Islands. In Asian Development Outlook over the course of the year, another 2008. http://www.adb.org / Documents / Books /ADO/2008 / FIJ.asp indication of which was the expul- sion of acting New Zealand High anz Bank. 2008. Pacific Quarterly. Commissioner Caroline McDonald Melbourne: anz Bank, November. on Christmas Eve in retaliation for Arms, David G. 2008. The Urgency for Wellington’s travel bans. It had been a a Change of Electoral System. Issues & year fi lled with propaganda emanating Discussion paper, ncbff, Working Group from the National Council for Build- 1: Governance, Leadership, Constitutional ing a Better Fiji and the gcc Review and Electoral Reform, Appendix C. Suva, Team, but there was little sign of any June. Manuscript in author’s files. groundswell of support for the interim The Australian. Daily newspaper, Sydney. government’s initiatives. The idealism Online at http://www.theaustralian.news of the cleanup campaign, which had .com.au/ been the original justifi cation for the Chaudhry, Mahendra. 2005. Speech before December 2006 coup, had been tar- the . Daily Hansard, 2 nished by serious allegations against December. pol i t ical reviews • melanesia 351

———. 2008. Letter to the editor, Fiji High Court of Fiji. 2008. Qarase & Times, 29 November. Others v Bainimarama & Others, Civil Court of Appeal. 2001. Republic of Fiji Actions hbc60.07S and hbc398.07S. & Attorney General v Chandrika Prasad, Judgment, 9 October. Civil Appeal abu0078/2000S. Judgment, Krishnamurthi, M. 2007. A Brief Project 1 March. Proposal for the Rehabilitation of the Daily Post. Daily newspaper, Suva. Online Fijian Sugar Industry, Development of at http://www.fijidailypost.com / By-Products and the Improvement of the Standard of Living of the Farmers. fibs, Fiji Islands Bureau of Statistics. 27 November. Available online http: // 2008a. Movement of Fiji Residents. www.fijilive.com /archive /showpdf.php http://www.statsfiji.gov.fj / Tourism / ?pdf=2008/02 /dr_krishnamurthi.pdf residents.htm Lal, Victor. 2008a. Haryana Letter Tells of ———. 2008b Permits and Completion $2m Bank Deposits. Fiji Sun, 24 February. Certificates Issued and Estimated Value of Work Put-in-Place. http://www.statsfiji.gov ———. 2008b. Chaudhry Letter Reveals .fj/ Economic / building_const.htm Hidden Donations. Fiji Sun, 25 February. Fiji Government. 2008a Support for Larmour, Peter. 2008. Guarding the Peoples Charter Overwhelming—ncbbf. Guardians: Accountability and Anticor- Government press release, 16 December. ruption in Fiji’s Cleanup Campaign. Pacific http://www.fiji.gov.fj/publish/page_13711 Islands Policy 4. Honolulu: Pacific Islands .shtml Development Program, East-West Center. ———. 2008b. Chief Justice Fatiaki Available online http://www.eastwestcenter Resigns. Press release, Office of the Attor- .org /fileadmin /stored /pdfs /pip004.pdf ney General, 5 December. http://www.fiji Lautoka High Court. 2000. Chandrika .gov.fj/publish/printer_13675.shtml Prasad v Republic of Fiji & Attorney FijiLive. Online news service. General, Civil Jurisdiction Action http://www.fijilive.com / hbc0217.00l. Judgment, 15 November. Fiji Sun. Daily newspaper, Suva. Online at Mataivalu News. Newsletter of the Repub- http://www.sun.com.fj / lic of Fiji Military Forces. Suva. Monthly or bimonthly. Fiji Times. Daily newspaper, Suva. Online at http://www.fijitimes.com / Naidu, Vijay. 2009. Heading for the Scrap Heap of History? The Consequences of the Fiji tv. National television service. Suva. Coup for the Fiji Labour Movement. In http://www.fijitv.com.fj Fraenkel, Firth, and Lal 2009, 237–251. Firth, Stewart, and Jon Fraenkel. 2009. The Fiji Military and Ethno-nationalism: Narsey, Wadan. 2008. A Legacy of Evil Analyzing the Paradox. In Fraenkel, Firth, and Deceit. Fiji Times, 26 November. and Lal 2009, 117–137. ncbbf, National Council for Building a Fraenkel, Jon. 2009. The Great Roadmap Better Fiji. 2008a. Building a Better Fiji Charade: Electoral Issues in Post-coup Fiji. for All through a People’s Charter for In Fraenkel, Firth, and Lal 2009, 155–184. Change, Peace and Progress. http://rspas .anu.edu.au/melanesia/documents/fiji/ Fraenkel, Jon, Stewart Firth, and Brij V draftcharter.pdf Lal, editors. 2009. The 2006 Military Takeover in Fiji: A Coup to End All ———. 2008b. Role of Fiji’s Security Coups? Canberra: anu e press. Forces in National Development. Working 352 the contemporary pacifi c • 21:2 (2009)

Group 3, Terms of Reference. Manuscript destiny.” But politics in this small, in author’s files. multiethnic society of only a quarter Prasad, Jonathon. 2009. The Good, the million people continued to be con- Bad and the Faithful: The Response by tentious and complex, as seen in the Indian Religious Groups. In Fraenkel, municipal elections in March, ongoing Firth, and Lal 2009, 209–233. party splintering, and the approach rbf, Reserve Bank of Fiji. Quarterly of provincial elections in May 2009, Review. Suva. http://www.reservebank which will elect a Congress empow- .gov.fj ered to discuss an independence referendum. Despite a sharp drop in Vesikula, Ratu Meli, and Adi Finau Tabakaucoro. 2008. Why the sdl Party nickel prices over the year because of Needs to Change its Approach and the world economic slump, mining Its Leadership for Fiji to Go Forward. expansion continued, though the Goro Manuscript in author’s files. metal processing plant project in the South remained controversial. Labor Williams, George, Graham Leung, Anthony J Regan, and Jon Fraenkel. 2008. unions were active, but more aggres- Courts and Coups in Fiji: The 2008 High sive police interventions limited their Court Judgment in Qarase v Bainimarama. strike actions. France still provided State, Society and Governance in Melane- massive fi nancial aid to the territory— sia Discussion Paper 2008/10. Canberra: more than us$2 billion annually—and Research School of Pacific and Asian planned further France-Pacifi c sum- Studies, The Australian National Univer- mits, while also using New Caledo- sity. http://rspas.anu.edu.au/papers / nia’s new associate membership in the melanesia/discussion_papers /08_10 Pacifi c Islands Forum to help spread _williams.pdf French infl uence in the region. Since 2004, ad hoc cooperation has grown between the centrist loyalists of Avenir Ensemble (ae, Future Together) New Caledonia and the pro-independence parties. New Caledonia is gaining more Both groups support government control over its own affairs, due to intervention in social and economic negotiated accords that promised it planning more than the conserva- economic “rebalancing” and evolv- tives, who criticized the new trend as ing autonomy. Paris has continued to “socialism” or “state capitalism.” But delegate more powers of self-govern- ae leader Philippe Gomès, president ment to the country, and 2008 was a of the populous Southern Province, year to refl ect on the anniversaries of called it “economic will” to master the peacemaking Matignon-Oudinot strategic resources and labeled the Accords of 1988 and the Noumea conservative free trade vision “Ameri- Accord of 1998 (the latter of which can style ultra-liberalism” (NC, 26 Sept has come to constitute a sort of 2008). Because of the infl ated cost of interim constitution). Kanak cultural living (food prices are twice as high identity made further advances in local as in France and local housing costs institutions, as did symbols associated equal those of Paris), the ae-led Con- with the agreed pursuit of a “common gress imposed price and rent controls pol i t ical reviews • melanesia 353 last year, and this year its formula the Kanak militants who had killed limited rent increases by half, while four gendarmes and taken hostages it continued to build more affordable to protest against Pons’s proposed lodging with French aid (NC, 18 Jan, regressive statute for New Caledonia 5 July 2008). Congress has lowered (which would have reduced the pow- income taxes on the middle class as ers of Kanak-ruled provinces instead well as inheritance taxes; has pur- of promoting self-rule). Pierre Frogier chased majority ownership of Enercal of the loyalist Rassemblement pour la (New Caledonia’s primary power pro- Calédonie dans la République (rpcr) ducer and supplier); and has actively objected to what he saw as bias in the negotiated the transfer of responsibil- made-for-television fi lm and published ity for secondary education—which a letter to “young people” in the terri- France took over in 1967—back to tory in which he blamed the Front de New Caledonia. It is working on plans Libération Nationale Kanak et Social- to coordinate economic development iste (flnks) for the violence. He also among the three provinces and to argued that there were victims in both regulate the mining industry, rather camps during the 1980s “events,” than leave the latter to the “anarchic not only in Hienghene (where eleven and quasi-wild” style of the past (NC, Kanak were ambushed in 1984) and 13 Aug 2008). The South has started Ouvea (where nineteen Kanak were economic activity zones in cooperation killed). He said that the famous hand- with indigenous customary leaders to shake between loyalist Jacques Lafl eur provide jobs in tribal reserves, and its and Kanak independence leader Jean- vast Gouaro Deva ecotourism project Marie Tjibaou in 1988 constituted near Bourail has combined provincial, a moment that young people should private, and customary input in a plan emulate by reaching out to each other to develop 24,000 acres by the sea “without forgetting anything in this (NC, 8 Aug 2008). By June 2008, the past” (NC, 17 May 2008). Colloquia centrists were proposing to territorial- refl ecting on the two anniversaries ize ownership of the Société le Nickel were held in Paris and Noumea and (sln), the country’s largest mining were attended by scholars and par- company and employer. ticipants in both accords, on 26 June, From April through June various the date the 1988 Matignon Accord commemorations of the peace accords was reached. Former Premier Michel were held, including ceremonies on Rocard, who had successfully brought Ouvea to mourn the violence that Tjibaou and Lafl eur together to had taken place there in 1988. That negotiate, spoke in Paris and Noumea tragedy was portrayed in a fi lm by about his refl ections, even suggesting Mehdi Lallaoui, which was broadcast that in the post–cold war world of on television. In an interview, former increasing globalization and regional- Premier Bernard Pons called the ism, now-autonomous New Caledo- Ouvea hostage crisis and the deaths of nia “is already independent.” “The twenty-fi ve people “one of the saddest concept no longer has meaning,” he moments of my life.” Yet he defended opined, since France has ceded some actions taken by French troops against of its once-sovereign powers to the 354 the contemporary pacifi c • 21:2 (2009)

European Union (NC, 27 May 2008). to “purge” the independence ques- Yet French voters rejected the pro- tion and ensure that New Caledonia posed EU constitution in 2005, and remains “in” France. Territorial Presi- many have agitated against further dent Harold Martin proposed instead immigration. France also retains UN a consensual negotiation before 2014 Security Council veto power and has to remove “doubt” about the future its own nuclear weapons, hinting that (NC, 5 Jan, 6 June 2008). it regards the concept of independence Ever since Edgar Pisani’s futile as meaningful. proposal of independence-in-associa- Two rival visions of plausible tion in 1985, which Tjibaou regarded outcomes for New Caledonia’s “com- as a real “opening” in constructive mon destiny”—the goal set out in the dialogue, the trend among some inde- Noumea Accord in 1998 and written pendence supporters has been to speak into the French constitution the fol- of “sovereignty in association with lowing year—have emerged in recent France” as a possible compromise, but discourses as a possible referendum usually as a step toward full indepen- on independence approaches in 2014. dence. In June, Victor Tutugoro of the Metropolitan French and local loyal- flnks said he did not mind Rocard’s ists often speak of federalism, since blithe comments about the obsoles- New Caledonia’s three provinces each cence of independence, admitting (as have a signifi cant degree of autonomy Tjibaou had twenty years earlier) that and the territory itself (as an “over- countries are not completely inde- seas collectivity”) is gaining increasing pendent today, but that, nevertheless, autonomy from France. Legal scholar sovereignty “is the ability to choose Jean-Yves Faberon views this “double one’s own interdependencies.” He federalism” (internal and external) said, “The demand for independence as a “guarantee against intolerances” stops on the day it succeeds,” imply- because each province can develop ing a maximalist approach, and he in its own way, while France remains added that the flnks was prepared to an “impartial arbiter” between the go to the United Nations, the Melane- immigrant and indigenous groups. He sian Spearhead, and the Non-Aligned presented his analysis at the Paris col- Movement for support, as it had done loquium on the accords organized by in 1986 to lobby for New Caledonia Jean-Marc Regnault (TPM, June 2008). to be put back on the UN decoloni- The current French high commissioner zation list (NC, 17 June 2008). Paul (Yves Dassonville), the former premier Neaoutyine, president of the North, (Rocard), and loyalist political lead- has said, “independence is not nego- ers also tout this federal arrangement, tiable, it’s a right like breathing,” and sometimes pointing to the troubles in those who claim that globalization neighboring anglophone Melanesian has negated it are engaging in “sub- countries, and the interdependence terfuge” (Neaoutyine 2006, 94). In created by globalization, as sound response to grandiose statements at reasons to drop the “outdated” idea the Paris colloquium that New Cale- of independence. Frogier even pro- donia had already reached a state of posed holding the referendum in 2014 independence (except for the powers pol i t ical reviews • melanesia 355 reserved for France, namely military, balance in the country, both of which, public order, the courts, money, and he said, were important to “us who foreign affairs), Neaoutyine suggested want to become independent” (NC, 18 that the speakers needed to decolonize Feb 2008). Among loyalist parties, the their minds (Le Goff 2008). Even Sen- ae and rpcr competed mainly in the ator Simon Loueckhote, formerly of South, and the ae backed Jean-Pierre the rpcr, has formed his own party, Aifa’s campaign to regain Bourail Le Mouvement de la Diversité (lmd), on a platform of local development. and is studying Pacifi c cases of “free Seven lists competed in Noumea, association,” the arrangement pro- including the new Labor Party cre- posed by the United Nations in 1960 ated by the pro-independence Union as one way to end unequal colonial Syndicaliste des Travailleurs Kanak et status (NC, 9 June 2008). In a sense, Exploités (ustke), whose separatism the distinction between federalism in was lamented by the flnks, much France and association with France as Loueckhote took away votes from depends on what perspective the the rpcr. In the runoff for mayor, speaker is looking from—Europe (at Loueckhote and Sonia Lagarde of least mentally, in the case of loyalists) the ae could not agree to ally against or the Pacifi c. The former privileges the incumbent, with the result that the metropole while the latter centers Jean Lèques of the rpcr won a fi fth the country in Oceania. term. Aifa won in Bourail, but the In March 2008, local municipal ae lost Dumbea to the rpcr (pir, 18 elections mobilized political rhetoric March 2008). In the North, Neaou- again, as a kind of rehearsal for the tyine won a close race in Poindimié provincial elections in 2009. Over after a spouse-abuse conviction, but two thousand candidates competed Martin easily won again in Paita in in thirty-three communes. The flnks the South. Overall, a relative equi- tried to run on a single list supporting librium endured, as the ae and rpcr the transfer of self-governing measures each controlled six communes, though from France, though in many com- Noumea dwarfed the others in size. munes local alliances often cross the Pro-independence lists won the rest, lines of territorial parties, and some- except for some mixed council majori- times rival flnks members like Parti ties, and fi ve women (three pro-inde- de Libération Kanak (Palika) and the pendence and two loyalist) became Union Calédonienne (uc) compete. mayors (NC, 18 March 2008). In the multiethnic capital, Noumea, The other political spectacle of where most of the country’s popula- the year was growing dissension in tion and economic activity is concen- the loyalist parties, most notably in trated, the flnks joined a list with the ae, whose Gaullist members had progressives, since Kanak residents been courted by the rpcr ever since tend to vote in their home districts in the latter won both the deputy seats the North or Islands. Neaoutyine of (again) in the 2007 legislative elections Palika emphasized the transfer of pow- to the French National Assembly. In ers and the progress of the Koniambo addition, the rpcr won 40 percent of project in building greater economic the votes in the South in the com- 356 the contemporary pacifi c • 21:2 (2009) munal elections and Frogier retains though in reality neither polemical the presidency of Congress. This representation was entirely accurate, has prompted Frogier to assert that and at least part of the confl ict was the rpcr is the premier party in the over personalities. In January, Chris- country, although in reality it has only tine Gambey of Libération Kanak a fourth of the total seats in Congress. Socialiste (lks)—who was elected in The “government,” or territorial the South on the ae list in 2004, and executive chosen by Congress, has its in 2007 used a blank ballot tactic to own president, Martin of the ae. Mar- enable the flnks to gain an extra tin, however, belongs to the rpcr’s seat in the government executive (via metropolitan Gaullist ally, French proportional representation)—was President Nicolas Sarkozy’s Union abruptly fi red from the South’s pour un Mouvement Populaire (ump), tourism authority. She called it an whereas several other ae leaders, such “ambush” and blamed Gomès, the as Didier Leroux, belong to former president of the South, while Leroux French President Giscard d’Estaing’s and others defended her (NC, 30 Jan party, the Union pour la Démocratie 2008). She said the good of the coun- Français (udf). Yet Martin continued try was more important than egos, to uphold the ae’s social democratic and that the true ae was “an up-to- policies, in spite of Frogier’s call for date, contemporary, multiethnic party, more “deregulation” of the economy in the spirit of our common destiny, a and a less “socialist” reading of the party that promotes tolerance,” unlike Noumea Accord (French Socialist the rpcr (NC, 18 July 2008). In June, premiers had negotiated both peace each ae faction held a separate party accords). Martin ridiculed the quest congress. Although 12 out of 16 ae for “national” symbols in New delegates in Congress stood by Gomès, Caledonia, and criticized the transfer Leroux was elected head of the Martin of control over secondary education faction. By then, the local branch of to the territory, despite ump Premier the right-wing Front National (fn, the François Fillon’s affi rmation that such party of Jean-Marie Le Pen in France, transfers of responsibility are “the real which is virulently anti-immigrant) motor of the Noumea Accord.” Pierre had also divided into two factions, Bretegnier of the rpcr also attacked one of which formed a new party that interventions in the economy by the aimed to gather dissidents from other provincial governments as “socialist” parties into a new coalition (NC, 20 (NC, 7 Jan, 29 March, 12 Sept 2008). June, 21 June 2008). Tension grew in 2008 between two Amid this loyalist splintering, the factions of the ae, that of Martin and ae schism got nastier, as Gomès’s Leroux, and that of Gomès. Gomès group was refused offi cial permission accused Martin-Leroux of moving by Congress President Frogier to sit too close to the rpcr, while they in as a new party and thus lost access turn accused him of cooperating too to posts in the congressional commis- much with the flnks. The political sions, to the advantage of the flnks. “center” thus appeared to be torn Gomès’s ae also lost its appeals in between the country’s two rival poles, the administrative court, but it fi nally pol i t ical reviews • melanesia 357 formed a new party regardless, Calé- trict (mostly in the North and Islands donie Ensemble (Caledonia Together, provinces). The Congress elected in ce), and maneuvered for more access May 2009 will be chosen by a more to posts (NC, 8 Sept, 13 Oct 2008). restricted electorate of long-term Situated between the rpcr (13 seats) residents. The flnks hopes to sweep and the flnks/lks (18 seats), 23 the North and Islands, and for the seats were now held by seven splinter fi rst time also win seats in the South, groups, including Loueckhote’s lmd and through allying with progressives (NC, 22 July 2008). The Noumea gain a majority (NC, 22 Sept 2008; La newspaper said such diversity could be Voie du FLNKS Sept–Oct 2008). Frogier a sign of either a healthy democracy deployed a boxing analogy when he or a cancer in the loyalist camp (NC, argued that the ae had never been a 3 July 2008). Gomès claimed his new real party and had engaged in waste- party would “carry the real country,” ful government interventions in the as opposed to the Martin-Leroux ae economy: “I knocked to the mat the rump, which had “defi nitively rejoined president of Congress [then Martin] the rpcr.” He sought to build “a and the president of the Government little nation within the French nation” [then Mrs Marie-Noelle Thémereau]. on constructive dialogue, increasing Gaël Yanno [of the rpcr] sent to the self-government and socioeconomic ropes the president of the Southern progress (NC, 13 Oct 2008). Leroux, Province [still Gomès].” Accused by who belongs to the metropolitan udf, other parties of using his position as not Sarkozy’s Gaullist rump, said that Congress president to stall the passage his ae was still the same party that of reform laws, Frogier says his goal had won power in the 2004 provincial is to restore the rpcr to power, which elections: “The rpcr wants Caledonia it had held for almost twenty years in France, but without the others or before 2004, “because we must exit above the others. The independentists quickly from the logic of independen- want very much the others but with- tists against non-independentists, and out France. We want both, because purge the question of independence to radicalization is a mortal danger” build a society composed of a diverse (NC, 9 Oct 2008). While the rpcr and human community. . . . Caledonian flnks both want a referendum on society will be more and more mixed independence in 2014 (but for oppo- [métissée]” (NC,16 Oct 2008). Diverse site reasons), both ae groups oppose perhaps, but assimilated? At the it and instead support dialogue to rpcr convention, Frogier had talked reach a consensus before then to avoid dismissively of the Noumea Accord, another 1980s-style violent confl ict with its transfer of responsibilities and (NC, 10 Oct 2008). proposed Kanak “national” symbols, Meanwhile, in the 2009 provincial and accused the flnks of failing in its elections, the flnks have vowed to administration of the North because repeat the unity shown in the 2007 of divided leadership and in its duty to French legislative elections, when seek pardon for loyalist Melanesians Charles Pidjot of the uc won 45 per- who were persecuted in the 1980s (NC, cent of the ballots in the second dis- 5 Oct 2008). Victor Tutugoro of the 358 the contemporary pacifi c • 21:2 (2009) flnks argued that the Kanak uprising uc (the oldest political party in New at that time was against a dominant Caledonia and the former leader of system that had negated Kanak iden- the flnks under Tjibaou). The uc tity, even though the Kanak people saw the world fi nancial crisis as an repeatedly invited non-Kanak to join opportunity to gain local control over them in building a country (NC, 9 Oct the mining industry, since France was 2008). The lks reiterated that inclu- retrenching its budget, and to make sive, “Oceanian” view in the Islands local citizenship a reality, to protect Province: “The right of indigenous employment preferences. Pidjot even peoples does not exclude others”; they dismissed the annual accord signers also noted that the rpcr itself had committee meeting (though other uc experienced dissensions (NC, 23 Oct leaders went in his place, including 2008). former uc President Rock Wamytan), In October, pre-provincial election to protest what he saw as the changed party conventions raised the tone of role of the French State from arbiter political rhetoric. The ae of Martin- to pro-loyalist actor while allowing Leroux, which Gomès accused of Kanak and Wallisians to continue their being too close to the rpcr, instead intercommunal struggle at the bottom took offense at Frogier’s attacks of the economy. Too many meetings on the ae in October and defended and words, he complained, and not its reformist, state-guided develop- enough action on implementing the ment record. “The rpcr has not Noumea Accord’s lingering prom- changed....the reasons why we ises. In addition, increased economic created the ae in 2004 still exist,” diversifi cation along with more open Leroux noted. “We are now the only discussion within the flnks would credible rampart against the return give greater voice to the frustrated uc of the rpcr, against the return of a constituency, because Palika com- partisan movement whose aggressive- pletely excludes it from power in the ness divides New Caledonia into two North, where uc-backed clans stage blocs. We don’t have the right to allow customary protests against environ- the social advances allowed by the ae mental and other abuses by provincial to be called into question” (NC, 20 Oct mining projects (NC, 3 Nov, 1 Dec, 2008). Gomès proposed helping the 4 Dec 2008). Like the uc, however, middle class with zero interest rates Palika reiterated its demand for inde- on home purchases and touted the pendence, and the continued transfer success of his development programs of responsibilities from Paris to the in the South. Martin followed suit at local government. It also cited the the territorial level, offering afford- progress made in the Koniambo proj- able housing and progress in choosing ect and the Korean processing plant, local identity symbols (NC, 29 Oct, 3 and advocated a unifi ed electoral cam- Nov 2008). The flnks bid for unity, paign in 2009, especially in the South however, was threatened by the ongo- (NC, 7 Nov 2008; kol 21 Nov 2008), ing rivalry between Palika (which although the smaller parties in the has dominated the coalition in recent flnks seemed to want territorial party years, especially in the North) and the unity more (NC, 1 Dec 2008). pol i t ical reviews • melanesia 359

The annual meeting of the signers and employers (as long as public order of the Noumea Accord in Paris added was respected); protection of cultural more fuel to the verbal fi re, though and biological diversity; promotion of all sides nevertheless took heart from education to overcome social imbal- Sarkozy’s pledge of French support for ances; and mining projects, which are the successful completion of the con- “strategic for our country”—an echo tinuing devolution of powers to the of Gaullist thinking in the 1960s. In territory, as promised in the accord. their responses, Neaoutyine, Frogier, Some loyalists had already been disap- Martin, and Gomès expressed positive pointed by reductions in French mili- sentiments about Sarkozy’s sincer- tary presence overseas and a budget- ity but spun his speech to their own ary reform that reduces the payment liking. “We must accept our past,” of retirement pensions at “indexed” said Neaoutyine, president of the rates (almost twice the metropolitan North, “because we are in a process level) for those who move overseas, of decolonization and emancipation.” even if they had never resided in New Frogier applauded “the return of the Caledonia before retirement (NC, 11 State’s authority” as an actor, though Nov 2008). In late November, Sarkozy he later complained that not much of told a delegation of New Caledonian substance was said except for assur- mayors that France would respect ances that secondary education would both the letter and the spirit of the maintain its quality (NC, 10 Dec, 17 Noumea Accord, helping to “create Dec 2008). Martin emphasized the the conditions in which the popula- need for consensual decision making, tion will be able to freely choose its predicting that even the 2009 pro- destiny.” “Everyone has the right to vincial elections would not produce defend his convictions,” he said, “and a ruling majority in Congress (NC, 17 whatever they are, all Caledonians are Dec 2008). Palika and the uc resumed faced with the same challenge: lasting sniping at each other afterwards, but success at living together in the same Gambey organized an association to land.” He outlined fi ve goals for the pursue funding for youth (NC, 15 Dec French overseas territories: increase 2008). The Labor Party supported competitiveness, build accordable independence, with the Kanaky fl ag as housing, improve external transpor- the new national emblem. Its radical tation links, create a professional anti-colonial stance was applauded by workforce, and preserve nature while allies from France such as the Greens, promoting durable growth (NC, 29 Trotskyists, Corsicans, and Larzac Nov 2008). Two weeks later, Sarkozy peasant leader José Bové, who said repeated his attachment to the accord, the world crisis of free market capital- recognizing the legitimacy in New ism was an opportunity to refl ect on Caledonia of both the indigenous systemic economic change (NC, 17–18 Kanak and immigrant communities in Nov 2008). their dual quest for a common des- Meanwhile, the Société Minière du tiny. He said that promised transfers Sud Pacifi que (smsp, or South Pacifi c of responsibility would continue, as Mining Company), which is owned would dialogue between labor unions by the Northern Province, has a 360 the contemporary pacifi c • 21:2 (2009) us$4 billion processing plant project Koniambo project on its own, using underway at Koniambo, of which it dividends temporarily withheld from commands 51 percent of the shares the province, but the risks of multina- in partnership with Swiss Xstrata. tional mining deals became ever more Also, the smsp has just opened an ore apparent (NC, 3 Dec 2008). processing plant in South Korea, of In the South, now that unesco is which it owns 51 percent of the shares protecting the lagoon, construction of in partnership with Posco. The com- the us$3.2 billion, twice-halted Goro pany even offered to help the territory nickel processing plant was proceed- to purchase the sln, which might ing, despite the lingering environmen- be accomplished by trading locally tal issue of how to dispose of its toxic owned shares of the sln’s parent com- waste. Separating increasingly limited pany, Eramet (NC, 28 June, 30 June amounts of ore from massive amounts 2008). The smsp was preparing the of excavated soil requires poisonous site for its Koniambo plant and nearby chemicals. The Goro project direc- seaport and housing developments, tor for inco of Canada (now in fact with the help of tax breaks and fi nan- owned by the Brazilian fi rm Vale) has cial aid from France (us$260 million), insisted that the waste is too expen- revenues from selling ore to Posco in sive to evaporate, because the humid South Korea, and various bank loans climate is too moist to dry it naturally, (NC, 1 March 2008). The North also and the electrical heaters needed to do established an environmental protec- it would require too much power and tion policy, but has been impeded on create too much air pollution! (NC, several fronts: local fi rms protested 26 March 2008). The plan, contested against the hiring of transporters in protests and in the courts, was to from the South, interclan disputes lay a twenty-one-kilometer heavy raged over land claims (NC, 16 May plastic pipe, perforated only in the last 2008), and the territorial government link, from the plant out to the Havan- refused to allow nineteen Filipino nah Channel in the interim between “specialists” (cheaper than locals) to the whale and cyclone seasons of 2008 work on the site (NC, 20 Aug 2008). to allow production to start in 2009 To make matters worse, the global (NC, 25 Oct 2008). In response, Gomès fi nancial crisis reduced the price of imposed an extra tax on the pipe of nickel to us$13,450 a ton in October 1 percent of Goro’s total business, (NC, 16 Oct 2008; pir, 23 Oct 2008), and he proposed raising the country’s Koniambo investor Lehman Brothers share of royalties from 10 percent to failed and a Chinese bank pulled out 20 percent (NC, 16 Feb 2008). As for of the project, as did the construction Raphael Mapou’s association, Rhéébù fi rm that had hired the Filipinos. But Nùù, which had battled inco for six a Swiss bank soon replaced Lehman, years over environmental, economic, and the opening of the Posco pro- and customary land issues, it won cessing plant in Korea improved the the municipal election in nearby Yaté smsp’s credibility in Asia (NC, 24 Oct and erected a Kanak totem pole on a 2008). Xstrata has assured the prov- hill above the Goro site to symbolize ince that if necessary it will fi nance the continuing vigilance (NC, 15 March, pol i t ical reviews • melanesia 361

14 July 2008). In September, Rhéébù with militant strikers. The Union Nùù signed a “pact for durable devel- Syndicaliste des Ouvriers et Employés opment” with Goro Nickel, in which de la Nouvelle-Calédonie (usoenc) it promised to abide by law and order retained its number one ranking in the in return for the creation of a founda- May union elections with over 5,000 tion to fi nance local economic and supporters, as a result of its detailed educational enterprises, a consultative platform for combating the high cost customary environmental oversight of living and its preference for “social committee, and a funded reforesta- dialogue” (NC, 5 May 2008). Sylvain tion project. The association claimed, Nea’s maverick Conféderation Syndi- “We have verifi ed that there would cale des Travailleurs de la Nouvelle- be no irreversible pollution,” much to Calédonie (cstnc), often accused of the dismay of ecologists and political being allied with the rpcr against the sympathizers (NC, 27–29 Sept 2008; ae regime, mobilized long, disruptive kol 7 Oct 2008). Meanwhile, inco’s strikes in 2005 and 2006, but was permit for the nearby Prony West site more subdued this year after several (granted almost for free by the former court convictions (NC, 30 Aug 2008). Southern Province regime of Jacques The ustke, which came in second in Lafl eur) was defi nitively revoked on the labor union rankings, battled riot appeal in June, after a long legal strug- police and tear gas and threatened the gle. Gomès awarded the permit to the life of a bus company boss in January sln, despite its prediction of reduced (NC, 18 Jan 2008); called a general nickel production in 2009 due to the strike to protest against arrests; dem- global economic slump. Gomès had onstrated in May despite the use of negotiated the possibility of increasing tear gas; and called two more gen- royalties on Goro to 20 percent, and eral strikes, resulting in twenty court if the sln builds a processing plant convictions, fi nes, and prison time at Prony, the country will own 25 for some of its members (NC, 10 Sept percent of the shares, in line with his 2008). The ustke-affi liated Labor goal of increasing local control (NC, 16 Party won 6,000 votes in fourteen June, 26 Sept, 4 Dec 2008). communes in March, for a total of In the most industrialized country thirty-three elected city councilors, in Oceania, labor unions remain a despite flnks complaints of disunity powerful force in creating pressure (NC, 31 March 2008). In December, a for progress (eg, favoring local hiring, proposed “law of the country” was set a key component of creating a local before Congress to grant local citizen- citizenship). Unfortunately, they also ship (and thus employment opportuni- disrupt many people’s lives, as with ties) only to ten-year residents, unless blockades of ports and roads for an employer can prove an individual few tangible gains. Dramatic union of shorter residence has irreplaceable action has often served as a means to qualifi cations (NC, 10 Dec 2008). attract followers to the leading labor France increased its budgetary organizations, but High Commis- aid to all its overseas territories to sioner Yves Dassonville (like his boss more than us$5 billion, earmarked Sarkozy in France) has been severe especially for social spending and 362 the contemporary pacifi c • 21:2 (2009) economic development, with 40 discuss “regional integration,” and the percent of the funds to go to New International Organization of French- Caledonia (pir, 1 Oct 2008; NC, 1 Speakers (Francophonie) headed by Oct 2008). That news was welcome former President Abdou Diouf of as the territory and provinces faced Senegal sought links with the Pacifi c budget cuts due to the drop in nickel Islands Forum, now that New Caledo- prices. The resource-poor Islands nia and French Polynesia are associate Province dipped into its reserves to members (pir, 8 Oct, 14 Nov 2008). maintain services and wages, but the Gaston Tong Sang, president of French populous South and Noumea actually Polynesia, visited Noumea to try to increased their budgets for 2009 to negotiate a project of cooperation. continue internal social rebalancing However, local nationalists did not and economic expansion. The rpcr like his idea of moving in Tahitian and Leroux-ae opposed the added workers to help with New Caledonia’s expenditures, but Gomès’s ce and mining projects, so not much was elements of the fn voted to continue accomplished other than photo oppor- “durable development” (NC, 13 Dec, tunities with Martin and Frogier (NC, 20 Dec 2008). A moderate budget 21–23 Oct 2008). passed in Congress due to support France clearly desires peace in New from the Leroux- Martin ae, the rpcr, Caledonia and wants to change its the fn, and Loueckhote; Gomès’s own image in the region from what it ce and the lks voted against it, and was in the 1980s when nuclear testing the flnks abstained. Bernard Lepeu in French Polynesia and the sup- of the uc said, “The time of skinny pression of the Kanak independence cows has arrived, but the government movement drew antagonism across the continues to lower taxes” (NC, 24 Dec Pacifi c. Sarkozy is reducing the size of 2008). Fully one-fourth of New Cale- the French military, including its pres- donians are judged to be in poverty ence in New Caledonia, and reforming (NC, 11 Dec 2008), prompting Didier the costly indexation of civil servant Guenant-Jeanson of the usoenc to pensions, which has allowed retirees suggest that it was time to reform the to move to the Pacifi c territories and retail sector; he said, “We import infl a- receive almost double their money, tion,” which is at a record 3.3 percent, thus contributing to local infl ation while agriculture is neglected (NC, 5 (NC, 26 May, 17 Sept 2008). Now that Dec 2008). But in Paris, an expensive unesco has declared them a World new House of New Caledonia was Heritage site, France has also vowed opened to serve students and others to protect New Caledonia’s coral reefs, from the “Caillou” (literally, rock, partly because it wants to patrol the ie, New Caledonia) in France, and territory’s (and the French Pacifi c’s) to hold cultural events in the name large exclusive economic zone (NC, 28 of promoting a common destiny and Jan, 11 Feb 2008). French Overseas identity (NC, 24 Nov 2008). French Minister Yves Jego wants to make high commissioners and ambassadors sure that the transfer of self-governing in the Pacifi c also met in Noumea to responsibilities from Paris to Noumea pol i t ical reviews • melanesia 363

(provided for by the Noumea Accord local diploma was created to train and the organic laws of 1999) goes youth activity organizers (NC, 11 June smoothly because, he said, “Our 2008), and social policies were being France is not a race, not a land, not a developed to address the increasing skin color . . . it’s the sharing of a uni- number of squatter camps and home- versal quest for liberty, equality and, lessness in the South, with input from let’s not forget, of brotherhood. Our the Customary Senate (NC, 7 Aug, France, it’s this nation without parallel 17 Nov 2008). In December, a which has known how to enlighten Wallisian man was beaten to death the world with its brilliance and to by Kanak youths in the Place des gather into its crucible such different Cocotiers in Noumea, while a trial men and women” (NC, 30 May 2008). was underway about a fatal shooting At the Pacifi c Islands Forum in Niue in 2002 during the confl ict in St Louis in August, Martin touted the Noumea between Kanak and Wallisians, after Accord and progress made toward a which some of the latter had to be common destiny in New Caledonia evicted (pir, 8 Dec 2008; NC, 11 Oct (NC, 21 Aug 2008). Jego announced 2008). These events highlight the need that the next France-Pacifi c summit for attention to the economic under- would be held in Noumea in 2009: class in the South. “To answer globalization is to inte- In 2003, President Jacques Chi- grate the overseas territories into their rac visited New Caledonia and, on regional environment.” The French a whim, banned questions about presence was welcomed because of ethnicity from the local population “instability” in Fiji and elsewhere, said census that year, despite arguments the ambassador to Australia (NC, 30 that such data were needed to measure Aug 2008). economic disparities and rebalanc- In cultural affairs, Kanak identity ing. In 2008, an agreement was fi nally found additional recognition in the reached to allow the addition of ethnic creation of customary police who will questions in the 2009 survey (NC, 24 replace French gendarmes as state Jan, 9 Oct 2008). The current popula- agents in tribal dispute cases, thus tion is estimated at 245,000. In keep- transcribing oral palavers into writ- ing with the Noumea Accord’s provi- ten records (pir, 21 May 2008; NC, sion for creating new local identity 21 March, 23 Oct, 10 Dec 2008). symbols, a hymn and motto —“land of An academy of Kanak languages has words, land of sharing” (with the term begun to take shape, as agreed in the “words” [in French, paroles] connot- Noumea Accord, to help promote the ing oral discourse and commitment)— teaching of indigenous languages in were chosen in public contests, with schools, especially in the multiethnic bank note designs awaiting a decision South where urbanization and lan- on whether to adopt the euro. The guage loss pose a greater threat than more contentious new country name in the North and Islands (NC, 25 Feb and fl ag will have to be negotiated by 2008). To deal with rising juvenile a committee (NC, 27 June 2008). Billy delinquency and urban gangs, a new Wapotro, director of the Protestant 364 the contemporary pacifi c • 21:2 (2009)

Educational Alliance, said in June at personnel. The Australian government the ceremonial Mwâ Kâ totem pole in refused to apologize for the incident, Noumea, “Rebalancing among people calling it a cultural misunderstanding happens through the rebalancing of between Papua New Guinea’s “big thinking” (NC, 27 June 2008). man” culture and Australian norms david chappell and security procedures. This sparked public protests in Port Moresby and prompted the PNG Department of References Foreign Affairs to summon Australian Ambassador Michael Potts to explain. kol, Kanaky Online. Discussion group. http://fr.groups.yahoo.com/group/kanaky Diplomatic relations between the two countries were further strained in Le Goff, Christian. 2008. Accord de 2006 when the international fugitive Matignon: vingt ans après, rien n’est réglé Julian Moti was spirited out of Port à Noumea. Rue89 Web site, 28 April. Moresby to Solomon Islands in a clan- http://www.rue89.com /2008/04 / 28/ accord-de-matignon-vingt-ans-apres destine operation on a PNG Defence -rien-nest-regle-a-noumea Force aircraft. The Australian gov- ernment retaliated by banning PNG NC, Les Nouvelles-Calédoniennes. Daily. politicians from entering Australia. Noumea. http://www.lnc.nc Rudd’s trip to the country was the Neaoutyine, Paul. 2006. L’Indépendance fi rst such visit by an Australian prime au Présent: Identité Kanak et Destin minister in eleven years and was well Commun. Paris: Editions Syllepse. received by Papua New Guinea as a pir, Pacific Islands Report. rejuvenation of its relations with Aus- http://pidp.eastwestcenter.org /pireport tralia. The visit culminated with the

TPM, Tahiti-Pacifique Magazine. Monthly. two countries signing a forest carbon Papeete. partnership whereby both countries agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emis- La Voie du FLNKS. New coalition bulletin sions caused by deforestation and published every two months. forest degradation. Following his meeting with Sir Michael, Rudd released the “Port Moresby Declaration,” stressing Papua New Guinea Australia’s commitment to a “new era The year 2008 began on a high note of cooperation with island nations of with a state visit by Australian Prime the Pacifi c.” The twenty-point declara- Minister Kevin Rudd from 6–7 March, tion outlines Australia’s plans related heralding the dawn of a new era to economic development across the between Papua New Guinea (PNG) Pacifi c, as well as their intentions and Australia. Almost four years of to help Pacifi c Island nations make diplomatic friction had begun in 2005 progress toward the United Nation’s when Prime Minister Sir Michael Millennium Development Goals; to Somare had to go through three pursue the Pacifi c Partnerships for security checks and remove his sandals Development; to work together with at the Brisbane airport for security other countries to meet the challenges pol i t ical reviews • melanesia 365 of climate change; and to achieve tures of District Support Grants and better outcomes for health and discretionary funds) or fi led them late education, among other goals (The or incomplete on many occasions since National, 7 March 2008). 1992 (rnzi, 8 May 2008; Radio Aus- On 16 September, the country tralia, 2 July 2008). In June, the then celebrated a rare accomplishment for chief ombudsman, Ila Geno, said the any of the multiethnic states in the investigation was “based on section 4 region: thirty-three years of political of the Organic Law on the Duties and independence as a thriving democracy Responsibilities of Leadership, which comprising multiple ethnic groups requires leaders to furnish to the with over 800 different languages. To Ombudsman Commission their annual commemorate the anniversary, the statements every 12 months while in Somare government launched the fi rst offi ce.” This was “the fi rst time since government-owned National Televi- the Leadership Code was enacted for a sion Station on Independence Day, PNG Prime Minister to be referred for signifying a monumental development prosecution on misconduct charges” in Papua New Guinea’s broadcasting (The National, 27 June 2008). history. Another blow to Somare’s repu- It was also a signifi cant year for tation came in November when an Sir Michael, the current and founding Australian newspaper reported that prime minister, as he celebrated his in April 2007 he had bought a three- fortieth anniversary in PNG politics bedroom apartment with a private (1968–2008). This makes him the plunge pool in inner-city Cairns for longest-serving prime minister in the a$395,000, through a deal brokered Commonwealth. As PNG political by a Gold Coast lawyer. Two months history has been plagued by numer- before, his son Arthur bought a ous votes of no confi dence, Somare four-bedroom home with his wife at became the fi rst prime minister in Trinity Beach, just north of Cairns, history to survive a full fi ve-year term for a$685,000. (One Australian dollar in offi ce (2002–2007) and seems likely was the equivalent of approximately to make it through his second (2008– us$.93 in 2007.) Arthur Somare 2012)—despite numerous affi rmations denied any suggestion of wrongdo- that he will retire from politics before ing in the purchase of his property, his term expires. explaining that it was to accommodate However, Somare’s celebrated his children studying in Australia. longevity in politics did not come with The legal counsel for the Ombudsman a clean slate. In June 2008 he was Commission, Vergil Narokobi, said referred by the PNG Ombudsman that the commission would investi- Commission—a political watchdog gate, but it is quite possible that the and institution that he helped cre- trans actions were legitimate (The ate—to the public prosecutor for National, 7 Nov 2008). alleged misconduct in offi ce. Somare Meanwhile, Opposition Leader was investigated over allegations that Sir Mekere Morauta said that the he failed to fi le his annual returns Somares owed it to the people to (statements accounting for expendi- reveal their assets and to explain 366 the contemporary pacifi c • 21:2 (2009) publicly how they obtained the real Sir Arnold Amet was ousted from estate. Sir Mekere, in the same year, his seat by an election petition fi led bought a riverfront mansion at New by businessman and former politi- Farm in Brisbane’s inner city under his cian Peter Yama. Comments made wife Roslyn’s name, for a$3.6 mil- by Prime Minister Somare during the lion. In another controversial case, it 2007 election campaign urging voters was alleged that the prime minister not to vote for polygamists or people did not declare his shareholding in the of shady character led the court to rule company Pacifi c Registry of Ships Ltd. in favor of Yama, who apparently has The offi cial registry showed that Sir three wives (The National, 12 Sept Michael is a shareholder “in trust for 2008). the Independent State of PNG.” All of In an election petition against these allegations have contributed to elected Western Highlands Governor overshadowing Sir Michael’s achieve- Tom Olga, a former prime minister ments in his political career and erod- and 2007 election contender, Paias ing his symbolic status as the “father Wingti, asked the court for a recount, of the nation.” alleging errors and omissions commit- The ruling National Alliance Party ted by Electoral Commission offi cials experienced a major setback when it during the polling and counting of lost a number of seats due to elec- votes. Wingti won a recount of all pro- tion petitions fi led after the 2007 vincial ballot papers in March 2008, general elections. On 21 February, the turning up gross anomalies and omis- National Court voided the election sions on the part of electoral offi cers, of Minister for Education Michael which resulted in the court declaring Laimo, a National Alliance Party can- the election of Governor Tom Olga didate. Laimo lost his parliamentary null and void. In what could have seat due to irregularities and illegal been a related incident, the Western practices committed during the 2007 Highlands provincial headquarters, elections. Steven Kami, a New Genera- known as Kapal Haus, was completely tion Party candidate, challenged the destroyed by fi re on 22 October 2008. election result on the grounds of gross It was believed that supporters of one errors, omissions, and illegal practices of the candidates were responsible for committed by Electoral Commission burning down the building. offi cials (The National, 22 Feb 2008). On 5 June 2008, the Autonomous The next setback came on 23 April Region of Bougainville lost its found- 2008 when East Sepik Governor ing president, Joseph Kabui, to a Peter Wararu Waranaka was unseated suspected heart attack. Kabui played because of a k50 bribe he had given an instrumental role at the height of a voter. (The PNG kina was the the Bougainville crisis and in the peace equivalent of us$.38 at the time.) This building and reconciliation process. resulted from an election petition fi led To succeed him, James Tanis, a former by contender and runner-up candidate separatist, beat thirteen other con- Gabriel Dusava. tenders to be elected president of the Then, on 11 September, former Autonomous Region of Bougainville Chief Justice and Madang Governor on 28 December. A new chapter in pol i t ical reviews • melanesia 367

Bougainville’s history began in April structural and policy challenges limit when the PNG national government its long-term growth potential. In and the Autonomous Bougainville order to stimulate private investment, Government (abg) signed a memoran- particularly outside the mining sector, dum of understanding on the transfer the critical priority is improving the of mining, oil, and gas functions to the business climate, especially by opening Bougainville government. more markets to competition. The rate of economic growth Mobile connectivity between two of accelerated in 2008 to 6.6 percent, the rival telecommunication compa- is expected to reach 7 percent in nies, the government-owned Telikom 2009, and is likely to remain on PNG and the Irish company Digicel, solid ground, potentially above 5 dominated the early part of the year, percent per annum, for the next few including interconnection issues and years (Independence Magazine 2008, tussles over the rights for the interna- 7–8). This remarkable growth in the tional gateway. On 16 April, the gov- economy can be attributed primarily ernment used its numerical strength to the stable political climate bolstered to pass amendments to the Telecom- by the Organic Law on the Integrity munication Act, effectively removing of Political Parties and Candidates the international gateway enjoyed (olippac) and the government’s recep- by Digicel. Minister for Information tiveness to foreign investment and and Communication Patrick Tam- competition in some key sectors of the mur introduced the amendments to economy such as mining, construction, make Telikom PNG the only licensed and telecommunications. general carrier. Opposition leader Sir According to the World Bank, in Mekere Morauta said that there was the past fi ve years Papua New Guinea no justifi cation for the amendments, has seen the longest period of uninter- that they would not benefi t the people rupted growth since independence. and would take away private com- World Bank’s half yearly assessment panies’ rights. It would also create a of East Asian and Pacifi c economies monopoly for Telikom PNG. After indicated the gross domestic product several months of delay and customer rose by around 6 percent in 2007, the frustration, interconnection between highest real economic growth rate in Telikom PNG and Digicel fi nally came the past decade. Formal employment to fruition on 26 June. across most sectors has been growing According to the 2007 Informa- by about 10 percent annually since tion and Communication Technolo- 2005. This growth was led by con- gies Opportunities Index of the World struction, telecommunications, and Information Society Report 2007— export-oriented agriculture (coffee, published jointly by the International copra, and palm oil) and mining (The Telecommunication Union and the National, 2 April 2008). While giving UN Conference on Trade and Devel- high marks to PNG economic per- opment—Papua New Guinea ranked formance on most fronts, the World poorly (162 out of 183 countries) on Bank stated that despite a comfort- an international benchmark report able macro-fi scal position, signifi cant on access and use of information and 368 the contemporary pacifi c • 21:2 (2009) communication technologies (ict), the lng facility itself, export loading, including mobile telephony, fi xed and other support facilities located landline phones, and Internet (The near Port Moresby (The National, 2 National, 2 April 2008). The PNG April 2008). government will need to allow more The PNG government created competition in the telecommunication greater certainty in the lng scheme industry and relax its stringent ict after concluding the fi nancing agree- policy to reverse the country’s ranking. ment for a$1.68 billion to fully There were also a number of fi nance its 19.4 percent equity in the signifi cant developments in the min- massive project. (The Australian dollar ing industry. In early February, the had fallen to approximately us$.65 Emperor Mines offi cially handed over by November 2008.) The fi nalization the Tolukuma Gold Mine to the PNG of the transaction will see the Interna- company Petromin Holdings Ltd, in a tional Petroleum Investment Corpora- ceremony held at the mine site. It was tion (ipic), wholly owned by the Abu the fi rst time in history that a state Dhabi government in the United Arab company bought 100 percent of a Emirates, acquire exchangeable bonds gold-producing mining concern (The over the PNG government’s 17.6 National, 22 Feb 2008). percent shareholding in Oil Search. One of the biggest and most This would enable the state to receive promising projects in PNG mining principal fi nancing from ipic, which industry got a head start in 2008. The would be placed in an escrow account liquefi ed natural gas (lng) project will that could only be drawn down for become the biggest mineral resource specifi ed purposes related to the proj- extraction seen since independence ect (The National, 26 Nov 2008). and the third largest such development In a bid to control the state’s equity, project in the world. In October the the PNG resource company Petromin PNG Parliament passed nine amend- Holdings took court action to take ments to the Oil and Gas Act that control of the state’s Oil Search shares will, among other things, provide tax given to the Independent Public Busi- concessions during construction of the ness Corporation (ipbc) where the us$10 billion project. Under Exxon- prime minister’s son Arthur Somare Mobil, it is projected to produce 6.3 is the minister. However, Petromin million tonnes per annum of liquefi ed Holdings withdrew the case after natural gas. With Asia likely to be its board was threatened with being the main market, the fi rst lng sales sacked. National Planning Minister are expected to occur in late 2013 or Paul Tiensten slammed the legal chal- early 2014. The project development lenge launched by Petromin Holdings comprises the upstream infrastructure against ipbc as the state’s nominee including production wells, processing for the multibillion-dollar lng project facilities, and a network of pipelines (The National, 14 Nov 2008). The linking the wells to the facilities and Parliament passed legislation to shut to the main export gas pipeline. Other Petromin Holdings out completely developments include the gas pipeline and, in turn, empowered the ipbc as from the highlands to the lng plant the State nominee to sign the deal location just outside of Port Moresby, with ipic. pol i t ical reviews • melanesia 369

The government plans to keep to a standstill supposedly because of proceeds from its direct equity par- lack of funds. Complaints were made ticipation in the ExxonMobil-led lng that the commission had been sitting project in a trust account outside of on the inquiry and yet were being the budget. These funds would be used paid hefty fees without any inquiry on development projects in line with reports for the last three years. Among the government’s long-term develop- the fi les was Chief Secretary to the ment strategy (The National, 3 Dec Government Isaac Lupari’s claim 2008). against the state for breach of contract In an unprecedented step in April, when he served as the head of vari- Isaac Lupari, the chief secretary to ous government departments. In early the government, was sacked after a April, Chairman Maurice Sheehan National Executive Council meeting announced that the commission was in Madang Province. Minister for ready to look into the Finance Depart- Public Service Peter O’Neil said that ment’s payouts involving millions the action was “in the best interest of kina made to claimants between of the state” and necessary to move 1 January 2000 and 31 July 2006 the country forward. Lupari had been (during the period, one kina ranged brought over from Brussels where he from us$.26 to us$.34). The inquiry was serving as the PNG ambassador revealed that the government could to the European Union (EU) to replace have saved k63.46 million in payouts Joshua Kalinoe as chief secretary. resulting in “deeds of release” and The removal of Lupari angered another k15.71 million under “default the Highlands members of Parlia- judgment” payouts. ment. Southern Highlands Governor In a startling revelation early in Anderson Agiru commented that the February, National Planning Minister National Executive Council decision Paul Tiensten alleged that offi cers in was a slap in the face of highland- Vulupindi Haus, the building that ers (The National, 29 April 2008). houses his department, were asking The government announced that it for 10 percent commission before would bring forward legislation in the processing checks and payments. July session of Parliament to abolish He said that this 10 percent check- the Offi ce of Chief Secretary as well processing syndicate was operating in as the Central Agencies Coordinat- three departments—National Planning ing Committee. The government has and Rural Development, Finance, and started the process with the creation Treasury—implying that offi cers in of ministerial sectoral committees in a the departments were involved (The proposed restructuring, following the National, 22 Feb 2008). Tiensten dismissal of the chief secretary (The also stated that more than k3 billion National, 30 May 2008). from the 2006 and 2007 supplemen- The public service was also beset tary budgets was sitting idle in trust by a number of problems. A com- accounts in Waigani, managed by mission of inquiry looking into the department heads. Despite all the cases of fi nancial mismanagement and mechanisms to facilitate a smooth and corruption at the Finance Department expedient implementation of pro- has on a number of occasions come grams, only 10 percent of the funds 370 the contemporary pacifi c • 21:2 (2009) had been drawn and expended to date. percent of the sales of log exports was Tiensten argued that the system and accumulating in this account, kept bureaucracy continue to fail the gov- by a minister, since 2002. Opposition ernment (The National, 9 Jan 2008). Leader Sir Mekere Morauta called The bureaucracy also came under on the government to investigate the severe attack from the government. allegations, saying that if they were Prime Minister Somare said that true, it represented “the most serious appropriations have been made in case of corruption that has come to the budget, and that the problem was light to date.” Sir Mekere said that with lack of implementation by civil the amount of money involved was servants (The National, 7 Feb 2008). serious and the situation demonstrated The national government described that senior members of the govern- this bureaucratic failure as a “real ment were using state institutions for nightmare.” Government priority pro- personal gain. Corruption, therefore, grams in education, health, and law according to Sir Mekere, has become and order worth millions of kina have systemic and institutionalized (The been rolled over for a number of years National, 3 July 2008). due to non-implementation, which has Of similar magnitude was the now become a source of real concern. reported us$30 million “Taiwan This follows criticisms from a wide dollar diplomacy scandal.” The Post spectrum of society, in the light of gov- Courier fi rst reported in May that ernment boasting about the economic six Papua New Guineans allegedly boom and budget surpluses that are received money from two Taiwanese not reaching ordinary people. middlemen and that National Plan- Toward the end of the year the ning Minister Paul Tiensten, who was bureaucracy came under another then acting foreign affairs minister, stinging attack from the University of allegedly signed a draft communiqué Vudal Vice Chancellor Professor Philip in September 2006 for Papua New Siaguru. During a graduation cere- Guinea to set up “full diplomatic rela- mony Professor Siaguru lamented that tions” with Taiwan. the k23 million Chinese government– However, as it has done since funded student dormitories and staff independence in 1975, Papua New houses were still not occupied because Guinea continues to recognize Beijing the PNG government had not released and the One China policy. Meanwhile, k1.2 million for beds and wardrobes the Opposition and the PNG chapter for the dormitories. Locating the of Transparency International (ti) problem in the corridors of Vulupindi have condemned the actions of those Haus, he said he had been given the involved and are seeking assistance runaround by the departments of to establish the truth. The country National Planning and Treasury since also lost one of its staunch fi ghters of March (The National, 1 Dec 2008). corruption, the ti-PNG chapter chair- In July the Post Courier reported man, Mike Manning, who died of a that more than us$40 million was heart attack. The ti-PNG board of being held in a bank account in Sin- directors appointed Peter Aitsi as the gapore. The newspaper alleged that new chairman. secret payments amounting to 2.1 In September, Benjamin Mul, the pol i t ical reviews • melanesia 371 member for North-Waghi, argued improved. Since independence only that the k2,017 fortnightly salary that three women have managed to win a members of Parliament receive was seat. Currently, the only woman par- not enough to both support their fami- liamentarian, Dame Carol Kidu—the lies and entertain people who come minister for community development to them for money (The National, 22 and wife of the late chief justice, Sir Sept 2008). Earlier in the year, Ken Buri Kidu—is pushing for greater rep- Fairweather, the member for Sumkar, resentation of women in Parliament. appealed to the public, highlighting Parliament recently endorsed a the fi nancial plight of parliamentar- submission by Dame Kidu to bring ians as a result of providing handouts in three women by 2009, using an to “bubus” (older family members) amended constitutional provision for and their tribal entourage. PNG Trade nominated seats. This will be the fi rst Union Congress General Secretary time in the history of the country for John Paska slammed the moves to women to be nominated as represen- increase parliamentary wages and tatives from the fl oor of Parliament. allowances, saying that this was the However, Professor John Nonggorr, most “putrid and irresponsible” state- a constitutional lawyer, criticized the ment coming out of Parliament when move, saying that there were serious most ordinary citizens are suffering constitutional fl aws in the initiative, from high cost of goods and services. one being that it may be challenged as Meanwhile, the PNG Trade Union sexually discriminatory (Post Courier, Congress has been pushing for an 22 Jan 2009). increase in minimum wages for work- The organic integrity law (olippac) ers, saying that the current minimum was introduced by the Morauta gov- wage of k37.20 per week is grossly ernment in 2003 to promote stabil- inadequate, with minimum-wage ity in Parliament. However, certain workers and their families struggling provisions dealing with the rights and to make a living. Most minimum-wage conscience of elected members were earners cannot afford education and restricted because they have to work health care for their children due to along party lines. The law was chal- the lack of adequate information on lenged by Western Province Gover- how to budget for goods and services nor Bob Danaya. The three crucial while raising and educating their problems with the law are that it (1) children. With the cost of living hav- restricts the ability of members from ing increased dramatically, the trade exercising their votes in Parliament; union congress is proposing to the (2) prevents them from resigning from 2008 board for the minimum wage to political parties; and (3) prevents them be set at k120.00 per week or k240.00 from exercising their votes in accor- per fortnight, a k40 increase over that dance with their conscience and in proposed by the government (The the interests of their constituents (The National, 18 Dec 2008). National, 11 Nov 2008). Despite some affi rmative action While speaking at a People’s Party incentives for political parties to convention, John Bishop, the director nominate women candidates, women’s of funding and disclosure of the Offi ce representation in Parliament has not of the Integrity of Political Parties and 372 the contemporary pacifi c • 21:2 (2009)

Candidates, revealed that according to Pacifi c–European Union joint parlia- the organic integrity law, companies mentary assembly. In the same month, are permitted to fund political parties most of the coastal and island prov- and that companies and individuals inces were hit by rising sea tides as a should not be afraid to donate money result of La Niña. Reports of damage to support political parties (The caused by sea swells came in from National, 29 April 2008). This may the provinces of Sandaun, East Sepik, surprise some who hold the view that Manus, New Ireland, Bougainville, political parties and candidates should and Morobe. The government immedi- not accept external funding because of ately provided k50 million in disaster the danger of being unduly infl uenced relief to assist the stricken provinces. by big businesses and corporations. In its 2008 report, the international In August, Papua New Guinea human rights group Amnesty Interna- fi nally was given the opportunity to tional described Papua New Guinea participate in the Pacifi c seasonal as having high levels of crime, and its worker scheme in Australia. Under a police as having neither the ability nor three-year pilot program, up to 2,500 the will to guarantee security to its workers from Papua New Guinea, public (The National, 30 May 2008). Kiribati, Tonga, and Vanuatu will be This was further corroborated in Sep- employed for up to seven months in tember in a Washington DC foreign the horticulture industry. policy publication, stating that Port PNG Foreign Affairs Minister Sam Moresby is among the top fi ve murder Abal and his Australian counterpart, capitals of the world (Foreign Policy Stephen Smith, also announced the 2008). Police Commissioner Gari Baki renaming of the Enhanced Coopera- was quick to rebut these statements, tion Program, through which Aus- but drew little support from the public tralian advisers were being seconded in light of the increasing crime in the to PNG government departments. nation’s capital. It will now be called the Strongim Many unanswered questions remain Gavman project and will help boost concerning the major scandals and programs between the two coun- the government’s perpetual denial tries. The announcement was made and sluggishness in investigating and at the closure of the PNG-Australia prosecuting those involved. The cases Ministerial Forum in Madang. Also outlined in this review, if unresolved, during the forum, National Planning will continue to haunt the Somare Minister Paul Tiensten announced government long after Sir Michael the Long Term Development Plan, a retires from the political scene. twenty-year initiative, incorporating solomon kantha the fi ve-year medium-term plans. The long-term plan would run from 2010 to 2030 and would stress economic References independence, economic growth by 10 percent, and higher quality education The Australian Online. http://www (The National, 24 April 2008). .theaustralian.news.com.au / In November, Papua New Guinea Foreign Policy. 2008. The List: Murder hosted the 16th African Caribbean Capitals of the World. September. pol i t ical reviews • melanesia 373 http://www.foreignpolicy.com /story/ Islands Patrick Cole as persona non cms.php?story_id=4480 grata in the Solomon Islands. This Independence Magazine 2008. Special and other issues, including concerns magazine insert, Post Courier, about the gcc government’s “dictato- 16 September. rial” leadership style, led to Sogavare’s ouster. The National. Daily. Port Moresby. Sogavare was replaced in December Post Courier. Daily. Port Moresby. 2007 by Dr Derek Sikua, a longtime Radio Australia. Online at http://www public servant who was in his fi rst .radioaustralia.net.au / term as a member of Parliament. Sikua formed a Coalition for rnzi, Radio New Zealand International. National Unity and Rural Advance- Online at http://www.rnzi.com ment (c-nura) government that faced many challenges, including how to deliver services and salvage relations with neighbors like Australia, New Solomon Islands Zealand, and Papua New Guinea. Yet For Solomon Islands, 2008 was domi- expectations were high for improved nated by the establishment of a new governance under c-nura leadership. government, the mending of diplo- The failure of the Sogavare-led gov- matic relations, an attempt to improve ernment to deliver on its “Bottom Up governance processes, and the continu- Approach” policy, the controversial ing challenges associated with post- manner in which it fi lled important confl ict development and a struggling positions, and its mishandling of dip- economy. For most Solomon Islanders lomatic relations had caused wide- there was an expectation that political spread skepticism in the government, leadership, especially at the national and placed pressure on the c-nura level, would improve. This was seen as government to turn the tides of public the core of the country’s challenges. opinion. There was also a dire need to In late 2007, the Manasseh Soga- salvage Solomon Islands’ reputation vare–led Grand Coalition for Change in the international arena, improve the (gcc) government, which had been in delivery of social services, and provide power since April 2006, was ousted in credible leadership. a motion of no confi dence. Many of In January 2008, the c-nura the cabinet ministers in the Sogavare government launched its policy state- government withdrew their support ment, outlining a broad number of amid controversies over the appoint- issues that it hoped to address. One of ment of Julian Moti to the position the fi rst things the Sikua-led govern- of attorney general and Jahir Khan ment did was dismiss Julian Moti as as commissioner of police. In late attorney general and replace him with 2006, the appointment of Moti, an Gabriel Suri as acting attorney general. Australian citizen wanted for child This was part of an attempt to give sex charges, strained relations with credibility to the Offi ce of the Attor- Australia and led to a diplomatic row ney General and to mend relations that saw the declaration of the Austra- with neighboring countries, especially lian High Commissioner to Solomon Australia. The commissioner of police, 374 the contemporary pacifi c • 21:2 (2009)

Jahir Khan, who had been appointed Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands under similarly controversial circum- (ramsi) in February 2008. During the stances, was also asked to resign. visit Smith reiterated Australia’s com- Immediately after assuming offi ce, mitment to provide “an environment the Sikua-led government set out to of peace and stability and security mend and strengthen relations with to enable the Solomon Islands to governments of neighboring countries get back on its feet again in terms of and donor agencies, which had been building itself as a nation” (Pacnews, strained under the previous adminis- 22 Feb 2008). Smith’s February visit tration. As part of the government’s was complemented by the inaugural efforts to mend relations, in January meeting of the Pacifi c Islands Forum 2008 Sikua visited Australia, New Ministerial Standing Committee on Zealand, and Papua New Guinea, ramsi. The committee was tasked and met with his counterparts in these with overseeing the Australian-led countries. This was vital because assistance mission. During that meet- Solomon Islands depended on Aus- ing, the committee agreed that ramsi tralia, New Zealand, and other aid would now report directly to the Solo- donors to fi nance its development mon Islands government. This, it was programs. In its 2009 national budget, envisaged, would ensure that ramsi for example, Solomon Islands develop- post-confl ict reconstruction efforts ment expenditure of si$2.7 billion was were aligned with the Solomon Islands to be funded entirely by development government’s development plans and partners. (One Solomon Islands dollar priorities. is the equivalent of approximately Australia Prime Minister Kevin us$.14.) Rudd visited Solomon Islands in At the national level, the prime March 2008. The Labour Government minister wanted to reassure the in Australia, which came to power in country of his government’s commit- 2007, had pledged to work coopera- ments as stated in its policy statement. tively with its Pacifi c Island neighbors. Therefore he visited Malaita and Rudd reaffi rmed his government’s the Western Provinces and met with commitment, saying that relations provincial leaders. This was a move with Pacifi c Island countries would be designed to familiarize himself with based on partnership: “I will use the issues that were pertinent to those visit to underscore Australia’s com- provinces and at the same time share mitment to work in partnership with with provincial leaders the national our friends and neighbours in Papua government’s visions and development New Guinea and Solomon Islands on policies. regional challenges, including eco- For Australia, the advent of a new nomic sustainability, effective develop- Solomon Islands government pro- ment and climate change” (Pacnews, vided an opportunity to mend and 3 March 2008). strengthen bilateral relations. Austra- Meanwhile, Taiwan was also keen lia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen to ensure that a change in government Smith made his inaugural visit to Solo- did not mean a change in Solomon mon Islands to review the Regional Islands policy to accord diplomatic pol i t ical reviews • melanesia 375 recognition to Taiwan. Consequently, community believe in—democracy, Taiwanese Vice President Annette good governance, anti-terrorism—can Lu visited Honiara in January 2008. entertain a country that works against During that visit, Prime Minister Sikua every principles that all right thinking told Ms Lu that Solomon Islands governments of the world believe” would continue to support Taiwan’s (Pacnews, 29 Oct 2008). The c-nura bid for membership in the United government defended its plan to sign a Nations and defend its interests at the bilateral cooperation agreement with international level (Pacnews, 4 Feb Iran. Foreign Affairs Minister William 2008). In March, Dr Sikua visited Haomae called for Iran’s assistance Taiwan, where he met the Taiwan- in dam construction, training skilled ese president, vice president, and personnel in oil and gas industries, government ministers. In a show of and trade. goodwill, the Taiwanese government As of this writing, Solomon Islands offered to fi nance the completion of has yet to establish diplomatic rela- the multimillion-dollar Stage 2 of tions with Iran, although it has the Solomon Islands National Parlia- signed a cooperative memorandum to ment Building Project. Stages 2 and allowed the two countries to explore 3 of the building project included the specifi c cooperative arrangements, construction of offi ces for members including the possibility of formaliz- of Parliament as well as amenities for ing diplomatic relations. Iran and the recreational activities, such as a gym, Solomon Islands are both members swimming pool, and tennis courts of the Group of Developing Coun- (Pacnews, 4 March 2008). The offer tries at the United Nations. Hence, was made on the condition that Solo- the cooperative memorandum was mon Islands agreed to host the 2009 seen as within the spirit of “South- Taiwan–Pacifi c Allies Summit, which it South Cooperation” (Pacnews, 31 Oct agreed to do. In the meantime, Taiwan 2008). Meanwhile, Israel Ambassador continued to provide about si$50 Michael Ronan, during his visit in million annually, to fund the Rural November, commented on Solomon Constituency Development Fund, as Islands’ relations with Iran, saying well as provide fi nancial support for that his country was “not worried at the agriculture and education sectors. all [and] that Solomon Islands is an Despite its success in normalizing independent country and is at liberty relations with Australia and New Zea- to choose its diplomatic friends” (Pac- land, the Sikua-led government was news, 28 Nov 2008). criticized for its moves to strengthen Within the Pacifi c Islands region, bilateral ties with Iran, a country that the Sikua-led government announced US President George W Bush had the establishment of the Solomon branded as a member of the “axis of Islands High Commission Offi ce in Fiji evil.” Opposition leader Manasseh in August. However, by March 2009 Sogavare condemned the move: “I’m the offi ce was still without a high com- shocked that a government that boasts missioner. Meanwhile, two impor- itself to believe in the principles that tant international organizations, the other members of the international World Bank and Asian Development 376 the contemporary pacifi c • 21:2 (2009)

Bank, opened their offi ces in Honiara nor-General Sir Nathaniel Waena, in 2008 and expressed the desire to for example, said that he regretted work closely with the Solomon Islands the “serious negligence” shown by government. responsible authorities and relief agen- As the government attempted to cies toward the tsunami victims. Many mend and strengthen its international were still living in tents a year after the relations, in Honiara a group of tsunami destroyed their homes. The people from Malaita demanded com- leaders of the Titiana community who pensation for an allegedly offensive were among the worst hit said that the note left near the Honiara Magistrates tents they were living in were intended Court. The group threatened to start a to be used for only three months, violent demonstration if the national and that after a year of exposure to government did not meet their com- the elements most of the tents were pensation demands. The government unfi t for further use. In response, the convened a series of meetings with prime minister announced that the the Malaita provincial premier, the governments of Australia and New minister for home affairs, the Lord Zealand would provide si$18 million Mayor of Honiara, and various Malai- for reconstruction efforts (Pacnews, 2 tan chiefs. The cabinet eventually April 2008). paid approximately si$42,000 to the In the meantime, the leaders of the group in January 2008 (Pacnews, 28 Western and Guadalcanal provinces Jan 2008). However, many people felt expressed concern about the adminis- that this was a political ploy orches- tration of funds allocated for develop- trated by disgruntled supporters of the ment more generally. The two provin- former Grand Coalition for Change cial premiers jointly renewed calls for government to destabilize the c-nura the c-nura government to increase government. Many also felt that the grants to the Western and Guadalca- compensation payment perpetuated nal provinces in view of the fact that the mentality that any group could they host many of the development demand and receive compensation projects from which the national from government without the due government generates revenue. They process of law. also called on the national government There were other domestic chal- to give priority to the proposed federal lenges such as the rehabilitation of constitution that would facilitate the communities in the Western Solomons establishment of a federal system of that had been affected by the tsu- government. They urged that the draft nami of April 2007. It was revealed federal constitution be presented to that a year after the tsunami many of Parliament for debate in 2009 (sibc those affected had not yet received News, 22 Dec 2008). During the fi rst assistance, despite millions of dol- session of Parliament on April 2008, lars allocated for rehabilitation. Both the prime minister revealed that the provincial and national authorities fi nal draft of the federal constitution expressed concern about the admin- would be completed and delivered to istration of relief assistance. Gover- the government in July 2009. Sikua pol i t ical reviews • melanesia 377 said that a Constitutional Congress was meant to remind government of and an Eminent Persons Advisory the need to address outstanding issues Council were working on fi nal- facing the country (Pacnews, 12 Aug izing the draft federal constitution. 2008). The congress consists of provincial At the fi nal annual sitting of the nominees and national representatives, Parliament in November 2008, a while the council is made up of some national budget worth approximately prominent citizens, including for- us$53 million was passed (rnzi, 10 mer governor-generals, some former Dec 2008). This was the country’s big- politicians, and representatives from a gest budget since independence. “The wide cross-section of society, including 2009 budget comprises an estimated women and youth. recurrent expenditure of about one- During the second sitting of Parlia- point-six billion dollars, and a devel- ment in July 2008 a motion to review opment budget of about two-point- the Facilitation of International two billion dollars. [The] Finance Assistance Act was passed. Sikua said Minister, Mr. Rini, said the govern- that the motion sought approval from ment is expected to collect more than Parliament to refer the International one-point-six billion dollars in domes- Assistance Notice to the Foreign tic revenue and additional support Relations Committee for inquiry. The of more than one-point-seven billion review looked at “the composition dollars from development partners” of the assisting countries,” “public (sto, 11 Dec 2008; for budget details, purpose,” and the “agreement which see npsi 2008b). covers the operations and activities” There were challenges in fi nanc- (npsi 2008a). Sikua indicated that the ing the budget. Although government Foreign Relations Committee would was expecting to fund 100 percent of also explore ways in which ramsi its recurrent budget from domestic could develop programs that are revenue, the forestry sector, which aligned with Solomon Islands’ plans accounted for 66.6 percent of total and aspirations. export revenue in 2007, is forecasted During the July meeting of Parlia- to decline by 2010 (cbsi 2008). The ment, the Opposition put forth a Central Bank of Solomon Islands motion of no confi dence in the prime (cbsi) warned that the Solomon minister. The motion was convinc- Islands could lose its largest export ingly defeated by 39 votes to 8—an industry in forestry if the govern- overwhelming show of confi dence ment did not take immediate actions in Dr Sikua’s leadership. Opposi- to reduce the rate of logging, assist tion leader Manasseh Sogavare, in reforestation projects, and develop accepting the defeat of the motion, the non-logging sector to cushion the said that the Opposition was satisfi ed economy given the potential decline in because it was able to raise issues that export revenue. it wanted the government to address. Meanwhile the Gold Ridge gold Sogavare said that the motion was not mine, another major development an attempt to regain power; rather, it project, was facing numerous chal- 378 the contemporary pacifi c • 21:2 (2009) lenges. Unresolved issues such as land services and caused security concerns acquisition, a resettlement scheme, (Pacnews, 19 June 2008). Acting the tailings dam, landowner demands, Police Commissioner Peter Marshall and political indecision led to delays in warned that essential communication getting the mine back into production services were affected because of the (cbsi 2008). Since 2005 the company industrial dispute. He made the warn- concentrated primarily on construct- ing after the emergency 999 phone ing housing and security infrastruc- number and standard phone lines to ture, resolving outstanding land issues, some police posts stopped working and raising fi nancing overseas. In Feb- (Pacnews, 26 June 2008). ruary 2009, the Gold Ridge landown- Law and order improved signifi - ers expressed concern about the delay cantly in 2008 with the presence of in reopening the mine and requested ramsi. This was due in part to the the developer to provide an explana- recruitment of new police offi cers and tion: “Australia Solomon Gold has the fact that most guns have been an obligation to tell this nation why taken away from communities. In spite they haven’t started actual mining at of this progress, ensuring long-term the gold ridge.” They added, “Land- security remains a challenge as there owners of gold ridge want a serious is an evident increase in house break- and reputable investor in return for ins in Honiara, in the production and sacrifi cing our land for this national sale of home-brewed alcohol (known project amidst these trying times when locally as kwaso), in the use of drugs the world is facing the global fi nancial like marijuana, as well as in unem- crisis” (sto, 25 Feb 2009). ployment and other social problems. While these discussions were tak- The police continued to investi- ing place on Guadalcanal, substantial gate allegations of abuse of public progress was made on the proposed offi ce by some political leaders. Three development of Auluta Palm Oil members of Parliament (mps) were Project on Malaita. On 27 Febru- charged in 2008. In April, former ary 2009, an agreement was signed East Honiara mp Charles Dausabea between the commissioner of lands was found guilty of conversion and and Auluta Basin tribal groups, which sentenced to eighteen months in jail. saw the conversion of tribal land into In court, Magistrate Michael Scott a perpetual estate lease arrangement. said he was satisfi ed with the crown Each of the two main tribes received case that Dausabea fraudulently si$150,000 as a token of appreciation converted si$40,000 of govern- from the government. This project, if ment funds, entrusted to him for the successful, would be the fi rst major church, to his personal bank account. development on Malaita. Dausabea appealed the magistrate’s In the services sector, the cost of decision, but the High Court ruled telecommunication continued to against him. Dausabea subsequently rise. This was said to be one of the lost his seat in Parliament (Pacnews, major disincentives to private sector 23 April 2008). Central Guadalcanal expansion. A strike by workers of mp Peter Shannel also lost his parlia- Our Telekom in June further affected mentary seat after being sentenced to pol i t ical reviews • melanesia 379 a nine-month jail term in July 2008. By December, Solomon Islanders, The Honiara Magistrates Court found like people elsewhere, slowed down Shannel guilty of carrying a dangerous and celebrated Christmas and New weapon in a restricted area (Pacnews, Year with their families and rela- 27 Aug 2008). Similarly, the High tives. It was also a time when parents Court found the former prime minis- became anxious about their children’s ter and member for Savo-Russels, Sir school fees and other back-to-school Allan Kemakeza, guilty of demanding expenses for the next year. To the money with menace, intimidation, and relief of some parents, the c-nura larceny. These crimes were committed government launched its fee-free during the ethnic tension when he was education policy in January 2009. prime minister. Despite sentencing Sir At the offi cial launch of the fee-free Allan to eighteen months in jail, the education, the prime minister said court initially ordered that he serve that his “government has made it one only fi ve months imprisonment. The of its fl agship policies to provide fee- court then ordered that Sir Allan serve free education in the Solomon Islands only two months, with the remaining [and] today marks the implementation three months suspended. In Septem- of this historic policy initiative.” He ber 2008 Sir Allan was jailed, and added that apart from the subsidized consequently, he lost his Savo-Russell school fees, the government would Islands parliamentary seat (Pacnews, 3 continue to give other, additional Sept 2008). grants in support of its fee-free basic Although ramsi contributed sub- education policy. nzaid, Taiwan, stantially to improved law and order, and the Solomon Islands government in early October 2008 a People’s contributed funds to implement the Survey conducted by the Australian basic education policy (sto, 15 Jan National University compared atti- 2009). tudes about ramsi in 2008 with those In terms of livelihood, an increas- in 2007. The survey showed a drop ing proportion of Solomon Island- in support for ramsi’s presence in the ers continue to experience hardships country from 90 to 86 percent. The in the face of increasing infl ation, number of undecided people increased weakening national currency, looming from 4 percent in 2007 to 6 percent negative impacts of the global fi nan- in 2008. In Malaita, the support for cial crisis, and the negative impacts of ramsi declined from 87 percent to natural disaster for which the country 76 percent, while on Guadalcanal, is highly vulnerable. After one year the support for ramsi decreased by 3 in offi ce, the c-nura government is percent, from 97 percent in to 94 per- providing fee-free basic education, cent in 2008 (Pacnews, 17 Oct 2008). has normalized diplomatic rela- The survey was conducted in Central, tions, explored options for establish- Guadalcanal, Malaita, Western, and ing political stability, strengthened Honiara provinces. A total of 4,304 accountability institutions, and signed Solomon Islanders were interviewed a land-lease agreement with land- and seventy-four focus group discus- owners on Malaita, which paved the sions were held. way for developing a major palm oil 380 the contemporary pacifi c • 21:2 (2009) industry. Whether or not the c-nura Parliament, 8th Meeting, Thursday government will remain in power 24 July 2008. http://www.parliament.gov until the next general elections, .sb/index.php?q=node /360 [accessed 12 scheduled for April 2010, remains December 2008]. to be seen. But one thing is certain, ———. 2008b. Hansard Report, 8th Par- Solomon Islands needs a good gov- liament, 9th meeting, Monday 1 December ernment, the com mitment of its 2008. http://www.parliament.gov.sb / citizens, and the continued support index.php?q=node /399 [accessed 12 of its development partners in order January 2009] to achieve sustainable socioeconomic Pacnews. Regional news service, Pacific development. Islands Broadcasting Association, Suva. roselyn lenga sibc News. Local television news, Solo- mon Islands Broadcasting Corporation, Honiara. References SSN, Solomon Star News. Daily newspaper, cbsi, Central Bank of Solomon Islands. Honiara. Online at http://solomonstarnews 2008. Annual Report 2007. Honiara: .com/ cbsi. sto, Solomon Times Online. Daily Internet npsi, National Parliament of Solomon news service, Honiara, Solomon Islands. Islands. 2008a. Hansard Report, 8th http://www.solomontimes.com