Political Reviews
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Political Reviews 7KH5HJLRQLQ5HYLHZ,QWHUQDWLRQDO,VVXHVDQG(YHQWV nic maclellan 0HODQHVLDLQ5HYLHZ,VVXHVDQG(YHQWV david chappell, jon fraenkel, solomon kantha, muridan s widjojo 7KH&RQWHPSRUDU\3DFL²F9ROXPH1XPEHU¥ E\8QLYHUVLW\RI+DZDL©L3UHVV 351 0HODQHVLDLQ5HYLHZ,VVXHVDQG(YHQWV Fiji continuously since the abrogation of the constitution in April 2009. The In Fiji, 2012 was a year of raised and announcement was welcomed by local then repeatedly dashed expectations. civil society organizations as well as In January, brief euphoria greeted the by the United Nations, the Common- dropping of public emergency regula- wealth, Australia, and New Zealand. tions, but stiff controls were promptly Yet, within days, a new Public Order reinstated several days later. In March, (Amendment) Decree 2012 had been hopes for a relatively smooth restora- introduced that revived many of the tion of the rule of law and reason- key provisions of martial law, includ- ably free elections before September ing police powers to prohibit meet- 2014 were greatly encouraged both at ings, impose travel bans, and under- home and abroad when Yash Ghai—a take house arrests, as well as military former United Nations (UN) envoy powers to assume the roles of police to Cambodia—was appointed by the and prison officers (Fiji government interim government to head the sched- 2012a). This was the first of many uled Fiji Constitution Commission incidents in 2012 in which the interim (fcc). Yet by the year’s end, military government appeared nonchalant commander and Prime Minister Frank about its own propaganda gains and Bainimarama had fallen out with Yash reluctant to capitalize on any potential Ghai and had declared the govern- for re-legitimization. ment’s intention to extensively rewrite Nevertheless, the security situ- the fcc’s draft constitution and to ation remained calm throughout avoid any public consultation beyond the year. Open opposition to the that of a handpicked Constituent planned Namosi copper mine, involv- Assembly. Soon, plans for the intended ing Australian company Newcrest Constituent Assembly were also and two Japanese firms, subsided scrapped. Throughout 2012, author- after Bainimarama himself assumed ity to shape Fiji’s future constitutional responsibility for negotiations between arrangements remained continually landowners and mining interests and contested. Having destroyed most of put the project on hold (FijiLive, the institutions associated with the 14 Jan 2012). In September, there precoup order, by the end of 2012 the was some resumption of exploratory government was busily dismantling activity (FijiLive, 18 Sept 2013), the processes it had itself put in place but care was taken to avoid again to construct a new order. inflaming landowner protest. Mere In his 2012 New Year’s address, Samisoni, a former parliamentarian Bainimarama announced that the in the deposed Soqosoqo Duavata public emergency regulations would ni Lewenivanua (sdl) government, be dropped (Bainimarama 2012). was arrested in January and charged Those regulations had been in place together with three others for inciting 370 political reviews melanesia 371 violence, but all were soon released. the industry was still booming. Ironi- In March, another sdl member of cally, Australian tourist arrivals had Parliament—the former minister of kept Fiji’s economy afloat throughout education, Rewa paramount chief Ro the years after the 2006 coup, while Teimumu Kepa—spoke out against Canberra’s sanctions had sought to Bainima rama’s abolition of the Great sink the Bainimarama regime. Council of Chiefs and called for UN The chronic decline of the sugar intervention to protect indigenous industry continued. Industry Perma- rights (rnzi, 16 Mar 2012). nent Secretary Lieutenant Colonel Otherwise, public dissent remained Manasa Vaniqi pointed to reduced Fiji subdued through 2012. The govern- Sugar Corporation debt levels since ment’s opponents were mostly nursing the government took over the industry their wounds and biding their time in 2010, but at 1.6 million tonnes, ahead of the scheduled 2014 elections. output in 2012 was half its 2006 level Many had migrated overseas. The cen- (Fiji Times, 7 Nov 2012). Accord- tral focus of anti-Bainimarama activity ing to the International Monetary was by now firmly in cyberspace, Fund, the industry now comprises where participants had an anonymity only 2 percent of Fiji’s gross domestic that encouraged abuse and ineffective product (imf 2012, 10). Sugar’s share rage, though here too activity quieted of formal employment remains higher, over 2012. Others focused less on the but the still regularly quoted figure of polarization at the time of the coup 200,000 people (close to a quarter of six years earlier and more on the fact Fiji’s population) being largely reliant that an ethnic Fijian leader, backed by on cane farming or milling is now a a predominantly indigenous military, great exaggeration. Figures released in was finally in charge of Fiji for the 2012 by the Fiji Bureau of Statistics long run, unlike after the 1987 and indicated that gold production contin- 2000 coups when military rulers had ued to increase through 2011, buoyed felt pressured to hand control quickly also by higher international prices. back to civilian authorities. There was no sign of the bottled min- Economically, Fiji’s 2011 recovery eral water industry slowing produc- from the slowdown of 2007–2010 tion in response to the 2010 increase weakened slightly in 2012. The in export duties. Garment exports Asian Development Bank (adb) and remained flat and fisheries exports the International Monetary Fund stagnated through 2011 (fbs 2012a). (imf) estimated economic growth at Data released from the 2008–2009 around 2 percent in 2011, but both Household Income Expenditure Sur- anticipated a slowdown in 2012 (adb vey suggest that 31 percent of Fiji’s 2012; imf 2012). The economy was population is living in poverty, with awash with liquidity, but investment hardship levels particularly high in remained low due to fears about rural areas (fbs 2012b). the political situation and constant Internationally, 2012 was a year of changes in regulations. Visitor arrivals busy diplomacy for Fiji, triggered in in 2012 were slightly down from the part by broader geopolitical realign- previous year, but at around 650,000 ments. In August, United States (US) 372 the contemporary pacific 25:2 (2013) Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and South Ossetia. Georgia responded touched down in Rarotonga, Cook by sending 200 notebook computers Islands, for the Pacific Islands Forum for Fiji schools in the hope that, as summit, a further sign of the enhanced Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister US attention now being given to that Davit Jalaghania put it, Fiji would annual event. Otherwise, President “remain loyal to international prin- Barack Obama’s “pivot” or “rebal- ciples” (Lomsadze 2012). Over the ancing” toward the Asia-Pacific has 2011–2012 period, Fiji opened mis- meant little for the Pacific Island sions in the United Arab Emirates, states, except for a new United States South Africa, South Korea, Brazil, and Agency for International Development Indonesia. In September, Fiji’s Per- (usaid) office originally planned for manent Representative at the United Suva but then relocated to the Papua Nations Peter Thomson was elected to New Guinea capital, Port Moresby. chair the G77, a UN body represent- By contrast, Beijing’s soft loans have ing 130 developing nations, drawing enabled Chinese firms to bid for con- protests from the International Trade struction of hydroelectric dams, roads, Union Confederation (abc, 12 Oct and low- and medium-cost housing 2012). In November, Bainimarama in Fiji, as well as other infrastructure was selected to chair the London- projects. Once a foothold is estab- based International Sugar Organiza- lished, those firms are well placed to tion, an industry body representing make other acquisitions, as with Xinfa over eighty sugar-producing countries. Aurum Exploration’s bauxite venture Overseas diplomacy regularly featured in Bua on Vanua Levu, which com- persuasion about the righteousness menced shipments in June (Fiji Times, of Fiji’s domestic reform agenda and 10 Oct 2012). For China, Obama’s assurances that Fiji was following its thinly veiled China-containment policy much-advertised roadmap toward emphasizes the necessity of courting elections in 2014. allies, no matter how small or remote. Meanwhile, at home the Bainima- In September, Wu Bangguo, the chair rama government ruthlessly pursued of the National People’s Congress its opponents, often on highly person- Standing Committee, touched down alized issues. In August, deposed Prime in Fiji. He saluted policies of noninter- Minister Laisenia Qarase was sent to ference, encouraged a “Look North” prison for a year on nine charges of policy, and criticized the “bullying of corruption, an action that one former big region strong countries over the senior military officer and onetime ally small or weak countries” (China Daily of Bainimarama said had always been 2012; Wu Bangguo 2012). central to the military commander’s Other international players flirted objectives (Tevita Mara, quoted on with Fiji in 2012, and vice versa. Rus- rnzi, 3 Aug 2012). Oddly, the con- sian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov victions were not for offenses com- visited Fiji in April, after trips to mitted during Qarase’s period as head Nauru and Tuvalu aimed at encour- of government (2000–2006) but for aging recognition of the breakaway minor misdemeanors a decade earlier Russian puppet states of Abkhazia when he was director of Fijian Hold- political reviews melanesia 373 ings Ltd (fhl), an indigenous com- In March, Bainimarama set out pany that thrived under the post-1987 plans for deliberations on the new coup affirmative-action policies for constitution, which were to be pre- ethnic Fijians. Qarase had applied for mised on several “nonnegotiable” but fhl shares for three Fijian companies “universally recognised and aspired but had failed to declare his personal to” principles: these were “a common interest in the companies (FijiVillage, and equal citizenry”; “secular state”; 3 Aug 2012).