Constitution-Making in Fiji: the Search for a Practical Solution
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Reflections on the 1987 Fiji Coups Sanjay Ramesh
162 Fijian Studies Vol. 5 No. 1 Dialogue: Reflections on the 1987 Coup 163 gence Agency (CIA) was behind the coups. The reasons for what has been termed as the ‘CIA chimera’, are many and varied (see Lal, 1990, and Scobell, Reflections on the 1987 Fiji Coups 1994). Immediately after the coup, the Fiji Military Forces (FMF) embarked on a propaganda campaign, informing the coup sympathisers that the coalition had relations with the former Soviet Union and Libya and as such posed a direct Sanjay Ramesh threat to the western alliance and to Fijian traditions and values. Widespread rumours of the coalition being socialist and left-wing in orientation led some The coups of 1987 have become a bitter memory for the people of Fiji, observers to conclude that the CIA was involved. Other observations, such as but unanswered questions still linger about the whole incident. Did then Colonel US Hercules carriers making brief and suspicious stopovers at the Nadi Interna- Sitiveni Rabuka, who claimed that intervention of the army in Fiji’s political tional Airport; the presence of US Ambassador to UN Vernon Walters in the process was necessary to avert ethnic bloodshed (Rabuka, 2000: 9), act entirely country for talks with the coalition in response to the coalitions non-alignment on an instinct to save the indigenous Fijian race from the Indo-Fijian political policy; the appearance of retired US army officer Larry Mackenna at the US designs, or were there other forces at work? Embassy in full military uniform; and the dubious political activities of the The deposed Prime Minister late Dr. -
The Political Struggle
Part I. Quest for Equality: The Political Struggle 1: Address to the 1965 London Constitutional Conference, 26 July 1965 I thank you [Secretary of State Anthony Greenwood] and the United Kingdom Government for the kind invitation and welcome extended us to this historic conference which is called to smelt the existing system of government in the Colony of Fiji and to forge and mould a new constitution which, I hope, will lead our country to complete independence in the not too distant future. Political liberty, equality and fraternity rank foremost among the good things of life, and mankind all over the world cherishes and holds these ideals close to its heart. The people of Fiji are no exception. Without political freedom, no country can be economically, socially or spiritually free. We in Fiji, as in many undeveloped countries of the world, are faced with the three most formidable enemies of mankind, namely, Poverty, Ignorance, and Disease. We need political freedom to confront these enemies and free our minds, bodies and souls from their clutches. Needless to say, when I refer to political freedom, I mean democracy under the rule of law, the sort of freedom which the British people and the people of United States enjoy. We need freedom which will politically, economically and socially integrate the various communities living in Fiji and make out of them one nation deeply conscious of the responsibilities and tasks which lie ahead. I call this conference important and historic because it is the first conference of its kind in the history of Fiji and it may very well prove the beginning of the end of a form of government which stands universally condemned in the modern world. -
Fiji's Road to Military Coup, 20061
2. 'Anxiety, uncertainty and fear in our land': Fiji's road to military coup, 20061 Brij V. Lal Introduction If civilization is to survive, one is driven to radical views. I do not mean driven to violence. Violence always compromises or ruins the cause it means to serve: it produces as much wrong as it tries to remedy. The State, for example, is always with us. Overthrow it and it will come back in another form, quite possibly worse. It's a necessary evilÐa monster that continually has to be tamed, so that it serves us rather than devours us. We can't do without it, neither can we ever trust it.2 Fiji experienced the whole gamut of emotions over the course of a fateful 2006. The year ended on an unsettled note, as it had begun. Fiji was yet again caught in a political quagmire of its own making, hobbled by manufactured tensions, refusing to heed the lessons of its recent tumultuous past, and reeling from the effects of the coup. Ironies abound. A Fijian army confronted a Fijian government, fuelling the indigenous community's worst fears about a Fijian army spilling Fijian blood on Fijian soil. The military overthrow took place 19 years to the day after frustrated coup-maker of 1987 Sitiveni Rabuka had handed power back to Fiji's civilian leaders, Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau and Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, paving the way for the eventual return to parliamentary democracy. The 2006 coup, like the previous ones, deposed a democratically elected government. Perhaps more importantly, it peremptorily sidelined the once powerful cultural and social institutions of the indigenous community, notably the Methodist Church and the Great Council of Chiefs (GCC)3 ± severing with a startling abruptness the overarching influence they had exercised in national life. -
Business Va`Avanua: Cultural Hybridisation and Indigenous
Copyright is owned by the Author of the thesis. Permission is given for a copy to be downloaded by an individual for the purpose of research and private study only. The thesis may not be reproduced elsewhere without the permission of the Author. Business Va’avanua: Cultural Hybridisation and Indigenous Entrepreneurship in the Boumā National Heritage Park, Fiji A thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Social Anthropology Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand Trisia Angela Farrelly (Prince) 2009 Abstract This thesis explores the ways community-based ecotourism development in the Boumā National Heritage Park was negotiated at the nexus of Western entrepreneurship and the vanua, an indigenous epistemology. In 1990, the Boumā tribe of Taveuni, Fiji established the Boumā National Heritage Park. A growing dependence on the market economy and a desire to find an economic alternative to commercial logging on their communally-tenured land, led to their decision to approach the New Zealand government for assistance to establish the Park. The four villages involved have since developed their own community-based ecotourism enterprises. Despite receiving first place in a British Airways Tourism for Tomorrow Award category in 2002, there was a growing sense of social dysfunction in Boumā during the research period. According to my participants, this was partly due to the community-based ecotourism development process which had paid little attention to the vanua. Largely through talanoa as discussion, the people of Boumā have become increasingly conscious of references to the vanua values in their own evaluation and management of the projects. -
Cheibub 104-140.Pdf
The Architecture of Democracy Oxford Studies in Democratization Series Editor: Laurence Whitehead Oxford Studies in Democratization is a series for scholars and students of comparative politics and related disciplines. Volumes will concentrate on the comparative study of the democratization processes that accompanies the decline and termination of the cold war. The geographical focus of the series will primarily be Latin America, the Caribbean, Southern and Eastern Europe, and relevant experiences in Africa and Asia. OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIESElectoral Systems and Democratization in Southern Africa Andrew Reynolds The Legacy of Human Rights Violations in the Southern Cone: Argeninta, Chile, and Uruguay Luis Roniger and Mario Sznajder Citizenship Rights and Social Movements: A Comparative and Statistical Analysis Joe Foweraker and Todd Landman The International Dimensions of Democratization: Europe and the Americas Laurence Whitehead The Politics of Memory: Transitional Justice in Democratizing Societies Alexandra Barahona de Brito, Carmen González Enríquez, and Paloma Aguilar Democratic Consolidation in Eastern Europe, Volume 1: Institutional Engineering Jan Zielonka Democratic Consolidation in Eastern Europe, Volume 2: International and Transnational Factors Jan Zielonka and Alex Pravda Institutions and Democratic Citizenship Alex Hadenius The Architecture of Democracy Constitutional Design, Conict Management, and Democracy Edited by Andrew Reynolds Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP Oxford University Press is a department of the University -
Issues and Events, I992
.1 , • , Melanesia in Review: Issues and Events, I992 FIJI Fijians and non-Indo-Fijians, won all The year 1992 may well be remembered the 5 seats allocated to that community. in Fiji as one of unexpected develop In an unexpectedly close contest, the ments in the political arena, dominated National Federation Party won 14 of by the general election in May. The the 27 seats allocated to the Indo-Fijian first half of the year was consumed by community, with the Fiji Labour Party the election campaign and the second securing 13. The Soqosoqo ni Vakavu half by its problematic reverberations. lewa ni Taukei was able to form a gov It ended with a promise to take Fiji ernment after entering into a coalition away from the politics ofracial divi with the General Voters Party and with sion toward a multiracial government the support of the Fijian National ofnational unity. Whether, and if, that United Front. Sitiveni Rabuka became occurs will be the challenge of1993. prime minister after Labour threw its The general election, the sixth since support behind him rather than Kami independence in 1970 and the first since kamica, who was backed by the the coups of1987, was preceded by a National Federation Party. long and sometimes bitter campaign Labour's strategy took supporters (see my article, this issue). Political completely by surprise. Its leaders fragmentation in the Fijian community argued that Rabuka was a changed accompanied the emergence of a num man who appeared to be a genuine ber ofpolitical parties and the rise of friend ofthe poor of all races. -
Deakin Research Online
Deakin Research Online This is the published version: Bolatagici, Torika 2010, Representing Fijian bodies and the economy of war, in OCIS 2010 : Proceedings of the 4th Oceanic Conference on International Studies 2010, OCIS, [Auckland, N. Z.], pp. 1-21. Available from Deakin Research Online: http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30029449 Reproduced with the kind permissions of the copyright owner. Copyright : 2010, The Authors Title: Representing Fijian Bodies and the Economy of War Name: Torika Bolatagici Affiliations: PhD Candidate – College of Fine Arts, University of NSW Associate Lecturer - School of Communication and Creative Arts, Faculty of Arts and Education, Deakin University Email: [email protected] Figure 1.1 Protect Me, Torika Bolatagici, 2009. Page 2 of 21 Introduction In 2005, a Fijian Government report revealed that there were 816 Fiji nationals working for private security companies in Iraq. In 2007, there were over 2000 Fijians serving in the British army. Remittances from Fijian workers overseas are the nation’s largest income – exceeding that of tourism and sugar export. There are currently more than 20,000 unemployed former military personnel in Fiji. While there has been some research into Fijian masculinity in relation to political coups, warrior culture and militarisation over the last decade there is an absence of critical discussion about the ongoing colonisation of Fijian males bodies which seeks to perpetuate the exploitation of Fijians by inscribing the Fijian male body as warrior, athlete, criminal and protector. This paper traces representations of the black body, which I have related to contemporary masculine identities in Fiji. I have linked historical representations to what I perceive as the ongoing commodification of the Fijian body and argue that opportunities that have arisen from conflict in the Middle East have had a significant impact on employment opportunities for Fijians. -
In the Court of Appeal, Fiji Islands at Suva
IN THE COURT OF APPEAL, FIJI ISLANDS AT SUVA APPELLATE JURISDICTION CIVIL APPEAL NO. ABU0077 OF 2008S [On an Appeal from the High Court, Suva in Civil Actions No. HBC 60 and HBC 398 of 2007] BETWEEN : LAISENIA QARASE of Suva, Politician RATU NAIQAMA LALABALAVU of Suva, Politician RO TEIMUMU KEPA of Lomanikoro Village, Rewa, Politician RATU SULIANO MATANITOBUA of Suva, Politician JOSEVA VOSANIBOLA of Suva, Politician APPELLANTS (Original Plaintiffs) AND : JOSAIA VOREQE BAINIMARAMA Commander of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces of Queen Elizabeth Barracks, Delainabua, Suva. FIRST RESPONDENT (Original First Defendant) AND : THE REPUBLIC OF FIJI MILITARY FORCES SECOND RESPONDENT (Original Second Defendant) AND : THE STATE OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE FIJI ISLANDS THIRD RESPONDENT (Original Third Defendant) AND : THE ATTORNEY - GENERAL of the Interim Regime FOURTH RESPONDENT (Original Fourth Respondent) AND : FIJI HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION FIRST AMICUS CURIAE AND : CITIZENS’ CONSTITUTIONAL FORUM LIMITED SECOND AMICUS CURIAE Coram: Randall Powell, JA Ian Lloyd, JA Francis Douglas, JA Hearing: Monday, 6th April 2009, Suva Tuesday, 7th April 2009, Suva Wednesday, 8th April 2009, Suva Counsel: Bret Walker SC ] Rachel Pepper ] for the Appellants Tevita Fa ] Richard Gordon QC ] Gerard McCoy QC ] Christopher Pryde, ] Kerry Cook ] for the Respondents Dr Shaista Shameem ] for the Fiji Human Rights Wilfred Golman ] Commission Sonanatabua Colovanua ] Dr Melissa Perry QC ] Nicola McGarrity ] for the Citizens Constitutional ] Forum Limited Date of Judgment: Thursday, 9th April 2009, Suva JUDGMENT OF THE COURT The Parties and these Proceedings 1. On 17 March 2006 Ratu Josefa Iloilovatu Uluivuda (“President Uluivuda”) was re- appointed by the Great Council of Chiefs for a further 5 years as President of the Republic of the Fiji Islands (“Fiji”). -
The 1965 Constitutional Conference
4. The 1965 Constitutional Conference The stand-off between Sir Derek Jakeway and A. D. Patel took place during a familiarisation visit to Fiji by parliamentary undersecretary of state, Eirene White, in what was now a Labour government in Britain. Her task was to report back on issues that might be raised at the forthcoming constitutional conference. She heard a wide range of opinion: from Muslims about separate representation, from Fijians about their special interests Ð including political leadership of the country Ð from the ever mercurial Apisai Tora about deporting Indo-Fijians as Ceylon and Burma had done, from the Council of Chiefs reiterating the terms of the Wakaya Letter, from Indian leaders about common roll and the need to promote political integration, from journalist Alipate Sikivou expressing the Fijian nationalist line that the Indians could always go back to India, the Chinese to China and the Rotumans and other islanders to their respective islands but the Fijians, the indigenous people, had Fiji as their only home. Sikivou was not alone in holding such extreme views. Many others were of the view that, as Ratu Penaia Ganilau and Ratu George Cakobau had said in 1961, at independence, Fiji should be returned to the Fijians. As Uraia Koroi put it at a meeting of the Fijian Association in January 1965, chaired by Ratu Mara, `Fijians were determined to achieve this claim of right [returning Fiji to Fijians] at the cost of their lives. Bloodshed would mean nothing if their demands were not acceptable to other races in the Colony.'1 -
468 the Contemporary Pacific • Fall 1998
468 the contemporary pacific • fall 1998 The Pacific Way: A Memoir, by Ratu Mara’s life might easily have taken a Sir Kamisese Mara. Honolulu: Uni- very different course, for when Sukuna versity of Hawai‘i Press, 1997. Isbn directed him to study economics and 0–8248–1893–8, xvi + 280 pages, history at Oxford in preparation for maps, appendix, glossary, photographs, the career in government, he had index. Cloth, us$42; paper, us$14.95. almost completed medical studies in New Zealand. Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara is the presi- Wittily recounted in a light and dent of the Republic of Fiji and the last graceful style, Mara’s memoir strikes of several paramount Fijian chiefs an engaging balance between personal groomed for high office by the British life and affairs of state. Appendixes in the last two decades of colonial rule. include the famous Wakaya Letter of For many years these chiefs dominated 1963, in which Mara and fellow Fijian leadership and were at the center leaders insisted to the UK government of dialogue with Indian leaders on that Fijians must approve any constitu- issues of land and constitutional tional changes leading to self-govern- change. Even as Fijians of “com- ment, his address to the UN Assembly moner” status became prominent in after Fiji’s achievement of indepen- government, the chiefs continued to be dence, and his moving tribute to the the core symbols of ethnic identity and late Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau. Photo- the source of legitimacy. In part their graphs range from the youthful pose in security in these functions enabled a students’ production of Romeo and them to become mediating and stabil- Juliet, to his chiefly installation as the izing national figures in a multiracial Tui Nayau, and meetings with world society, facilitating the transition from figures. -
9. Farewell Taveuni
9. Farewell Taveuni As we moved into the 1980s, Taveuni became more of a backwater to the rest of the nation. Only Adrian and Spencer clung to the lifestyles that had made the Tartes different. In a way, they were a complete enigma in the late-20th century. Adrian for his part was always innovative and progressive in his utilisation of the land resources and he continued to run a diverse and profitable plantation. Spencer struggled on with copra and cattle but the bottom fell out of those markets. They ruled their employees with a rod of iron and maintained an incongruous lifestyle with their houses and servants and boats and an aloofness from the other people of Taveuni. Of the Douglasses, only Eddie remained, withered and weak, but perky and jovial despite his abject poverty. The progeny of most of the other planter families were indistinguishable from Fijians in that they were all dark skinned. Most followed the Fijian culture rather than their ancestor’s European lifestyle. The government institutions, and the stores and plantations that had been sold to local people were all run by Fijians and Indians. They had taken over the Country Club from which they had once been banned. Much of the land at Naselesele had been subdivided and bought by foreigners who settled there in their retirement or used them as holiday locations. Quite a few small tourist operations opened up for backpackers and scuba divers. Colonel Kolb sold his Vunivasa estate to other foreigners who tried a variety of crops, most of which failed. -
A Study of the Role of Cricket in The
The Willow and the Palm: an exploration of the role of cricket in Fiji Thesis submitted by Narelle McGlusky BA (Hons) James Cook in October 2005 for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the School of Humanities James Cook University ELECTRONIC COPY I, the undersigned, the author of this work, declare that the electronic copy of this thesis provided to the James Cook University Library, is an accurate copy of the print thesis submitted, within the limits of the technology available. _______________________________ _______________ Signature Date STATEMENT OF ACCESS I, the undersigned author of this work, understand that James Cook University will make this thesis available for use within the University Library and, via the Australian Digital Theses network, for use elsewhere. I understand that, as an unpublished work, a thesis has significant protection under the Copyright Act and; I do not wish to place any further restriction on access to this work _____________________________________ ______________ Signature Date STATEMENT OF SOURCES DECLARATION I declare that this thesis is my own work and has not been submitted in any form for another degree or diploma at any university or other institution of tertiary education. Information derived from the published or unpublished work of others has been acknowledged in the text and a list of references is given. ________________________________ __________________ Signature Date Abstract The starting point for this thesis is an investigation of the political role of cricket in the development of national identity among the colonies of the British Empire. The British invested the game with moral and political values and openly employed it to impose these values on their colonial populations.