Paradise lost

An empty resort in Coral Coast, about 100 km west of Suva, on December 9. - WILLIAM WEST/AFP

The military seizes control yet again in Fiji, but the continuing political instability could ruin the country's tourism and economy.

FIJI is once again caught up in a cycle of political upheaval, where force has become a means to replace elected governments. On December 5, Fiji's military commander Commodore Voreque Bainimarama announced that he had taken over executive authority. The coup triggered strong international condemnation; the United Nations Security Council called for the early restoration of the democratically elected government and the Commonwealth suspended Fiji for the second time in six years.

Twice in the past two decades, democratically elected governments dominated by the ethnic Indian minority were toppled by armed action on the grounds of protecting indigenous Fijian rights. The island-nation in the South Pacific has an indigenous Melanesian majority, a large ethnic Indian minority, Chinese and some other minorities. Unlike the earlier occasions, the December 5 takeover was not racially motivated but was the consequence of a tussle between Bainimarama and Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase. Qarase was removed from office in what has been termed as "a bloodless, creeping coup".

Bainimarama had been at loggerheads with Qarase over two controversial legislations for over a year and had set a two-week deadline for Qarase to resign. On December 4, when the deadline expired, the Army set up pickets to restrict Qarase to his residence and Bainimarama announced the military takeover at a televised press conference. For the residents of Suva, the capital, the sight of armed soldiers marching through the streets was not an unfamiliar one and they watched silently as the drama unfolded.

Shortly thereafter, the military chief appointed Dr. Jona Senilagakali, the Fiji Military Forces doctor, as interim Prime Minister. He also announced that he would soon establish a special commission to look into the "corrupt practices" of the previous government even as Qarase was flown to his village in the Lau islands. Just over six years ago, Bainimarama appointed Qarase the interim Prime Minister and Qarase won two elections, in 2001 and May 2006.

In December 2005, Bainimarama got into a public spat with Qarase over the introduction of the Reconciliation, Tolerance and Unity Bill, which included an amnesty provision for the plotters of the 2000 coup and mutiny. Opposition parties and civil society groups opposed the Bill, but the military chief, who opposed amnesty to the mutineers, vowed to stop the Bill, raising fears of another coup. According to Bainimarama, the deaths of soldiers in 2000 had yet to be avenged and those involved in the coup still occupied high places in the government.

The general elections of May 2006 were held in a tense atmosphere following rumours that an uncertain verdict could lead to political instability and even a coup. Bainimarama threatened to take action against Qarase for telling voters that there would be instability if a non-Fijian was elected Prime Minister.

The tension eased when Qarase's party was re-elected and the Prime Minister invited the main Opposition party, the Fiji Labour Party, to join his Cabinet under the constitutional provision for a multi-party Cabinet. The Constitution mandates a power-sharing arrangement in government, under which political parties winning more than 10 per cent of the seats should get appropriate representation in the Cabinet.

Fiji soon began a widely acclaimed experiment in power-sharing between the main political parties.

However, the military chief's ire increased with the plan to bring in the Qoliqoli Bill. The Bill was intended to transfer to indigenous landowners all rights to the seabed, sand, reef, mangrove swamp, river, stream, or wetland, which would be managed by a Qoliqoli Commission. In his view, the Bill would kill tourism because hotels and other businesses depended on the waterfront. People in power promoted divisive legislation for their personal agendas, he said and added that without investors "we will be left with our grass skirts, our canoes and a life back to cannibalism".

The Fiji Law Society and the Fiji Human Rights Commission criticised the Bill. The tourism industry voiced concerns that the Bill would affect seriously tourism in the country. There were instances, even before the Bill was passed, of Fijians intercepting fishermen and foreign tourists at sea and demanding money to allow them to carry on with their journeys.

There were several complications with the Bill as not all the indigenous Fijians still lived on their land, and in the urban coastal areas it would have the effect of displacing both ethnic Fijians and Indo-Fijians who lived in large squatter settlements. The Bill would affect all non-ethnic Fijians given the fact that the indigenous tribes own almost 90 per cent of the land, which cannot be sold by law.

The war of words escalated as Qarase made an attempt to get a reluctant President, Ratu Josefa Iloilo, to sack the military chief. Police Commissioner Andrew Hughes, an Australian national on contract with the Suva Police, sought to call in the military chief for questioning on the issue of his threats to the government.

A police search of the President's office after a meeting between Iloilo and Bainimarama further vitiated the atmosphere. The Australian and New Zealand governments later revealed that Qarase had requested military assistance to tackle the threat to his government.

A senior indigenous Fijian leader explained the tussle between the Prime Minister and the military chief as a legacy of the 1987 coup, which saw the Army entering the political arena. The Army's political role was reinforced when it installed an interim government after the civilian coup in 2000. "Once the military's role overflows into the political arena, it is difficult to restore the demarcation between the roles and responsibilities of the military and the government," he said.

Many sections of opinion in Fiji showed some sympathy for the issues raised by the military commander, but deplored his threats to the government. The Citizens Constitutional Forum blamed both the government and the military for the crisis.

Meanwhile, Australia issued advisories against travel to Fiji. The reactions of Canberra and Wellington to the stand-off in Suva further complicated the difficult situation. In the first week of November, Australia despatched two warships to Fiji to prepare for a possible evacuation of Australian tourists. Army commanders of Australia and New Zealand delivered messages that military cooperation with Fiji would be withdrawn if the government was overthrown. New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clarke attempted to defuse the situation by sending an aircraft to bring Qarase to Auckland for a meeting with Bainimarama.

While the military takeover went without a hitch, the events thereafter were not smooth. There seemed to be little anticipation of the problems that could arise if the military did not get the backing it expected. In his first press conference, Senilagakali said he had not been consulted before the military chief announced his appointment at a press conference. But he had to follow the chief's directions, for "whatever the commander tells me to do, I have no choice but to do it". He said the military action, though illegal, was a lesser evil than the corrupt activities of the ousted government. The military would determine the timing of elections, which could be in 12 months or in two years, he said.

He said the Commander of the Republic of Fiji Military Force invoked the "doctrine of necessity". He had hoped to get President Iloilo to dismiss the government, but was eventually forced to dismiss the President and assume executive authority himself. Bainimarama was keen to have the Great Council of Chiefs (GCC) - a constitutionally recognised body of high chiefs of indigenous Fijian tribes that appoints the President - reinstate Iloilo so that the President could swear in an interim government. But Ratu Ovini Bokini, chairman of the GCC, refused to convene the council. His predecessor, Ratu Epeli Ganilau, then called on him to recognise the reality of the situation and convene the GCC so that the "national mess" could be sorted out.

The leader of the Fiji Labour Party, Mahendra Chaudhry, told Radio New Zealand in an interview: "I think that we all should be working towards restoring democratic rule as quickly as possible to avert serious consequences on the economy and the people and the nation as a whole." He stressed that he was not ready to be part of an interim government to be formed by the military but was "ready to extend any help that we can in order to bring about the restoration of democratic rule".

Fiji faced a similar situation after the coups in 1987 and 2000. In May 1987, Lt. Col. Sitiveni Rabuka and a group of armed soldiers walked into Parliament and seized newly elected Prime Minister Timoci Bavadra and his Ministers. In September 1987, Rabuka carried out a second coup and declared Fiji a republic in order to consolidate his hold on the government.

Rabuka brought in a racially biased Constitution in 1990 to ensure that power remained in the hands of Fijians. In 1996, Rabuka began moves to reconcile with the Indians and a new racially equitable Constitution was approved in 1997. In the 1999 elections, a Fiji Labour Party-led coalition headed by Mahendra Chaudhry won an overwhelming majority.

In almost a repeat of the events of 1987, on May 19, 2000, George Speight and a group of rebel soldiers stormed the Parliament building and took Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry and his Cabinet hostage. Bainimarama negotiated the release of the hostages and installed former banker Laisenia Qarase as Prime Minister. In November 2000, the rebel soldiers staged a mutiny in which Bainimarama narrowly escaped an attempt on his life. Speight and a few others were convicted for treason.

Fiji's latest coup has been bloodless but it has already begun to affect the country's economy. After the Australian travel notice, airlines and tourist resorts reported large cancellations of block bookings for the New Year. While Nadi's beach resorts were still packed with foreign tourists, the tourism trade dropped by about 25 per cent in October-November. Tourism accounts for more than half of Fiji's revenues; 2005 was a record year for tourism in Fiji and the tourism industry was anticipating another good season.

The military takeover will hurt the economy, and the loss of jobs and income will begin to cause distress to the people. Hotels and resorts have laid off most of the casual and temporary workers employed for the peak holiday season. In the two months of tension about $100 million of investments were diverted from Fiji to more stable markets, according to a banker in Suva. Now, another $120 million of investment proposals were in doubt, he added.

Fiji is acquiring a reputation for being politically unstable and is losing its attraction as a tourist paradise. In the aftermath of the 2000 coup, poverty levels in the country increased by 25 per cent.

There are rumours of devaluation of the Fiji dollar, which would lead to a sharp rise in the prices of essential commodities. The losers in this cycle of political instability are ordinary Fijians who are hit hardest by the social tensions and the economic decline.