Hidden Hand in Fiji

["Ulhas Joglekar" <ulhasj@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Thursday
24 August 2000

Hidden Hand in Fiji
Fiji's deposed Prime Minister Mahendra Pal Chaudhry insists that India must
impose sanctions on Fiji to match its words of solidarity. He tells Mahendra
Ved that the world community must take note of the alarming frequency with
which democracies are being subverted in the Pacific, and that the UN should
step in to prevent ``the blueprint for apartheid'' in Fiji:
What is the difference between the coups of 1987 and that of 2000?
After the 1987 twin coups, it took us ten years to get back to a
multi-racial polity. It is difficult to say how long it will take this time.
Now racism has been institutionalised. Debate in parliament had racial
overtones. Outside parliament, where the two communities lived side by side,
the relations were cordial. But the indigenous people were made to believe
that Indians were doing well at their expense.
Why are Indians looked upon as exploiters?
Indians are engaged in commerce. The real big business of tourism, banking
and insurance is totally in the hands of whites. British colonisers had
ensured protection for the indigenous people and we did not tamper with
those laws. Eighty-three per cent of land, fishing rights and forests are
with them. They dominate the administration and the police. In the armed
forces, the number of Indians is negligible. The crisis is made out as
ethnic, when it is actually a power struggle, pure and simple.
Is the ethnic divide total?
No, certainly not. We have a substantial number of people from both
communities elected on our platform. We have 57 members, representing all
groups, while the opposition has 14, that includes one Indian. Our coalition
remains in tact, despite all that has happened.
You have said that George Speight is a fall guy and that Rabuka played a
behind-the-scene role. You have also said that the coup was the handiwork of
the timber trade mafia backed by the US.
Speight was head of a timber firm during the Rabuka Government. There were
international bids for mahogany: Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC)
of the UK and Timber Resource Management, an American consortium set up for
the bid. The TRM was also connected to the Anglo-Pacific, which bid for
pines. We have evidence that Speight was their proxy and had received money
from TRM. But the government preferred CDC. Amidst negotiations, James
Ahkoye, finance minister in the Rabuka Government and Speight's mentor,
dismissed the consultants, Price Waterhouse, and put Speight in charge of
the negotiations. But then the elections came and it was decided to leave it
to the next government. The poll results went our way, so Speight resigned.
My government reopened the issue, got the consultants back on the job, made
the assessment and unanimously decided to engage the CDC.
The US embassy in Suva was pushing for TRM getting the timber deal by
putting indirect pressure on my government through the attorney general and
prominent coalition members. There was big money and big power involvement.
So we want an inquiry to find the real players behind the scene. I think the
game-plan was to remove us because we couldn't be bullied.
You have plans to restore multi-racial constitution and democracy?
We have a cohesive plan of action at three levels -- local, regional and
international. I have been seeking support from the heads of governments I
have met. I shall discuss it at the Commonwealth Secretariat and at the UN.
At the regional level, we are trying remove a lot of disinformation about
the rights of the indigenous Fijians. Australia and New Zealand have noted
that democratically elected governments have been overthrown with alarming
frequency in Fiji and Solomon Islands and there is insurgency in Vanuatu and
Papua New Guinea. Democracy is under threat in the Asia-Pacific region.
In Fiji, no single community is marginalised -- this fear was removed during
the colonial days and through the legislations in 1970s and 1980s. Ethnic
Indians were then around 52 per cent, now reduced to 44. The Constitutions
of 1970 and 1998 also took care of these issues. Of 7l legislations passed
since 1971, 36 affect Fijians' land rights and their role in the
administration. Any change would have required two-thirds majority support
in Parliament. Concurrence of nine of the 14 members of the Great Council of
Chiefs is also required and the the Chiefs have a veto power on matters
relating to the interests of the indigenous Fijians. So, the fear that the
indigenous people's rights were threatened by my government is a
manufactured myth.
There are reports that the coup was brought about by your confrontationist
stance towards your opponents.
There is no question of my having got into a confrontation either with the
opposition or with the tribal chiefs. Far from changing the existing
arrangement, we were helping to strengthen it by establishing a land use
commission to grant government funds for bringing large tracts of fallow
land under cultivation. That would have eased the high rate of unemployment.
But the opposition sought to make it out as if we were taking away land. The
race card was used to create disharmony.
Some months after the 1987 coup, Australia and New Zealand relaxed the
sanctions on the Rabuka government. Do you think it will be repeated?
No, this time we will not allow that to happen. What is happening in Fiji is
ethnic cleansing and the world community must condemn it. We have challenged
the replacement of the 1997 constitution in the court. We must adopt the
judicial course. I am sure this regime will become unpopular in no time. The
economy is in shambles and there are no jobs. The army's role is implicit in
all developments. Rogue elements will have to be identified and dealt with.
This is where we seek UN intervention.
Considering that 320,000 Fijians are ethnic Indians, what role do you expect
from India?
I feel encouraged by the Indian response. India must realise that if checks
and balances are not put in place wherever the Indian diaspora are settled,
the international community will have to be prepared to resettle them. The
Indian government will have to go beyond making statements and expressing
solidarity. India must impose sanctions, even if it is just symbolic, since
there is not much trade between India and Fiji. If defence forces and the
police side with the interim government that persists with the scrapping of
the 1997 constitution and other changes, then the UN must step in.
Do you foresee a violent struggle ahead?
We don't subscribe to violence. But we will not let thugs and bullies get
away with their agenda of misdeeds. Violence is taking place right now with
ethnic Indians being looted and beaten and their homes torched. The army and
the police are treating this as a law and order problem. They must remain
strictly neutral.
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