Rabuka staged two coups in 1987. He claimed that he did it for the indigenous
people of Fiji. He emphasized that the
interests and aspirations of the Fijian people should be paramount. The coup,
he stated, was necessary to demonstrate
this paramountcy. His efforts saw adoption of a lopsided constitution in 1990,
which was not acceptable in the modern
world - the world on which Fiji is so much dependent for trade, aid and investment.
It did not take long for the1990
constitution to be abandoned because even the indigenous people felt that in
a multiracial country a constitution should
encompass the interests of all - so long as Fijian rights are not tempered with
and so long as the Fijians are provided
with higher number of seats in the parliament.
George Speight and his opportunist friends with a gang of thugs took over the
Fiji parliament on May 19, 2000. He too
proclaimed that his actions were for the sake of indigenous rights and their
supremacy. He now wants the 1997
constitution thrown out and replaced with a constitution similar to that of
1990.
But what puzzles most people is the sort of paramountcy that George Speight
is talking about. Fijians had all the
in-built political safeguards in all the constitutions Fiji has adopted since
independence in 1970. Is he talking about
economic supremacy? If so does he not realize that Fijians have come a long
way in the last 30 years of independence
despite very little involvement in the money economy during the pre- independence
period?
No one knows for certain the reason behind the coups except the explanation
given by the perpetrators that they led
the coups to meet the aspirations of the Fijian people. By this one would interpret
that they wanted to improve the
standard of living of the Fijian people. In order to achieve their aim Speight
and opportunist group decided to forcefully
remove the elected government and take the right to govern in their own hands.
Generally, one would expect that the
aspirations of ordinary people of any race, class creed or color would be for
better education, sound health services and
proper housing. In other word to improve the standard of living and, once basic
needs are satisfied, to attain a better
quality of life.
Speight claims that the previous governments did not look after the aspirations
of the indigenous people. He came to
Fiji in 1997, after many years of absence, so one would not expect him to know
what was going on. Nevertheless let us
find out whether efforts were being directed towards the development of Fijian
people by the respective government
who took control of the administration since 1970.
In the most part Fiji, since attaining independence, was under the charge of
Prime Minister Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara and
his alliance government. From the Fiji development plans and the annual budget
reports it could be seen that
immediately after taking office the Mara government began focusing its attention
to the development of infrastructure.
New roads, several airports, bridges, wharves and jetties were built as a base
for future economic and social
development. Under the rural development programs all communities were given
the opportunity to identify and build
several small but important self - help projects in their areas. These were
financed by the central government. While the
village communities completed smaller projects, the government undertook the
bigger ones, including water supply
schemes, major hospitals, many health centers, schools and roads.
The Mara policy was generally to focus funds derived through taxes towards
the development of the indigenous Fijian.
Many projects were started under this scheme for the benefit of the Fijian people.
To mention a few ? new housing
estates, schools for outer island children, wharves and jetties in various island
for loading and unloading of cargoes,
special scholarship schemes for the indigenous Fijian children, building, upgrading
and sealing of roads. The list goes on
and on. He did not emulate the Malaysian experience in Fiji by using legislation.
He did by consensus. The Indo-Fijian
people, who were the major taxpayers, were happy for the funds to be oriented
to the development of the Fijian people.
There was acceptance by all that this special assistance was necessary to allow
the indigenous people to catch up in the
economic field.
The Provincial Council comprising indigenous Fijians and the Advisory Council
comprising the rest of the community -
mainly Indians - combined to form development committees to establish priorities
for the needs of their areas. The
central government took heed of their decisions and funded them within its financial
limits. This feeling of involvement
brought about a semblance of unity among all citizens and gave them the impetus
and enthusiasm to participate in the
nation building process.
Having concentrated for a decade in providing the infrastructure needs of the
country the government turned its
attention in the 1980s to trade, industry, agriculture and tourism. To enhance
trade and manufacturing the Fiji Trade
and Investment Board was created in 1980, which assisted in setting up of many
small industries. Several favorable
international trade agreements were signed during this period, such as SPARTECA,
GSP and LOMÉ CONVENTION,
which provided a needed boost to the manufacturing and the export sector. Investment
in tourism increased
substantially and the foundations of the garment industry, due mainly to the
SPARTECA Agreement allowing free
access to Australian and New Zealand markets, were established during this period.
Today these two industries are significant contributors to the Fiji economy
apart from sugar, which has been the
backbone of Fiji’s prosperity since its inception in the late nineteenth
century. The small scale manufacturing industries
that mushroomed in the 1980s were mainly of import replacement nature. They
contributed significantly to job creation
and saving foreign exchange. Many of these industries, having satisfied the
needs locally, turned to export. The
manufacturing sector also began attracting joint venture capital during this
period. The Fiji Trade and Investment
Board, the Fiji Development Bank and the Reserve Bank of Fiji worked together
with other government bodies and
departments playing pivotal role in enhancing the government policy, which was
geared towards trade, industrial and
overall economic development. It can be said that Fiji was poised to enter a
new development era in the mid 1980s.
But this was not to be. Fiji was confronted by two coups in 1987 and all investment
ceased. There was a vast exodus of
people out of the country of skilled and managerial rank and, of course, ordinary
citizens. It is said that more than
60,000 people have left Fiji shores since the coup.
Any country that loses productive people in large numbers in such a short space
of time will certainly face a jolt in its
economic development. Fiji, which was just heading to be a small industrial
"giant" of the South Pacific, received a real
setback due to the coups, and has been left, fragmented ever since. Furthermore,
Fiji lost all the privileges it used to
enjoy when it was a member of the Commonwealth, particularly in the field of
trade and industry.
The political uncertainty following the coups led investors to be cautious.
Australian investment, the largest source of
private investment in Fiji, moved to more lucrative and stable destinations.
The end of the Cold War has led to the
increased mobility of the investment dollar, and Fiji has had to work twice
as hard to attract foreign investment. Fiji’s
strong drive after the coups to attract investment from South East Asia has
been a failure.
After a decade of instability Fiji adopted a new multiracial constitution,
which led to the election of the coalition
government under the leadership of Mahendra Chaudhry in 1999. The new government
appeared to function well, but
no doubt it annoyed a number of leaders of the business community when legislation
was proposed to close tax
avoidance. It also sent a shiver up the spines of various parties who were to
be investigated for the financial misdeeds
they had got away with under the previous government. But fair-minded Fijians
recognized that in many areas such as
the leasing of native land and the processing of mahogany plantations Chaudhry
initiated wide-ranging discussions to
achieve the best possible result.
In general it seems the majority of the population supported what Mahendra
Chaudhry managed to do during one year
of his governance. Prices of the basic food items, water and electricity rates
were lowered by the withdrawal of taxes.
Chaudhry moved around the country listening to the people and devised his policies
and programs accordingly.
Internationally he visited all the neighboring developed countries such as Australia,
New Zealand and Japan that are
Fiji’s major trading partners and aid providers. He attended the Heads
of Commonwealth Government meeting in
South Africa.
On the economic side there were many major investments in pipeline or just
taking off due mostly to Chaudhry’s
personal efforts. It could be said that after many years chaos and confusion
that followed the Rabuka coups of 1987 Fiji
was again settling down to a period of political stability and economic growth.
Again it was not to be. Speight came down to the Fiji parliament with his gang,
guns and knives and took the Prime
Minister, many of the cabinet members and parliamentarians as hostages. He claimed
that he took control of the
government for the sake of the indigenous people of the country. The rhetoric
sounded very emotional and captivating.
But he has not bothered to explain how he will help the indigenous Fijian people
to become successful businessmen or
farmers overnight, while he himself is a failed one.
Will Speight ever succeed in meeting the aspirations of the Fijian people as
was done by Ratu Mara or would have been
done by Mahendra Chaudhry, if he was allowed the opportunity to run his government?
The emphatic answer is, No!
Why?
Firstly, Speight does not seem to be clear on what are the aspirations of the
Fijian people. From what it has been
observed so far is that he thinks by dominating, threatening, intimidating attacking
and looting the helpless people of
Indian origin he is meeting his objective. He feels that this is a heroic deed
and will meet the approval of the Fijian
people. However, if the Fijian people had to overpower the Indo ? Fijians by
force they did not need Speight. They had
enough guns and manpower to take this line of action on their own. Instead of
violence the majority of the people
decided to show their disapproval of the government’s actions by protest
marches. They would have succeeded had
Speight not jumped in with his cowardly act of imprisoning the democratically
elected government and then
blackmailing all and sundry to put him and his opportunist colleagues in power
to run the government.
Secondly, to satisfy the needs of any group, one needs financial resources.
The major source of government funds in
Fiji is either income tax or customs and excise duties. After what Speight has
done to the country no body is earning
much income to either pay tax or import goods. In matter of a short period of
time both these sources of revenue will
dry out and Speight better run for cover when he will be asked to fulfill his
promises. Looking at his record, by then he
will have moved on to some other destination to create more upheaval.
Thirdly, if Speight or his eagerly awaiting opportunist friends are anywhere
near the new government to be appointed
all overseas aid and grant and assistance will cease. Fiji’s lucrative
market to EEC for sugar and to Australia, New
Zealand, Europe and USA for garments, gold, ginger and other produce will be
lost. Tourists will shun Fiji. Speight
says to the world that he does not care but the people of Fiji care. Fiji’s
future depends on overseas trade, aid, and
tourism. Fiji being the hub of the South Pacific and headquarters of various
world and regional agencies need to have
daily interaction with other countries of the world.
Fourthly, Fiji needs participation of all its communities at this point in
time in its nation building process. Unfortunately,
Speight has lost his role as a leader of this nation by brining about divisions
and hatred among races. He has shattered
the harmonious relationship that existed among the communities in Fiji.
Now that the Council of Chiefs are meeting to ponder on the present turmoil,
Speight, if he is true son of Fiji, as he
claims, he should back-off and let the Council workout the future of the nation.
Speight acknowledges the Council is the
true representative of the Fijian people. They should not feel any coercion
in their deliberations. Within the Great
Council of Chiefs there are many men of great wisdom who no doubt will put the
nation first in whatever outcome
they may reach. Fiji is falling apart today and the prayer and the wish of all
communities and in particular of the two
major races that have lived together side by side for over 100 years is to see
that their beautiful land remain intact.
Neither Speight nor anyone else should disagree with this hope.
Perhaps it should be borne in mind that once a country moves away from democracy,
the civilized world and the
intelligent investor moves away from the country. The result is economic ruin,
felt most harshly by the poor sectors of
society, and lingering political discontent.
The famous founder of Fiji’s modern economic and political thought, Ratu
Sir Lala Sukuna, said on many occasions
that it has taken the efforts of all communities of Fiji for it to become a
prosperous country. Fiji has the resilience to pull
back from the current quagmire and once again become a respected member of the
world community on which we so
much depend.
The Great Council of Chiefs has now the responsibility to fulfill the wishes
of its people and restore dignity to the
nation.
Narendra P Singh
Business Consultant on Fiji &
Former Commissioner Western
Former Director of the Economic Development Board of Fiji
Former Fiji Consul General
Narendra Singh served in the Fiji public service for 23 years before retiring
in 1990. Singh served in several positions in the Fiji
government including district administration, Ministry of Industry Commerce
and Co-operatives, Fijian Affairs and as a diplomat.
She can be reached by email on: npsingh@zip.com.au
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