Thirty-six hours after Commodore Frank Bainimarama installed himself as
Fiji's military ruler, his office issued a press release saying the American
ambassador and the Fiji Trade Union Congress had paid him a courtesy visit.
It went on to say that the union officials had visited to show their support
for the interim military government. They had done no such thing.
If prime minister Mahendra Chaudhry and his coalition government were the
first victims of this defacto Fijian civil war, truth was a close second.
The union congress assistant national secretary, Diwan Shankar, who was part
of the delegation, told The Age his team had not expressed support for
Commodore Bainimarama. Rather, it had put its view he should work to restore
the Chaudhry government and the constitution swept aside in the military
takeover.
US ambassador Osman Siddique never even got to see the commodore. Mr
Siddique issued a statement the next day saying his government also opposed
any unconstitutional change of government.
What this shows is that Commodore Bainimarama and his officers have realised
they must fight propaganda fire with fire. George Speight, the frontman for
a coalition of interests trying to take over Fiji, had been getting away
with this sort of thing for almost two weeks.
While Mr Speight's rambling monologues and unruly street thugs give his
insurrection a shambolic appearance, behind the scenes there are some
serious brains at work.
Apart from the British SAS-trained Ilisoni Ligairi, Mr Speight's brains
trust in the parliamentary compound includes the former director of Fiji's
intelligence service, two platoon commanders of the army's counter
revolutionary squad and a handful of highly trained soldiers, the former
head of the powerful Native Land Trust Board, and assorted politicians.
The military men run the destabilisation strategy - known as "psy ops"
(psychological operations) - including recruiting rogue police to spread
rumors of impending riots to disrupt business and public administration.
Maika Qarikau, the head of the land board, is author of a "deed of
sovereignty" that is circulating around the country. It explains how a
Speight regime would ensure the messy land laws would be changed to benefit
indigenous owners.
Another document issued from the Speight camp plays the race card, alleging
Mr Chaudhry was in a conspiracy to effectively colonise Fiji for the
Indians. The politicians work their contacts, promising powerful positions
of office and influence in a Speightist Fiji.
For the first week of the coup, under their commander in chief, President
Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, the military barely had a response on any of these
fronts.
Since Commodore Bainimarama and his senior officers got Ratu Mara's
agreement for them to take over, they have increasingly got their act
together, to the point where Mr Speight's momentum has been halted, and
gradually reversed. Commodore Bainimarama has stiffened the negotiating
stance.
There will be no role for Mr Speight or his backers in the next civilian
government, he says. Mr Chaudhry and the other hostages must be released
before Mr Speight gets an amnesty.
The army has got on the front foot in the propaganda war, taking double-page
spreads in the newspapers and putting Commodore Bainimarama on television to
address the nation. Here he has one key advantage over the motormouth, Mr
Speight. Commodore Bainimarama is fluent in Fijian, as well as English,
which contrasts with Mr Speight's verbose daily media conferences
exclusively in English.
Politically, the military is wooing chiefs, including those supporting Mr
Speight. The army has assessed that up to 40 per cent of the indigenous
population may support Mr Speight's aims of cementing indigenous political
control. Many of those attaching themselves to the Speight camp are doing so
for opportunist reasons. But others have legitimate grievances about land
reform, or the way the economic and social security systems have failed to
protect uneducated, jobless young urban Fijians.
Military negotiators are telling these people their problems can be dealt
with, but the answers have nothing to do with the political power play
driving Mr Speight. Like Mr Speight, the military is using the time-honored
principle of divide and rule.
By getting the country back as close to normal as it can, the military hopes
to legitimise its rule. Schools are due to resume classes the week after
next. Sugar farmers are being asked to drop their harvest bans in support of
Mr Chaudhry.
Foreign diplomats have been mystified why the army does not cut off media
access to Mr Speight. The army has judged it would suffer more from this, or
imposing censorship, than it would gain. One line of Speight propaganda is
that the army has acted to grab power for itself, not the people. An army
move to control the media would feed that.
This story was found at:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/20000610/A52065-2000Jun9.html
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