What is happening before our eyes, thanks to your able updating of the news
from Fiji, is the unraveling of a country. Teresia Teaiwa is quite correct
to point out the divisions in indigenous Fijian society, though her claim
that there is no Fijian nation seems to assume a reified, monolithic notion
of nationhood, when in fact all nations have internal divisions and debates.
What is really at issue is the methods of political change. Nations tend to
define themselves vis-a-vis some designated "other," in Fiji's case,
the
Indo-Fijian half of the population, a legacy of British colonial policy.
But the last elections, in 1999, under the Commonwealth- inspired
constitutional reforms, showed that the Indo-Fijians, who also have
important divisions among them, were more united than the Fijians, who lost
the election for exactly that reason. And what is emerging in place of unity
is a "coup culture," as Edward Luttwak, author of Coup d'Etat, might
say. In
some countries, where there is no viable civic culture that respects due
process of constitutional law, the only way to change leadership becomes
military coups, which only beget more coups.
The so-called "civil coup" being attempted in Fiji by George Speight
and his
terrorists is really made possible by an elite armed force created by the
previous coup-maker, Sitiveni Rabuka: his Counter-Revolutionary Warfare
Unit, whose guns enable Speight to talk big while threatening the lives of
the kidnapped Prime Minister and his cabinet for almost a week now. Former
Prime Minister /General Rabuka and President Ratu Mara, and even the Great
Council of Chiefs, are at a loss, obviously, as to how to resolve the
hostage crisis without making concessions to Speight and his prancing thugs,
thereby legitimizing their tactics. Economic change in Fijian society has
given rise to a new middle class, of which Speight represents a small,
unsavory portion, which does not necessarily respect the high chiefs of
eastern Fiji who had so often managed to claim to represent the "nation"
until now. Rabuka himself helped to announce the new era in 1987, when he
pulled two coups (after a western region Fijian won the Prime Minister's
office for the first time), thus starting the process that has undermined
Fiji's third constitution since independence in 1970.
For those who love Fiji, we can only feel sad to see this once-prosperous
and stable country slip more deeply into a trap it may not be able to
escape. The now-hostage Prime Minister, Indo-Fijian unionist Mahendra
Chaudhry, had claimed that he needed more security, and people took it
lightly, but the stark reality of political rule from the barrels of guns is
becoming clear to everyone in Fiji. And the Indo-Fijians, long the scapegoat
"others" against whom the Fijian "nation" defined itself,
may no longer
suffice. Fijians have now met their real enemy, and it is themselves.
Different districts, regions, classes and other segments of the indigenous
society may in the future all grab for weapons if they are not pleased with
electoral results, thanks to Mr. Speight and Mr. Rabuka. Given the
"pardoned" results so far, why shouldn't they?
As Dr. Brij Lal of ANU wrote recently in The Australian, "Mahendra Chaudhry
is not the problem facing Fiji today. You may remove him from power, but the
deep-seated problems will not be removed. You may maim the messenger, but
the message will not go away." Only unity on the part of the Great Council
of Chiefs, Rabuka and Mara (and the remaining army and police) can stop this
downward spiral. They must uphold the present constitution or give up the
idea of having one at all.
Sincerely,
David Chappell
UH History Department
U2Chappell@cs.com
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