My homeland of Fiji had developed a coup culture that saw four coups befall the country, two by Sitiveni Rabuka, one by George Speight and the last coup in 2006 by Josaia Voreqe “Frank” Bainimarama. Fiji was supposed to return to democracy, but after the recent general election saw Fiji First fail to gain a majority and end up with the same number of seats as the Rabuka-led People’s Alliance coalition with the National Federation Party led by Biman Prasad, the balance of power was held by SODELPA, a shadow of its former self, with just three seats.
On Tuesday night SODELPA announced that they would form a coalition together with the People’s Alliance and the National Federation Party. It signalled the end of the Bainimarama-led Fiji First government. That is all in tatters now as the Bainimarama loyalist and former brutal enforcer of the dictatorship, Sitiveni Qiliho, the Chief of Police, has called in the Army on trumped-up excuses of civil unrest. Worse still it appears the Army has agreed and mobilised in what looks for all intents and purposes like a coup in all but name.
Fiji’s military forces are being deployed to maintain security and stability in the country following reports of threats made against minority groups.
In a statement on Thursday afternoon, Fiji Police Commissioner Sitiveni Qiliho announced the move, calling it a joint decision with the commander of Fiji’s military forces, Major General Jone Kalouniwai.
As of 3pm Fiji time, RNZ Pacific’s correspondent in Suva, Kelvin Anthony, reported there were no visible signs of increased police or military presence.
Qiliho said the decision was based on official reports and intelligence received of planned civil unrest and the targeting of minority groups.
The military deployment comes less than 24 hours after the ruling FijiFirst party made its first public statement since the 14 December election.
Its secretary general, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, said they respected the outcome of the election, but did not recognise the validity of the opposition coalition and would not concede defeat.
Sayed-Khaiyum said under the country’s constitution, the FijiFirst government remained in place and Frank Bainimarama was still the prime minister of Fiji.
He said this could only be changed once the vote for prime minister was held on the floor of Parliament.
Under section 131 (2) of Fiji’s constitution, the military has the “overall responsibility” to ensure the security, defence and wellbeing of Fiji and all Fijians.
RNZ
This is a terrible development for the people of Fiji, and it certainly looks like Bainimarama only believes in democratic elections as long as he is winning, and in brutal suppression of the Fijian people if they ever lose.
The pretext for calling in the military is complete nonsense. There is nothing like the scale of “civil unrest” or “attacks on minorities” to justify putting troops on the street, according to my sources in Fiji. Indeed, Fiji has a sizeable and reasonably competent police force that is more than capable of handling public order. Except that Bainimarama’s man at the Police has meddled constantly in the election process, dragging opposition politicians in for questioning during the campaign. His nickname is “Pistol” named for his preferred interrogation technique of placing a pistol on the table in front of his victims.
This is nothing other than a blatant attempt to raise the political temperature to justify a crackdown or as a prelude to unconstitutional means being used by FijiFirst to remain in power.
Bainimarama, the man who seized power in 2006 to create a “genuine democracy” in Fiji is nowhere to be seen, with Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum fronting everything. The puppet master isn’t even using his puppet anymore. The mask has slipped.
If this really was a genuine democracy, Frank Bainimarama would have conceded defeat in the election and congratulated his opponent, retired and gone off to play with his grandchildren, as he once professed to me when I asked him what would happen if he lost the 2014 election. I remind him now of what he said to me when I interviewed him at the Pullman Hotel in 2014. Sadly, it appears that he does not intend to surrender power and never really did.
For Frank Bainimarama, elections are for winning, not losing. As he said during the campaign, FijiFirst needs to stay in power forever. And now he is putting the RFMF on the streets to make sure of it.
So much for the assurances from the RFMF Commander, Major General Ro Jone Kalouniwai, that the will of the people would be respected and the constitution upheld.
It is high time that the Commander makes good on his promise to the Fijian people. And if he fails to do so, the people of Fiji are entitled to assume that the Army has sided with the despot who seized power at the point of a gun 16 years ago and who intends to stay in power the same way.
It is a very dark day for Fiji. The abrogation of both democracy and the constitution is shameful, especially considering the supreme law that Bainimarama imposed on the rest of the nation but seems to have no intention of obeying himself.
Sitiveni Rabuka for his part is staying as statesman-like as he can. He confronted his own past with coups and went about the country apologising for his past behaviours. The fact that he formed an agreement with Biman Prasad says much about the reformed statesman that Rabuka has become.
I grieve for the country of my birth. I hope for the country’s sake the Army honours its pledge to honour the constitution and ensures the transfer of power to the majority who voted against FijiFirst in the general election. Sadly, I don’t think that is going to happen, and Fiji will once again descend into the shameful legacy of its coup culture.
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