BY NORM DIXON
The May 2000 armed coup that overthrew the democratically elected Fiji Labour Party government has been formalised and legitimised. With the swearing in of a coalition government dominated by the two key Melanesian-Fijian chauvinist factions that backed the coup, the racist agenda to deprive Indian Fijians of economic and political rights can now be implemented.
On September 12, Fiji's new prime minister and leader of the Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua (SDL) party, Laisenia Qarase, named a 20-member cabinet dominated by the SDL. It also includes two members of the ultra-chauvinist Conservative Alliance/Matanitu Vanua (CAMV).
No Indian Fijians have been included in the cabinet. Qarase has also refused to honour his constitutional obligation to give at least eight cabinet seats to the Labour Party. (Fiji's constitution requires that parties which secure more than 10% of the seats in the 71-seat parliament must be represented in cabinet in proportion to their parliamentary representation.)
The composition of Fiji's new cabinet represents a reconciliation between the two main political representatives of the Melanesian-Fijian chauvinist movement.
George Speight, the leader of the gun-toting gang that last year deposed Mahendra Chaudhry's Labour government, was elected to parliament as a candidate of the CAMV. Speight is presently detained on an island off Suva and may stand trial for treason. (Speight will lose his seat if he misses three consecutive sittings of parliament; President Josefa Iloilo has the power to pardon Speight if he is convicted.)
The CAMV is led by former Fiji intelligence chief Metuisela Mua, who also faces charges related to his involvement in the coup.
Mua was often seen in the company of Speight during the period following the coup in which Speight and his henchmen were holding the Labour cabinet hostage.
Qarase was appointed Fiji's "interim" prime minister by the Fiji military after it declared martial law on May 29. A settlement was reached with the terrorists which met most of Speight's demands and offered them amnesty.
The Qarase regime then began negotiations with Speight on the composition of an interim government dominated by the Melanesian-Fijian elite. The 1997 constitution (which the Melanesian-Fijian chauvinists agreed undermined "indigenous Fijian paramountcy") and the Labour government were consigned to the history books.
The common goal of both Speight and the military-backed Qarase regime was to entrench a political system dominated by the Melanesian-Fijian elite.
The military and Qarase agreed that Speight could have as many as five of his supporters in the cabinet. However, Speight and the military fell out last July because of the coup leader's stubborn refusal to compromise further. He threatened to cause further unrest if his demands for more of his supporters to be included in the cabinet were not met. On July 26 last year, Speight was arrested, along with hundreds of supporters.
This factional rivalry turned bloody last November after members of the Fiji army's Counter Revolutionary Warfare (CRW) unit seized the armed forces' national headquarters, the Queen Victoria Barracks in Suva. Leading the 40 or so commandos were several soldiers who had just been released from detention for their participation in Speight's coup.
The goal of the attackers was to topple the commander of the Fiji military forces, Commodore Frank Bainimarama — the power behind Qarase's throne — and replace him with someone sympathetic to Speight's followers. At least eight people were killed when soldiers loyal to Bainimarama retook the barracks.
The military-backed Qarase regime was busy drafting a new constitution that would discriminate against the 44% of Fijians who are of Indian ancestry, when the Fiji's High Court on November 15 ruled that the 1997 constitution was still legally in effect and that Chaudhry was still legally Fiji's prime minister. After unsuccessfully appealing the ruling, Qarase was forced to agree to a fresh general election.
Voting began on August 25 and continued until August 31. Following the close of the polls, counting dragged on until September 7. The overall turn out was poor at 65% of eligible voters.
Labour won a total of 27 seats. This included all but one of the 19 seats constitutionally reserved for Indian Fijians.
The SDL won a total of 31 seats, including a most of the 23 seats reserved for Melanesian Fijians. This is six seats short of the majority needed for the SDL to form a government in its own right. However, SDL can count on the support of the CAMV, which won six seats, three "moderate" parties (which won four seats between them) and two "independent" MPs.
As well as the racially reserved seats, Fiji's electoral system includes 25 "open" seats elected with a common voters' roll.
The SDL did surprisingly well in the open seats, winning all five in Suva. Labour had been widely expected to win those.
Labour and the "moderate" parties accused the Qarase regime of vote rigging in those seats. Large numbers of Labour votes were ruled invalid by government-appointed polling officials. In the Cunningham and Tailevu North open seats, where the Labour sitting
members were defeated, large numbers of votes were marked with red pens, which are only used by polling officials.
The officials claimed that they had to give voters their red pens because the pens approved for use by voters had run out of ink. However, Labour candidate for Tailevu North, Watisoni Waqaicere, pointed out that red pens were used mainly on votes for the SDL and CAMV. "The question is, why don't the Labour voters use red pens?", asked Waqaicere.
Labour plans to challenge the results in the Suva open seats in court.
Despite Labour's complaints, observers from the Commonwealth had declared the election "free and fair" even before the counting was completed. Chaudhry said he was "stunned" at the Commonwealth observers rush to endorse the result.
The new government's first act was to reimpose the value added tax, a consumption tax that hits the poorest hardest. The VAT had been abolished by the Chaudhry government.