Fiji: Coup 5.0

Disturbing headlines - censored though they are - from Fiji. A coup is what I called it at the time and a coup is what it was. It's only later on, as the actions of this morning amply demonstrate, that people begin to recognise it for what it is. Or Coup four and a half as one Fijian blogger has called their site.
Perhaps they should reconsider an upgrade to 5.0 following the regime's crackdown on the media, sackings of the judiciary and now the sacking of the Reserve Bank Governor - which I suspected from this emergency release on the RBF website from the Deputy Governor with no mention of their boss whatsoever.The question is why? Why put on emergency exchange controls? Why no mention of troops at the central bank headquarters or that the Governor has been sacked? It's because the oafish coup by the President in cahoots with the military has rebounded them into Banana Republic territory. I'm guessing the slimy Attorney-General is behind most of the constitutional manoeuvring, but suspect that the financial policy is being managed with all the subtlety of one of the Commodore's khaki goons.

The Indian (and other) business interests which are probably backing this coup (maybe all coups?) are in danger of voting with their wallets and pulling their money out. This run on funds scenario (but with Chinese business interests) was arguably the primary pre-cursor that triggered Suharto's fall in Indonesia in 1998.

Via the above blog:

by Michael Field

Fiji’s currency is in crisis as the military occupy the country’s central Reserve Bank (RBF), housed in the same building as the New Zealand High Commission, and have Governor Savenaca Narube under arrest.

In a brief statement a short time ago the RBF deputy governor Sada Reddy said the bank has "tightened exchange controls with immediate effect." Sources who cannot be named for fear of their safety say a major currency run is underway with hard exchange fleeing the country.

Sources say the New Zealand High Commission offices, which are a floor below the governor's office, have not been entered by the military. Mr Narube has been loudly warning Fiji that its economy is in major strife and on Thursday he announced the domestic economic would contract this year by 0.3 percent as against a projected 2.4 percent.

He said Fiji's official foreign reserves were F$674 million, equivalent to 2.7 months of imports of goods. Fiji normally has reserves of around five to six months.

Every day the fools in the blogosphere like DPF and Whaleoil and Chris Trotter are being proven embarrassingly far out of their depth as they continue to assume that the motivation of the military dictator is to bring an electoral utopia to Fiji where indigenous Fijians (of which the military is almost entirely composed) will be stripped of every political advantage they have... in order to advance (through the new democratic order) the economic agenda of the large Indian population (which is ultimately aimed towards seizing the native title off the Fijians once all the posturing and intellectualising has evaporated).

The motivation and objective of military dictatorships of this type (and every shred of evidence thus far points to it) is for the new ruling clique to stay in power for as long as they can. The second reason these bereft bloggers insist the military govt is desirable is so it can combat corruption rampant in the previous democratic govt. This is the funniest one because the facts are so obviously against them - media intimidation and censorship, appointments of the military to all sorts of offices of state (now including the judiciary), arbitrary arrests, beatings and even killings by the military which has clearly put themselves above the law.

If these commentators prefer to keep believing these increasingly idiotic myths and promote the use of military force to change electoral laws then the adjectives are going to get fresh. They think it's OK because it's a third world country - that's the real reason. They would never suggest it as a solution for a first world nation like NZ.

Yesterday's news from blogger Raw Fiji News:

Sada Reddy, RBF’s deputy governor has now taken over from Save Narube, whom we can confirm has been officially given his marching order by the military regime before being released awhile ago. Reddy is a pro-regime man whom we had reported on many threads ago.
[...]
Military police personnel, some plain clothed and others in uniform, have moved into BP service stations under the guise that they are protecting it from possible civil unrest.

However, we can confirm that they have posted their people at the fuel pumps to provide them with fuel for their planned counter-attack against the impending civil disorder.

It is understood that the regime is already claiming ownership from the pending Sales & Purchase agreement that FHL has with BP South West Pacific.

Today:

We can report that the military are at the Vatuwaqa FINTEL station where the underground southern cross cable where connectivity and termination for Fiji to the globe all happens.

And insiders say there is a war of words going on between Frank’s regime and the UK based Cable and Wireless, the other 49% shareholder of FINTEL with the 51% owned by the people of Fiji via its government.
[...]
Sources say journalists were chased away from the vicinity of the Suva government buildings that houses the court rooms and the tyrant’s office.
[...]
All the military lawyers have been told to swear allegiance to the new illegal order.
[...]
We have been advised that tyrant Frank has ordered FINTEL, Vodafone, Kidanet, Connect and other ISPs in Fiji to close their internet operations.

We are told that this advice was given to Frank by his vodafone advicer and vodafone CEO, Aslam Khan. Aslam Khan is hubbie to that controversial Judge Shameem.

Aslam is a well known coup apologist who was appointed by the illegal regime to be one of their reps in the Air Pacific board of directors.

Who is behind Fiji Coup

The Australian former Police Commissioner in Fiji has always said that he believes there is a power behind Bainimarama helping fuel this coup. Bainimarama is the perfect tool for such a coup, a former guardian of Fiji who wouldn’t support the last coup because he understood the economic implications of the first Fijian Coup, the ‘incorruptible’ Bainimarama now finds himself the patron of a coup, all the time threatening to snuggle up over aid to an ever expansive China who has been aggressively pursuing influence throughout Africa and now in the Pacific. Reflecting on China’s past human rights history it is not difficult to see China supporting a coup to challenge NZ and Australia’s own influence in the Pacific, it is a fascinating issue.

Clark stance over Fiji troops 'weak'
The Government is refusing to criticise a United Nations decision to enlist more Fijian soldiers in Iraq, despite having urged it to stop using them following the coup. The stance of both has annoyed National foreign affairs spokesman Murray McCully, who describes the UN decision as "unacceptable and unprincipled" and Helen Clark's as a "substantial backdown". He said Helen Clark, who defended the UN by saying it was struggling to recruit peacekeepers, had made a weak response.

Fiji court demands military PM sacking and immediate elections [UPDATED]

[UPDATE-- 2:00PM:
Events are moving rapidly in Fiji this morning following the Appeal court declarations.

FijiLive reporting last night:

Fiji effectively has no Prime Minister, no ministers and no Government in place, says interim Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama. Bainimarama made the comment moments ago in a national televised address.

He confirmed that the President Ratu Josefa Iloilo will soon make a decision following today’s Court of Appeal ruling that Laisenia Qarase’s dismissal from office was unlawful and that a caretaker PM be appointed.

But today the President has announced the abrogation of the 1997 constitution (upon which the court ruling was based - see below) and the sacking of the judiciary!

Fiji's President Ratu Josefa Iloilo has abrogated the 1997 Constitution following yesterday's ruling by the Court of Appeal that the interim government was unlawful.

In an address still being relayed from Government House, Iloilo has revoked all apppoinments to the judiciary and has said that new appointments will be announced.

And who advised the President to do this? I have no doubt that slimy Attorney-General (who often fronts for the regime) has his lawyer's paws all over this - cynically using the court's reasoning to do a coup all over again - this time "more legally" (if I can use that term) so there can be no judicial come-back. No judiciary at all if you believe the wording of some news reports.

If they had any commitment to democracy and the rule of law they would have used the court's decision to get out of this mess rather than get themselves deeper into it. It's just a power grab to continue the power grab that was the coup. No matter what pieces of paper the A-G is putting in front of the President to sign it does not alter those facts.

RNZ reporting this afternoon:

Fiji Times Online reports that President Iloilo and will appoint an interim government to rule for the next five years to implement the necessary reforms required for "true democratic and parliamentary elections".

Insane. --UPDATE ENDS]

The appeal court has reversed the High Court decision that said the President legitimately appointed Commodore Bainimarama as Prime Minister, dissolved parliament and so on. Now the Appeal Court has determined that the earlier reasoning was wrong and that there really was no credible force majeure circumstance and the move to approve the military's action was beyond the competence of the President's powers of state.

So they have declared the constitutional mechanisms to effect the coup were unlawful (like when Bainimarama appointed his doctor as the Prime Minister) and the key instruments, invalid. However - and done for purposes of certainty and practicality only - the actual actions and laws and so on done afterwards by these people and people instructed by them are valid. In NZ law we have a legal defence of 'obedience to de facto law' - and that principle is what we see articulated from the Appellate bench who said authorities must go along with it until the courts declare otherwise. It could get quite tricky to unpick the illegal parts from the fabric of events and the normal administration of the government, but they leave the door open to that eventuality.

They recommend the President should sack Bainimarama (forthwith one must assume) and replace him with someone who will advise him to call an election immediately. Now they didn't name who ought to be appointed interim PM; but the fact they didn't declare that Qarase is still PM does not legitimise in any way the coup - and he certainly is not excluded from the appointment.
To the fools in this country and in Fiji who persist, against every piece of evidence, in thinking that a military coup and having a military government that rules for two and a half years and still refuses to name an election date is to be preferred to the rule of law, adherence to the constitution, and democracy - they are deluded.

Even if the electoral system was "racist" - the reform debate cannot be conducted at the point of a gun, without any timetable, with the media under physical threat from the military government. Having a coup in order to change the electoral legislation and constitution (the people's Charter bandwagon) is a delaying tactic and a smokescreen at best and at worst a means to screw the scrum to favour the backers of the coup and the political collaborateurs (now legion). And the bizarre argument that the purpose of the coup and Bainimarama's objective in leading it is to sort out corruption is just laughable. Bainimarama is up to his eyeballs in it - acting as PM and Finance Minister, covering up his role in the barracks killings (the imminent criminal action over that being speculated as the real trigger for his coup, in the same way that George Speight's coup was precipitated by criminal charges being laid against him), his thugs meting out extra-judicial punishments, his appointment of his military cronies into the Police and other offices... corruption aplenty. If Qarase was so corrupt what's happening with his trial for corruption? Few would argue his government was clean or competent, but let us note the opaque goings-on surrounding the military's allegations about Qarase do not inspire confidence, either that the facts are known or that justice will be done to uncover them. Foreign domiciled businessman, Ballu Khan, for example was linked to Qarase's corruption case - he was assaulted in police custody and then released.

Like all military coup leaders he has a huge ego, an overblown sense of his own destiny - and a thuggish streak. He's an oaf. But he doesn't have the personality of a Rabuka to survive a transition back to democracy - that would involve an election and parties and politics and arts at which oafs perform poorly - better to never have one - the play book for these types through history. And fools like Slater need to file themselves under their own "idiocy" tag: firstly for supporting an illegal military regime run by a clumsy thug, and secondly for being naive enough to think that this thug who has gone two and a half years without calling an election and who has broken his own commitments to a timetable to elections and who says they will not have one this year and refuses to say when they will ever have another election again can in any way be entrusted to swiftly bring about democracy.

A democracy with a largely representative, if imperfect, electoral system is surely better than a military dictatorship which refuses to return to any form of democracy.

Scans: FijiLive. H/T: No Right Turn.

Suva junta media decree

This week, last week:
With the newsrooms having been under heavy censorship since the "new legal order" coup of April 2009 it is difficult to know what is being concealed in the headlines out of Fiji.

The latest grab for control from the Bainimarama/Sayed-Khaiyum regime has been conducted under the guise of nationalism - a decree to force the sale of overseas held media:

The Australian publisher of the Fiji Times will later this week visit News Ltd executives in Australia to decide on the course of action following the interim Fiji government’s decision to force the sale of the 140-year-old newspaper into local ownership.
[...]
The Fiji Times must sell at least 90 per cent of its shares to local investors within three months or face closure. Fiji media is already under heavy censorship following draconian decrees put in place by the military regime last year.

Two other newspapers, the Fiji Sun, and the Daily Post, are locally owned, with the Fiji government a majority owner of the latter.

Under the Media Industry Development Decree foreign investors can only own up to 10 per cent of any Fiji-based media organization. The decree introduces financial penalties against journalists and organizations deemed to have breached the legislation.

Meanwhile, the Public Emergency Regulation remains in force for another three months.
[...]
Attorney-General in Commodore Frank Bainimarama's regime Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said the Fiji Times would face closure if it did not comply with the decree. "Fiji Times, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Ltd, have been given three months to ensure they comply with the requirements of the media decree or cease operations altogether," Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said.

New Zealand Media Freedom Committee secretary Tim Pankhurst told the NZPA the measures were part of a disturbing trend towards dictatorship, and another reason New Zealanders should boycott travelling to Fiji.
[...]
When the new measures were announced in April, Mr Sayed-Khaiyum described the newspaper as "the purveyor of negativity, at least for the past three years".

Other measures in the decree include establishing a tribunal to ensure nothing is printed or broadcast against the "national interest or public order", said Mr Sayed-Khaiyum.

The decree is to stop the truth - "negativity" in the Attorney-General's terms - being reported to the public about the military dictatorship that Sayed-Khaiyum runs with the Commodore. In this respect the measure is mostly redundant because self-censorship pervades the media organisations anyway. Take the Fiji Times online edition - there is mundane news and nothing at all obviously anti-government:Some of the stories may be hidden away, or their significance disguised. It is hard to tell. Like here in the business section we find what appears to be the end to a form of ethnic favoritism - a $20m fund to help indigenous Fijians compete with their Indian domestic competitors. The politics and the players behind this money are unknown to me, but it is not up to an illegal regime to make these decisions, even if the fund was in some way connected with a coup. The importance may lie with the $20m figure itself - a whiff of desperation as the cabal try to balance the government's budget. They are trying to call in chips they don't have.

They have tried everything to stay in power: they tried to sack the judiciary, they tried devaluing the Fiji dollar, they tried sacking everyone in the public service who was older than the Commodore, they tried stacking the public service with military personnel, and now they are trying to maneuvre their mates into the media. None of it is supposed to make Fiji a better place, these things are done just to remain in charge - and that bag of tricks is near an end.

They cannot put an election off beyond 2014 - that would be worse than the Commodore breaking his word to the Commonwealth - it would be breaking it with the Fijian people and what improbably minute electability he has would be gone. It would be an admission he could never have won an openly contested election.
The Govt of Fiji website promotes the "People's Charter" - that's the logo on the left, the multi-fisted swastika - just above the Year Zero/apocalyptical looking "New Dawn" policy. The circus of planning for a democracy you never plan to restore is planned to drag on to 2014, or infinity, whichever is the longer. The regime gradually eliminates all avenues of political discussion as the questions get harder to answer.

The Coup conspirators/ list of banned persons is helpfully provided by the regime themselves. There's our boy, Christchurch lawyer, Christopher Pryde in the second rank of collaborators, but doing most of the legal dirty work for the A-G as Solicitor-General.

I must note here too that the Indian/Fijian ex-pat friction is still alive and well in NZ - esp. when they claim to be the same thing. A club's press release has stirred and divided the Fijian community. — and the first comment:

Fiji Coup 4.0

Hmmm, here is what I was musing with the last Coup in 2006

Friday 8th December 2006
Folks, I’ve been studying the Fiji situation and wanted to just talk aloud if I can here for a second about some things that have been puzzling me.

I just don’t get this 2006 coup, it doesn’t make sense. I really thought we had averted it when I was watching the press conference after the meeting between Bainimarama and the Fijian Prime Minister. Helen Clarke looked pretty self assured that a deal had been cut, and when I saw the list of capitulations the Fijian Prime Minister was prepared to concede the next day, I actually thought he had given a hell of a lot away in the deal, but I supposed that was an indication of how keen everyone was to avoid the miscarriage of democracy that a military coup represents.

See Bainimarama was considered one of the good guys. In the third coup, Bainimarama refused to become involved and was credited with being one of the reasons the coup failed. He understood the ramifications of coups, not just the immediate risk of violence, but the long term economic and social destruction such an uprooting of the rule of law creates within the population. Bainimarama saw the damage in the first and second coups and consciously refused to take steps he knew to be against the best interests of his country, no matter how pressured the justification, Bainimarama decided to let Democracy struggle its own way out of the situation, and struggle it did.

So with that history, why would an honourable military man reverse his position and overthrow the very Government he was supposed to protect? The background to this coup was that the Government were in the middle of some very controversial legislation, and Bainimarama threatened the Government that if they went ahead with two pieces of legislation in particular, then he would overthrow them. The first piece of legislation was a truth and reconciliation bill that planned to release early the previous coup plotters that Bainimarama had put down. The second piece of legislation was their version of our awful Foreshore and Seabed theft, this time denying costal rights to non-indigenous Fijians. These two pieces of legislation are certainly controversial, but are they a good enough reason to overthrow a Government? I felt angry and mad as hell when Helen passed the Foreshore and Seabed theft, but I didn’t want to overthrow the Government, (although of course Mr Selwyn was convicted of wanting to overthrow the Government with his sedition charge). Something just smells fishy, if Bainimarama is as honourable as he is, why is he making such dumb decisions over issues that could be rectified? Could it be that he has backing? That he’s been chosen because he is so honourable and won’t back down? Other commentators I’ve listened to suggested that there was someone behind Bainimarama, what if he went through with the coup with a pre-made deal to overcome the economic sanctions? Having that assurance would certainly make you self confident, and the time he is saying it will be before the next elections is 2 years – he isn’t intending to go anywhere quickly is he?

So who could back him? There are two off the top of my head, Indonesia and China – and I throw those two up only because of their appalling track record with pulling invasion stunts like this, Tibet, Aceh and West Papu are just three examples. China has been pushing deeper and deeper into the Pacific – is this the sort of game they would play? Did the meeting in Wellington by all those intelligence chiefs have anything to do with this?

And what happens when two impossible forces combine - The rigid honour of a military man believing he is doing the right thing and the vast hunger of an emerging super power…..

Are we putting sanctions on them or not!

What options do we have with Fiji? Aid? Well Bainimarama has already said he’ll go to China for the cash so there. So what do we have that will really hurt Bainimarama? SPORT! Fiji can’t go play rugby with China! They love it and it’s our ace card, if the Government are really concerned that the IRB would take the 7s to Australia, then get the Australians to agree on the ban as well so it can’t be held there either!

Sanctions… with a free pass for sevens
The Government is likely to resist pressure to ban the Fijian team from next year's international rugby sevens tournament in Wellington. United Future leader Peter Dunne said yesterday sporting sanctions against Fiji were virtually toothless if they didn't stop the sevens team coming to New Zealand. But the Government will probably consider other factors and let the Fijians in.

The meeting of two impossible forces

Folks, I’ve been studying the Fiji situation and wanted to just talk aloud if I can here for a second about some things that have been puzzling me.

I just don’t get this coup, it doesn’t make sense. I really thought we had averted it when I was watching the press conference after the meeting between Bainimarama and the Fijian Prime Minister. Helen Clarke looked pretty self assured that a deal had been cut, and when I saw the list of capitulations the Fijian Prime Minister was prepared to concede the next day, I actually thought he had given a hell of a lot away in the deal, but I supposed that was an indication of how keen everyone was to avoid the miscarriage of democracy that a military coup represents.

See Bainimarama was considered one of the good guys. In the last coup, Bainimarama refused to become involved and was credited with being one of the reasons the coup failed. He understood the ramifications of coups, not just the immediate risk of violence, but the long term economic and social destruction such an uprooting of the rule of law creates within the population. Bainimarama saw the damage in the first and second coups and consciously refused to take steps he knew to be against the best interests of his country, no matter how pressured the justification, Bainimarama decided to let Democracy struggle its own way out of the situation, and it did.

So with that history, why would an honourable military man reverse his position and overthrow the very Government he was supposed to protect? The background to this coup was that the Government were in the middle of some very controversial legislation, and Bainimarama threatened the Government that if they went ahead with two pieces of legislation in particular, then he would overthrow them. The first piece of legislation was a truth and reconciliation bill that planned to release early the previous coup plotters that Bainimarama had put down. The second piece of legislation was their version of our awful Foreshore and Seabed theft, this time denying costal rights to non-indigenous Fijians. These two pieces of legislation are certainly controversial, but are they a good enough reason to overthrow a Government? I felt angry and mad as hell when Helen passed the Foreshore and Seabed theft, but I didn’t want to overthrow the Government, (although of course Mr Selwyn was convicted of wanting to overthrow the Government with his sedition charge, but he’s appealing that). Something just smells fishy, if Bainimarama is as honourable as he is, why is he making such dumb decisions over issues that could be rectified? Could it be that he has backing? That he’s been chosen because he is so honourable and won’t back down? Other commentators I’ve listened to suggested that there was someone behind Bainimarama, what if he went through with the coup with a pre-made deal to overcome the economic sanctions? Having that assurance would certainly make you self confident, and the time he is saying it will be before the next elections is 2 years – he isn’t intending to go anywhere quickly is he?

So who could back him? There are two off the top of my head, Indonesia and China – and I throw those two up only because of their appalling track record with pulling invasion stunts like this, Tibet, Aceh and West Papu are just three examples. China has been pushing deeper and deeper into the Pacific – is this the sort of game they would play? Did the meeting in Wellington by all those intelligence chiefs have anything to do with this?

And what happens when two impossible forces combine - The rigid honour of a military man believing he is doing the right thing and the vast hunger of an emerging super power…..

Fiji coup "new legal order" repercussions [+UPDATE]

[UPDATE --12:30PM Thursday:This is a thug regime run by witless bullies and a treacherous, rogue Attorney-General behind the scenes conducting it all - with a Christchurch lawyer as his right-hand man. And this is all part of what they are signing off on. Arbitrary arrests, disappearances, incommunicado detention, the list goes on. --]

The Attorney-General is the one behind the coup and the "new legal order" that has purportedly superseded the constitution. He's the one making it all happen. Unfortunately his right-hand man, the Solicitor-General, is a NZ lawyer and is collaborating with this military junta and the string-pulling Attorney-General. It's incredibly sordid. Some of the old judges who sold out and have sworn their treasonous oaths to a junta that has as it's defining centre piece policy never having an election again are now bleating that the anarchy they have enabled is having personal costs to them. They are complaining. They are lucky the NZ authorities don't arrest them. They are lucky they are all not struck off the law society's lists - but , oh, that's right - they abolished that in Fiji too. They can manipulate things inside Fiji, but there's no reason the NZ government should let them get away with it when they come back here and pretend they aren't part of an illegal and anti-democratic military government who have torn up the constitution. They are part of the problem. It is their decision to join the regime - plenty haven't.

Ideally, they should be arrested on Fijian warrants for treason or swearing an illegal oath or whatever the relevant Fijian crimes are - signed by the appropriate judiciary still sworn under the Fijian constitution - and acted upon in NZ. NZ should hold these treasonous suspects for the future constitutional government of Fiji to deal with when it is restored - they can be repatriated to face the constitutional judicial process of Fiji once one has been re-established.

Via: wires yesterday. Lectures on media freedom from the Attorney-General. Note the huge difference between the censored and self-censoring above .fj article and the tone of the context of the .org report:
The absurdity of this thuggery. From an rss feed at the time of the latest coup (Fiji's fifth?):From a Fiji news report a month or so back when they had men from the military over their shoulders and couldn't report on anything at all with any perceived potential political connotation or suggestion:

BREAKING NEWS: Fiji President stages 5th coup - Bainimarama PM... again

Coup upon coup upon coup.

On Thursday the Appeal Court said the President should dismiss the illegal military government and choose a new PM so they can call immediate elections. The military regime announced that night that because of the ruling "Fiji is without a government". Then yesterday the President declared he had abrogated the constitution and dismissed the judges who made the ruling and said there will not be elections for five years. Now - in the last hour - he has sworn in Bainimarama as PM again. The military regime continues.

What has happened is another coup - the fifth.

Fiji Live reporting:

Fiji's military commander Voreqe Bainimarama has been appointed caretaker Prime Minister.

He was sworn in 20 minutes ago by President Ratu Josefa Iloilo at the Government House in Suva.

And because media organisations in Fiji have government censors in their newsrooms, this report is as good as official.

Bainimarama karma drama

This Fiji Times article reads like a government press release:

THE interim Government has condemned moves to expel Fiji from the Pacific Islands Forum and accused Australia and New Zealand of misusing the forum process.
A statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said such a move would have a negative domino effect on the merits of regional co-operation in the Pacific.
The interim regime said it noted with regret and disappointment, the tone and content of a statement issued by Forum leaders about the Fiji situation.

However the comments section has diverse views from Fiji and abroad - a thread that proves that at least online people can say as they please in Fiji. They do seemed to have bought the line that the NZ PM refused permission for Bainimarama to transit to through NZ to Niue - that's not true (but was a mistake to make the offer nonetheless).

The editorial leader was more restrained. It mentions the dictator's advisors and couches it as an insinuation of puppet-masters - I suppose Fijian's would understand the meaning.

THE interim regime must have known from the outset that it faced expulsion from the many regional and international organisations to which Fiji belongs.
No crystal ball was needed to predict the censure the country received from Commonwealth heads of government when Laisenia Qarase was removed from office in December 2006.
[...]
It has become apparent that Bainimarama has consistently received bad advice on how to deal with bilateral agreements or he has no desire to listen to those who can offer a clear, objective opinion on how to handle difficult situations.
Those who advised Bainimarama and the army to remove the Qarase government would have foreseen the difficulties which the interim administration now faces.
If they did not know what pressure the regime and the people of this country would be forced to bear, these people had no right to influence those who carried out the events of December 2006.
Bainimarama and his advisers must realise that Fiji does not exist in isolation.
Every action we take as a nation is influenced by the countries with whom we have trade links.
Whether we like it or not, Australia, New Zealand and the United States have the ability to bring enormous pressure against us.
[...]
Bainimarama and his advisers must learn that a certain amount of humility is needed in the field of diplomacy.
Not travelling to Niue was an enormous mistake which could have dire consequences for us all.
Fiji Sun reporting:

Interim Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama said earlier this week that it would take at least another 12 to 15 months to prepare for election.
“That is why I have said that the most practical date for the general election under the new system cannot possibly be March 2009,” he said.
“It all depends on the soonest we can reach consensus on the implementation of the new electoral system at the President’s Dialogue Forum.
“The President’s Dialogue Forum will provide an opportunity for registered political parties to discuss the weaknesses of the communal electoral system and the compelling reasons why it needs to be replaced.”
The forum will be facilitated by the Commonwealth Secretariat, the United Nations will run parallel to and independent of the NCBBF.
Cdre Bainimarama said it was more important for Fiji to agree on a better way forward under the People’s Charter than just having an election in March next year.

So, he's saying he'll hold an election after he's changed the electoral system! Like the last military regime did? Well, they set the ball rolling, and Sir Paul Reeves signed off on a bizarre electoral system. How did that end? It set up a situation where an ambitious and arrogant military head, to protect his own arse, took on Speight's backers (?) and carried out a coup. Here we go again.

As long as more than one member of the Fiji House of Representatives are willing to go along with a coup there will be coups and military dictators and shadowy business interests and gerrymandering and... c'mon. Sort your shit out. If NZ and Australia and the EU stop the tourists flying in and stop propping up the government with aid money the lower officers would excise the top brass to prevent an economic catastrophy and call elections ASAP. That's the Def Con 1 scenario of maximum engagement that I could envisage us getting involved in.

No one in the Pacific would ever want Fiji to turn into Haiti. They can always count on our goodwill and this week they have tested it. All Bainimarama has to do is name an election date - it could be late next year, it could be 2010. He just says, later than March 2009. That isn't credible. We complain (and rightly so) that our PM can name the election date whenever she wants - but as long as it is no later than 15 November. Bainimarama's version is he will only say "no earlier than" a certain date (March 2009). That ain't how democracy works, bud. Musharaf learnt that... eventually. He fired the Supreme court, he delayed elections as long as he could, all the stalling tactics, but eventually you have to seek a mandate. These characters managed to make our election terms look civilised.

Fiji and the return of Winston Peters?

Key holds back Fiji trip blessing
The Maori Party has flown into controversy over plans to lead a delegation to negotiate with Fiji coup leader Voreqe Bainimarama. The prime minister distanced the Government from the move yesterday, but said he would not stop Maori Party co-leader Pita Sharples going to Fiji. "New Zealand is a free country. Any individual, including leaders of the Maori Party, are free to travel to Fiji and speak to Commodore Bainimarama ... but the Government will continue to hold its negotiations through the forum of Pacific leaders," John Key said yesterday.

Hmmm, our total budget for Aid (which the evil Lord of the Sith, Murray McCully has just politicized – interesting he never seems to ever get a bad rap from the Political Pages of the Listener) is about $400 million, China spent $350 million alone on Fiji. If Bainimarama feels he has been totally isolated by the rest of the Pacific he will go to China and China will see it as an opportunity to expand – would we want a Chinese sponsored dictatorship in our backyard? Perhaps a better way would be to seek dialogue before Fiji sinks beneath the waves of Chinese influence, what about a special delegation with Dr Pita Sharples, the Maori King AND Winston Peters – for some reason Winston and Voreqe get along personally very well and that relationship could be the key to bringing Fiji back from the brink, obviously it would be a bold diplomatic move by Key, but it depends how much we want a solution in Fiji.

NZ Diplomat expelled

Govt not in hurry to replace expelled diplomat
Fiji's expulsion of New Zealand's acting high commissioner was a serious step and the Government is not going to rush into sending another representative, Foreign Minister Murray McCully said today.
The relationship between the two countries is in crisis after last night's expulsion of Caroline McDonald and the Government's immediate reaction, which was to order Fiji's acting high commissioner, Kama Tuiloma, to leave Wellington. They were both given a week to leave. "It's a very serious matter to throw out a high commissioner," Mr McCully said. "It's not something to be taken lightly. You don't just shake hands, say `that's tough and let's get on with things tomorrow'."

The Australian former Police Commissioner in Fiji has always said that he believes there is a ‘shadow’ behind Bainimarama helping fuel this coup, although many also point to him as being part of that shadow world blunting some of the good intentions he claims are the source for his views. Bainimarama is the perfect tool for such a coup, a former guardian of Fiji who wouldn’t support the last coup because he understood the economic implications of the first Fijian Coup, the ‘incorruptible’ Bainimarama now finds himself the patron of a coup, all the time threatening to snuggle up over aid to an ever expansive China who has been aggressively pursuing influence throughout Africa and now in the Pacific?

Pryde cometh before a fall

Following yesterday's rebuke of errant NZ lawyer Christopher Thomas Pryde on this blog the question has been raised about a solution to the problem.

Perhaps revoking his NZ passport is not really much of a hit. There may be something more effective available for this lawyer who has foresaken his commitment to the rule of law and has joined the Fijian dictatorship as underling to the shadowy Attorney-General at the legal department of a regime that has abrogated the constitution and now rules in a self-proclaimed "New Legal Order" - that is just a series of decrees emanating from the close circle of military and corrupted politicians of which he has become welded. I am beyond calling him names. It's action time.

You want a solution - a start to a solution? You want smart sanctions? Let's start in our own back yard with our own rogue citizens going off and playing legal mercenaries in Fiji. Let's knock that on the head right now.

From one of the few news outlets still operating in Fiji.

We have to find a judge in Fiji who holds a warrant under the 1997 constitution to order an extradition warrant for Christopher Thomas Pryde to stand trial for treason (or whatever is a non-death penalty extraditable offence) as a person who has sworn a treasonous oath (as the Raw Fiji News described it) and then we need to send this warrant to the NZ authorities who will act on it - and as soon as that creep lands on NZ soil he will be arrested and held in prison pending that trial in Fiji which must take place under a recognised regime in Fiji and therefore he will be held in jail in NZ until that time - when the dictatorship ends.

How's that for a sentence? Can our Attorney-General act on this?

He will seek a bail hearing, being a lawyer he would expect it to be granted, but I believe that the Crown's argument and the absolute repugnance for the abuse of the law in order to further a military dictatorship will be so strong on the bench that they will send this guy straight back to Mt Eden until there is a government in Fiji that is recognised by the NZ government.

McCully and Key should both make statements that they will put these NZ collaborators into prison should they dare come back here. This will be a very firm isolation measure that at least stops our people adding to the problems by sustaining them.

Fiji civil servants may be trying to boycott this regime and not take illegal oaths to an illegitimate military dictatorship in order to bring it down and restore democracy. So why should NZ stand by and let its cretinous, evil citizens fill those positions? Why would the NZ government allow its citizens to be the mortar that holds the dictatorship together?

They have to get this guy. He should be in the cell next to George Speight. We can't allow him one day of freedom in this country - let alone Fiji.

We need to lure him here - using his own greed and bloated sense of self importance as bait... what about a knighthood? Look at that toad - he'll slither through the bayonets of his military henchmen to grasp that bauble won't he. Let's make it ironic... for the guardianship of constitutionality, the stewardship and upholding of the rule of law and democracy in the South Pacific, and for services to the Fijian judiciary. Yeah? C'mangeeeeettiiiiiitt...

Alright maybe it could never be that beautiful but can it not be done in some way? I think he will crawl back to this rock of his own accord most likely.

Let's get this bastard. Let's show him how it's done in the real world - the one that he rejects and conspires against. Let's do it old school, let's do it over here - with a judiciary you can't sack just because you fucked up your court case; and a system you can't just completely redesign unilaterally and have proclaimed as law because you can't handle being a loser.

Christopher Thomas Pryde is a legal midget. A tin-pot lawyer in a tin-pot regime.

Collaborating with Bainimarama's "new order" will prove even more inconvenient than wearing a full business suit in Suva; and - as everything he has done thus far - it is purely and entirely a voluntary decision on his part, even an enthusiastic one. He will live to regret it by being held accountable for it.

Christopher Thomas Pryde - after serving the coup-master for a couple of years which culminates in his career high of losing the dictatorship's case for their own existence - has re-signed on to v2.0 of that regime that has promised elections... in 2014. He can stay there until that time - when he can be transfered from NZ custody to the new Fijian government.

This guy is an arsehole make no mistake:
...Judges do not have to worry about their futures in Fiji and there is not a single piece of evidence then or since for Mr Field to draw that conclusion.
- Well there's ample evidence now.

This clown lost his court case for the regime so badly that the court sacked him and the regime and called for immediate elections - and then within 48 hours all the judges get told they are sacked, an election is put off for five years, and he's re-appointed... by whom? By an illegal dictatorship of which he is an integral part.

Last week the law societies of both Fiji and NZ said no lawyers should take up positions in the illegal order. We have to give some teeth to these sorts of civil society sanctions and send some strong messages about the commitment to the restoration of democracy and legitimate government in Fiji.

Could this story get any more interesting?

Alt Tv/Fleet FM breakfast news comment
Iti deported from Fiji before terror raids
Maori activist Tame Iti was deported from Fiji just weeks before he was seized during police raids in the Bay of Plenty, say Fijian officials. Iti, now on bail on firearms charges, said he went to Fiji to negotiate with military strongman Voreqe Bainimarama. He claimed to have met him and to have brought a message back for Prime Minister Helen Clark in a bid to ease tensions between the countries. But the head of the Fiji Human Rights Commission, Shaista Shameem, has given a different version of events. In a letter on the commission's website, she said Iti flew into Fiji during the 2000 coup and had joined now-convicted traitor George Speight while he held hostages in Parliament. "Though he had been banned from Fiji since 2000, somehow he entered, and was at large for quite a few hours before he was deported on the next flight.
"A few weeks later he was arrested in New Zealand under its own homeland security legislation." Meanwhile, high commission staff have now visited both New Zealand citizens detained in Fiji, Miss Clark said yesterday. They had previously seen businessman Ballu Khan, in hospital. At the weekend they visited second detainee, Sivaniolo Waqa Naulago, in jail. Miss Clark said the high commission confirmed Mr Naulago had access to medical treatment and legal representation. The men are suspected of plotting Commodore Bainimarama's assassination. Eleven of the other 16 arrested are in custody at Noboro Prison.
Hold on – let me get this straight, we arrest Tame Iti for terrorist (some say assassination) activities and immediately afterwards Fiji arrests 16 people (even they don’t want to associate with Jamie Lockett?) on assassination charges a couple of weeks after Tame Iti was in Fiji meeting the Commodore? I was wondering when the media woud put this together – I really want to hear the explanation for what Tame Iti was doing in Fiji and why we have these seemingly mirror events occur right after he was there.

Christopher Thomas Pryde - the venal, white red face of Fijian despotism

Christopher Thomas Pryde is a disgrace. This grubby scum should be disbarred and his NZ passport canceled forthwith. He is an enemy of democracy and of this country.

Christopher Thomas Pryde will have to be held to account for his actions - and if he scuttles back to this country he should be sent back to Fiji to face the music as the conspirator to treason that he is - undoubtedly. If the cunt cares so much for Fiji the shit head can stay there - forever, and preferably in prison along with Speight and all the other usurpers. We should not harbour this international criminal.

He is a tool of and now key figure in the dictatorship. The prick is already attending international conferences representing Fiji, along with his military entourage:

The Solicitor-General, Mr Christopher Pryde will be among those attending a security governance meeting organised by the United Nations Development Programme – Pacific Centre and the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat in Tonga.

Mr Pryde, as well as Permanent Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office, Commander Viliame Naupoto accompany Minister for Defence, Ratu Epeli Ganilau and will be leaving early tomorrow (28/04/09) morning. The high-level meeting starts today and ends on Thursday (30/04/09).

This is a man who has accepted the role of Solicitor-General in an illegal regime. This is the man who will protect the military PM from the murder charges he was facing before his coup (the first coup - not this latest one) for ordering the summary execution of troops involved in a mutiny. He is taking orders from and shielding a murder suspect amongst other things.

Christopher Thomas Pryde is the type of creature who gives lawyers a bad name. He is an abomination to his profession.

He took up the case to defend the illegal regime and then was appointed S-G in July 2007:

Asked if he had any qualms about taking a role in the military Government of Commodore Frank Bainimarama, Mr Pryde said his position was not political.

"I am a lawyer and it's as a public servant really. I provide legal advice to the Attorney-General. It's really a lawyer-client relationship."
[...]
"It's a good opportunity for me personally."

What an evil fucking piece of shit. What a venal arsehole of the first order. He deserves to be summarily executed and/or tortured in the same way other victims of the military have under the aegis of his protection - that is the fate he courts. Let that day come soon.

As a New Zealand citizen, Mr Pryde cannot be banned from entering New Zealand under travel sanctions imposed on Fijian officials by the Government in Wellington

Well strip him of his NZ citizenship then. Now. Forthwith. He's made his bed in Fiji and he should lie in it.

From one of the few news outlets still operating in Fiji - and no doubt someone who will be prosecuted under his name should they ever be captured:
This is the man who ran out of words when his counter argument for a stay order at the Qarase vs Frank & Co.s appeals court hearing was flung back at him by the three judges.

His face was red and his voice loud but shaky as he threw his weak trump card down.

Now that he is officially back with the new order crowd, one can easily predict what to expect from this clown Pryde - he will be back with a more vengeful and vindictive heart.

So, he's a shit lawyer, arguing a shit case for a shit regime. He loses. He's out. They stage another coup. Then he's back in again. What a sick joke. He acts against the rule of law and yet assumes the office of Solicitor-General!? Sickening.

Fiji Attorney-General's Office

His immediate boss - the Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum is the real power behind the throne in the regime. I suspect he is the major influence here. He is the one directing the legal anarchy behind the scenes. He is a slimy character.

Fiji coup "new legal order" retirement decrees purge civil service

So, the Commodore is aged 54 (55 when the decree takes effect) and as of the end of the month all the civil servants older than him (that aren't his cronies) will be forced to retire... and Audrey Young at the NZ Herald buys the dictatorship's line that it is for economic purposes. That's not the half of it.

It is a mechanism to purge the neutral public service and replace them with his cronies - a process started when his first coup in 2006 began with the police commissioner being replaced by a military officer. Now that accelerates with his second coup, using sweeping decrees without having to bother with a constitution.

It is no coincidence that Bainimarama turns 55 on 27 April and that he can force any state employee to retire that is 55 just three days later. It may be utter hypocrisy, but it is also a classic Alpha Male move to eliminate the senior ranking rival males - the MO of the bully/thug military man.
The retirement exemptions are the means the military will use to sack the good sorts of government officials that resist - in any way - the "new legal order." The sorts of people that refused to obey the Commodore the first time around in 2006 and who continued to operate their departments without reference to what they knew was an illegal authority. He had to send troops into some of these offices because the senior civil servants refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of his regime - and the Appeal Court upheld that Bainimarama's government was and is illegal. These are good people with a genuine ethic of maintaining a first class neutral public service. These people will be forced to retire and the Commodore can move his military men and other pro-regime supporters in - regardless of merit and competence and with no mind for the rule of law.

As the military populate the senior roles they will begin to make appointments in their own capacity to staff positions lower down. Aided by the forced retirement decree they may quickly over-run entire departments and state agencies resulting in a sub-standard delivery of service and an intensification of the already systemic forms of government corruption.

--
Meanwhile the media in Fiji are bristling under tight censorship and the military have installed their goons in the nation's newsrooms. They are trying to let us know that their information is being heavily censored at the moment without getting a rifle butt in the face.

[UPDATE-- 1:10PM:
Another day, another decree... another crony - appointed as Vice President because the old apologist and coup collaborator is older than Yoda and needs replacing with... surprise us, Frank...
A military officer - over the 65 year old retirement age - who has to be moved side-ways.
The whole sham is completely illegal, completely destructive and a tragic farce.
--UPDATE ENDS]