The 2006 Military Takeover in Fiji

Table of Contents

Acronyms and abbreviations

Authors’ biographies

Part 1. Introduction

1. The enigmas of Fiji’s good governance coup

Part 2. The coup

2. 'Anxiety, uncertainty and fear in our land': Fiji's road to military coup, 2006

Introduction

Gathering storm

Controversial bills

General election

Multiparty cabinet

Confrontation with the military

The Great Council of Chiefs

Military demands

Impact and implications

3. Fiji’s December 2006 coup: Who, what, where and why?

4. ‘This process of political readjustment’: The aftermath of the 2006 Fiji Coup

The ‘President’s Mandate’ and the ‘Doctrine of Necessity’

Appointment of the interim administration

Politicization of public institutions

The Church, the chiefs and the Indians

The response of civil society

External response

Warfare in cyberspace

Where to now?

Part 3. Themes

5. The changing role of the Great Council of Chiefs

The Great Council of Chiefs as an instrument of colonial rule

The GCC’s dual political role

The army coups of 1987: Managing militant ethno-nationalism

The GCC and liberal constitutional reform 

The coup crisis of 2000 

The 2006 coup  

Conclusion 

Postscript 

6. The Fiji military and ethno-nationalism: Analyzing the paradox

The expansion of Fiji’s military

The shifting constitutional position

Bainimarama and the link with the Mara dynasty

Divergent trajectories

Good governance by militarization

Conclusion: Military futures

7. Swim or sink: The post-coup economy in limbo

A snapshot of the economy post-coup

The economic impacts of the coups

The macro-economy

Fiscal policy

Monetary policy

Sectoral prospects

Garments

Sugar

Tourism

Information and communication technology (ICT)

The way forward

Conclusions

8. The great roadmap charade: Electoral issues in post-coup Fiji

The authoritarian preference

Roadmap to engagement

The real danger of elections

The invention of obstacles

Were the 2006 polls rigged?

The power of chiefs, padres and pastors

The advantages of sheep’s clothing

Roadmap to Damascus

End of the roadmap

Conclusion: The primacy of domestic discontent

Part 4. Religion

9. Religion and politics: The Christian churches and the 2006 coup in Fiji

The umbrella groups: The FCC and the ACCF

The Fijian ethos, churches and politics before the 2006 coup

The ACCF’s response to the December 2006 coup

A Catholic coup?

The relationship between religion and politics in Fiji

The FCC and ACCF revisited

Conclusion

10. The good, the bad and the faithful: The response by Indian religious groups

The Indian community between 1987 and 2006: A community under siege?

The responses of the Indian community

Responses to the build-up to the coup

Post-coup responses

The perceived impact on poverty

The response of the SSDPS

The response of the TISI Sangam

The response of the APS/Fiji

The response of the Indian division of the Methodist Church

2007 – Mahendra Chaudhry: The return of the king?

The National Council for Building a Better Fiji: Dharmic or adharmic?

Sanatan v Arya

TISI Sangam v Andhra Sangam

Fiji Muslim League v Ahmadiyya

The Indian division of the Methodist Church

The impact of the NCBBF on religious groups

Conclusion

Part 5. Labour

11. Heading for the scrap heap of history? The consequences of the coup for the Fiji labour movement

Paramountcy of ‘indigenous rights’ coups and the ‘clean-up’ coup

The labour movement

Divisions in the labour movement

Divisions in the Fiji Labour Party

The Fiji Labour Party and the coup

The labour movement’s downfall

Phoenix rising?

12. The Fiji nurses’ strike

Editor's Note

Introduction

The signed partnership agreement and memorandum of agreement

Part 6. Media

13. The Fiji coup six months on: The role of the media

The media in the lead-up to the coup

The role of the media after the coup

Conclusion

14. State control and self-censorship in the media after the coup

Government/media relations post independence

The immediate post-coup impact on the media

Self-censorship

The Fiji Human Rights Commission and the Anthony Report

Expulsions

Part 7. Law and the constitution

15. The impact of the coup on Fiji’s judiciary

16. The erosion of judicial independence

Transparency

Threats to judicial independence

Blurring of functions

Freedom of expression

Accountability

Attack on press freedom

Excluding the courts’ jurisdiction

Double standards

17. The rule of law and judicial independence amidst the coups and attempted coups in Fiji since 1987

18. The coup d’état and the Fiji Human Rights Commission

Background

Necessity

The claimed illegality of civil government

Emergency action

A permanent political role for the military?

The rule of law

Conclusion

Part 8. Perspectives

19. The People’s Charter: For or against?

20. ‘Democracy’ versus good governance

Flawed constitution

Multiparty cabinet: A farce

Excesses of the SDL

Relations between the army and the government

The People’s Charter

21. From fear and turmoil to the possibilities of hope and renewal once again

The grip of the military

Incompetence and bad governance

Falsehoods and deception

A story of violence, hatred and revenge

Public support for the multiparty cabinet

Recovery from 2000

Growth in the economy

International endorsement

Vote-rigging ploy

Why has Fiji been ravaged?

The legal position on the military

The SDL’s 2006 election win

Another element in the coup

Government at the point of a gun

Frenzied opposition

More misrepresentations

Coup convicts

The Duavata Initiative and FLP secrecy

A faltering charter

A new road to elections

22. Resolving the current crisis in Fiji – a personal perspective

The interim administration’s aspirations

The people’s concerns

The nature of politics in Fiji

The implications of the 2006 coup on race relations

The way forward

23. Mythic constitutionalism: Whither Fiji’s course in June 2007?

24. Creating a stable Fiji

25. Making votes count: The need for electoral reform

Introduction

The expectations and realities of the 1999 election

The multiparty system

The 2001 election

The 2006 election

Comparing elections

Conclusions and recommendations

26. The impact of Fiji’s 2006 coup on human and women’s rights

27. Reflections on Fiji’s ‘coup culture’

Was the December 2006 coup ‘different’?

A coup is a coup is a coup

Where to from here?

28. Fijian Ethno-Nationalism

29. Ethno-Nationalism and the People’s Charter

Part 9. Conclusions

30. One hand clapping: Reflections on the first anniversary of Fiji’s 2006 coup

The People’s Charter

The military

Elections

The rocky road

The Fiji Human Rights Commission

Road map

Common roll

31. Fiji’s Coup Syndrome