 |
Fiji military coup provides
hope for better future
Australian foreign minister
Alexander Downer and New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark have
both said Fiji interim prime minister Frank Bainimarama would
not be welcome at the Pacific Island Forum meeting in Tonga in
October. However, two noted Australian academics have suggested
Fiji’s military government could have a positive impact prior to
a return to democracy. There has been widespread criticism
of the Fiji military coup last December, the fourth in the past
20 years, with calls from the Commonwealth secretariat and
others, including Papua New Guinea, for a speedy return to
democracy.
But well known Australian academics, while acknowledging the
detrimental impacts of previous military coups, have pointed to
significant differences with the latest coup.
One of the foremost experts on the economies of the Pacific
Island countries, Satish Chand, an associate professor and
director of the Pacific Policy Project at the Australian
National University, said the coups in
1987 and 2000 “displaced governments that were purported to be
dominated by Indo-Fijians”.
The 2006 coup was also different with respect to violent crime
with soldiers clamping down heavily on socially disruptive
behaviour.
In a lead article for the ANU’s latest Pacific Economic
Bulletin, Prof Chand also noted that “good governance has been a
major, albeit silent, victim of past coups”.
He said: “At least in rhetoric, the coup of 2006 is
significantly different from the previous coups. Importantly for
this survey, the interim prime minister on taking office
committed his administration to:
*Upholding the constitution;
*Eradicating systemic corruption;
*Introducing a ‘Code of Conduct’ and freedom of information
provisions;
*Facilitating sustained growth of the economy;
*Reducing poverty and levels of destitution in the nation; and
*Ensuring that a greater share of the benefits from use of
natural resources, land included, flowed to the owners and
improving relations with the international community.”
Chand said there was evidence of some improvements in law and
order notwithstanding disturbing allegations of human rights
abuses and questions regarding the commitment to uphold the
constitution.
An anti-corruption agency has been set up and there have been
media reports of raids on offices suspected of being engaged in
corrupt dealings.
He said a favourable scenario would result in a rapid
improvement in governance over the next 12 months, successful
prosecution of high profile cases of abuse of office and with
private investment rebounding.
“Such a scenario would set in train the virtuous effects of
economic prosperity on peace for the rebuilding of institutions
of civil society and a jettisoning of the coup culture,” Chand
writes, while adding that a “converse scenario” was “too
frightening to contemplate”.
In a separate article, Chand noted that redistributive policies
implemented over many years have seen poverty levels rise from
one in eight in 1977 to one in four by 1990-91 and one in three
by 2002-03.
On current trends 50% of the population could be living below
the poverty line by 2020, he said.
“While the politics of redistribution may have been compelling,
its economic cost, including the impact on poverty, are
devastating.
“The 2006 military takeover was executed to rid the country of
corruption and race-based politics. Achieving these goals may
have a bonus in terms of reversing the rise in poverty. Only
time will tell.”
According to Chand, one of the myths propounded by the
redistributive policies was that indigenous Fijians were worse
off although in fact poverty “pervades all communities and
areas”.
“Government-sponsored redistribution has been based on ethnicity
under the (false) premise that only the indigenous population is
poor.”
Chand said some indigenous Fijians were also now emigrating
together many of the country’s Indian community “with some of
the loss of human capital being compensated for via rising
receipts of remittance income”. The latter had reached F$400
million last year.
The level of emigration nearly doubled after the first coup in
1987 with spikes in the numbers leaving occurring after each of
the next two coups.
“The coups no doubt have been responsible for hollowing out the
middle of the economy and thus contributing to the rising trend
in poverty of the past two decades.”
 
|
