Future of Fiji Methodist hymn singing uncertain

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SUTER: Well I simply received it through the internet, the word had gone out that as a way of embarrassing the Fijian government, as a way of reaffirming Methodist values within the country, because Methodism is the most important single religious domination in the country, they put the word out that if they could bring in people involved with the Methodist, or in this case the Uniting Church, that it would be a way of further emphasising that the church was defying the government. What I find fascinating is that traditionally the church has been supportive of the government, sometimes rather controversially in terms of the military coups that have taken place. This I think is the first time that we've had a head-on collision between the Methodist Church and a government within Fiji. And so it was to be an act of defiance to go ahead with their annual conference, which is always preceded by a major gathering of hymn-singing. So they wanted to add to the international dimension of that by encouraging people to come in from overseas to join the singers.

COUTTS: So why the change of heart now do we think, is it because the Police Commissioner, Esala Teleni's brother now heads up what they call the New Methodists. Is this an internal power struggle within the church?

SUTER: Oh absolutely, the church is very significant in Fijian life, and so obviously the government 0 as it tries to work out what it's going to be doing - is trying to neutralise some of them, the major areas of opposition and clearly the church is now an increasingly important centre of opposition. And so they're obviously having to find ways to being able to neutralise it, even arresting some of the major figures in the last few months. This shows that I think the government is becoming increasingly desperate.

COUTTS: Why would they take this action now given that they have, the Methodist Church has, supported previous military governments?

SUTER: Yes that's an interesting move, I think that the Methodists themselves have now reached this point of impatience with the government that if you look at the way in which they've supported or at least had sympathy for the coups in previous decades, I think that there is just this feeling that we can't continue having these coups within Fiji. A lot of the talented Fijian Indians have now fled the country, Fiji is seen as a bit of a joke within the South Pacific, and I think there is just this feeling that you have to draw the line somewhere.

COUTTS: Well the US Methodist Church has pledged $US300,000, and that would have been the same amount that the Fijian contingency would have raised if they'd had their hymn singing, and Australia is yet to declare how much it will give. This can only raise the ire of the government even further?

SUTER: Absolutely and of course the New Zealanders are also thinking about giving money as well, so in fact you've got an international Methodist community that does feel very strongly about this. And so this obviously adds still more to the sense that the government is not winning friends and influencing people internationally, because clearly the Fijian Methodists have got good connections.

COUTTS: And what do you make of the Thaksin Shinawatra visit to Fiji and Tonga recently, particularly Fiji?

SUTER: Yes well the worry that I've got is that the former prime minister of Thailand is now on the run, the new government in Thailand wants to put him on trial. If he were to offer a large payment of money to Fiji to allow him to stay there and to be able to travel on a Fijian passport, which would give him opportunities to travel wherever that passport is recognised, what that does for me is it suggests that Fiji is becoming even more of an eccentric country within the South Pacific. In the sense that they are saying well look we are a sovereign nation state, we can make our own decisions about to whom we will award our passports therefore if you're on the run anywhere else, think of coming to Fiji providing you can bring money in with you. This is not a good way for a country to be earning foreign currency.

COUTTS: Well Fiji has of course denied that any kind of offer was made to Thaksin Shinawatra. But now if we can just move along and that's the increasing or appears the perception of an increasing militarisation of Fiji with the recent appointment of four military colonels to manage four administrative decisions within Fiji. What do we make of that and is this going to be the trend now towards the 2014 elections?

SUTER: Yes I think that the Commodore of course wants to have his own mates running the key parts of the government and the key parts of the country in general, because clearly he must feel that if he allows too many civilians to be around that he may not be able to count on their complete loyalty. He's hoping that he'll be able to retain the loyalty of his mates that he puts in power, because he's appointing them. They have their position because of his position, that gives him a bit of leverage over those people. This is standard procedure of course when you take over a government, you put your own people into power, and that's what he's doing. So this is a way of shoring up his support.

COUTTS: So what will happen around 2014 if the elections happen, will Commodore Bainimarama take a role on himself? He's already said publicly that if the people want him he'll run for prime minister, but will he prefer that or the president's role?

SUTER: Well the way things are going he'll be inheriting an economic graveyard. Five years is a long way away, who knows what's likely to happen within that time. The problem is when you create a coup culture then you get a breakdown of a sense of normal law and order and people will decide well if one person can takeover the country, why can't we? And I think that's been the problem since the late 1980s, that something which was previously seen as being off limits has now become the norm, which is whereby you end up with young military officers who figure they can do better than the established government. The problem for the Commodore increasingly will come from within his own ranks, from people who decide well we don't like the way that this eccentric Napoleon is carrying on, we want to try to have a go at running the country ourselves and the military's obviously the route to power. This is the tragedy I think of Fiji that he's created now or helped to maintain this coup culture, which will then gradually just drive the country into becoming a failed state.