Fiji leader tells UN coup necessary due to 'terrorists'
Updated
Over the weeked, Fiji's coup leader and Interim Prime Minister Commodore Frank Bainimarama made his third address to the United Nations' General Assembly. Commodore Bainimarama used the address to try and explain to other world leaders why he will not allow elections in Fiji until 2014, and to call on their support for his timetable. He attacked what he has called the big powers in the Pacific for trying to stop Fiji's military being part of future UN peacekeeping activities. And he also claimed a link between world terrorism and Fiji's former political leaders.
Presenter: Campbell Cooney, Pacific correspondent
Speaker: Commodore Frank Bainimarama, Fiji coup leader and Interim Prime Minister; Dr Brij Lal, Australian National University
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COONEY: This year, Fiji's coup leader and interim prime minister, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, began his address to the United Nations General Assembly with a big attention grabber.
BAINIMARAMA: There have been critics of the events in Fiji since December 2006, when the military was forced to remove the then government of Fiji. I believe that these critics are largely unaware of the extent to which politicians - in league with those who employ terror as a tactic to push a racial supremacy and a corrupt agenda - had become a threat to the safety and security of our people.
COONEY: It was the only mention the terrorism link received in Commodore Bainimarama's 19 minute long address, but it was certainly enough to make people prick up their ears. It has left Fiji and academic Dr Brij Lal, from the Australian National University surprised, but unconvinced.
LAL: It was the most incredible part of this speech, but I don't think that people will take the question of who is a terrorist and who is not is one that is very clear in the minds of people.
COONEY: At the start of September, Fiji was suspended from the Commonwealth, after it refused to commit to elections next year. Last Friday, in New York, the day before the Commodore's UN address, he had a private meeting with Commonwealth Secretary-General, Kamalesh Sharma. Mr Sharma's office has released a statement outlining what he had to say.
STATEMENT: The Secretary General stressed that the interim government's plans to wait another three years before restarting a national dialogue on Fiji's future and five years before the holding of elections could not be supported by the Commonwealth. The Secretary General observed that such a time frame carried no credibility with the international community.
COONEY: The next day, in front of the UN General Assembly, Commodore Bainimarama was telling the international community why that deadline was one he was sticking with.
BAINIMARAMA: I and my government were mandated to carry out and continue in the reforms which will ensure that true, democratic, non-communal and equal suffered based elections for parliamentary representation are held by September, 2014. Together with stringent steps to protect our economy from the affects of the world economic crisis, work will commence on a new constitution by September, 2012. The basis for the new constitution will be the ideals and principles formulated by the people's charter for change and progress. Mr President, there have been critics on this time line. The answer Mr President is very simple. Fiji has had a colonial history which created many anomolies and inequalities, the legacy of which resonates today. Our post colonial period has been punctuated with political instability. On each a occasion when a new government is voted into power, the old elite which benefited financially from the previous established government has been able to successfully destabilise the government and to replace it with its own supporters and representatives.
COONEY: Dr Lal is unimpressed.
LAL: Blaming the past years, it is not uncommon. Everyone has got it wrong. I am the only person who has got it right. Yes, if the electoral system in Fiji has been a contentious one, yes mistakes were made in the past, and if the electoral system is indeed the root cause of the problem, then why not start with it now.
COONEY: Fiji's two biggest critics have been the governments of Australia and New Zealand and while Commodore Bainimarama was calling for understanding and assistance, he had some special criticism for what he named as the big powers of the South Pacific.
BAINIMARAMA: To those nations who have refused to engage with Fiji, they have expressed an unwillingness to enter into dialogue. I can only repeat my plea to you, to change your stance.
COONEY: In particular, he was unhappy with efforts to reduce if not end the involvement of Fiji's military in UN peacekeeping.
BAINIMARAMA: They have used their extensive, diplomatic and financial resources to deny Fiji to participate in new peacekeeping operations. The Fiji military forces since the beginning of its participation in peacekeeping has established a reputation for professionalism, skill and rapport with the communities in its areas of operation. To this day, we have not been able to receive a clear and satisfactory reply on this matter from the United Nations.
LAL: That's a very important domestic issue for him, it has been a major revenue earner and a power for the military that was a very important international role. So I think that is going to hurt on the domestic scene. But I think what is not being realised is that the UN has to stand up for some principles and this is precisely what it has done. What the UN has said is that the existing participation will continue, but that there will be no new ones. The ball is in Fiji's court and if it, for example, convinces the international team community that it is fair dinkum about returning the country to parliamentary democracy in a timely fashion. I really honestly think that the international community will come to Fiji's help. They are all looking for some credible timetable.
