Call it arrogance or sheer boldness, I am someone who does wield power - enough power to be able to stand beside the ministers of the current regime and someone who is able to walk into the office of any minister without an appointment. Call it arrogance or sheer boldness, I am accepted in the circle of privacy which the powers that be reserve for only those they trust. Being able to move mountains gives me immense satisfaction - until recently.
Who am I? As mentioned earlier, I am merely someone who walks amongst you during the day, probably dines at the same restaurants and drinks at the same nightclubs at the weekends. I am the Gryphon - I know what you think and I stand beneath your window at night listening to your cherished secrets.
Now that the formalities have finished, I would like to move on to the discussion at hand and the choice for topic at this stage is Fiji. Fiji is one of those countries which have a sense of mystic about it and the political scenario is a fairly unique one.
I have been here long enough to realize the level of confusion that surrounds the Fijians and their sense of distrust for the Indians who were brought in as laborers during the early colonization days of Fiji. From the early 1800's Indians have steadily increased their grip on almost every facet of the country and this has sowed deep rooted seeds of distrust amongst the Fijians for whom land and sea are cherished possessions. This concept has not died out with time - it is reinforced in every generation born. Fijian parents ensure that their children understand the importance of protecting their land and their traditional values - quite rightly. Indians have long plundered the tiny nation with the same vigor as the British did to India during their rule and unlike India, Fiji does not have a Gandhi to protect their interests. In fact, the only way Fijians have been able to retain their grip on their traditional values is through coups and for a country which is smaller in land mass then a state in the United States of America, four coups have been more then enough for the people and the damages the coups have done are no longer reconcilable.
Each coup leader has purported to have carried out his actions either for the good of the nation or the protection of the Fijians but these reasons have been pushed well past their use-by date which probably explains why the last coup did little except raise the racial bar even higher - Fijians firmly believe the last coup was carried out with the help of prominent Indians and the largely Indian based and supported political party, the Fiji Labor Party. Formed by the grassroot Indians, the party is headed by Mahendra Chaudary, a man overthrown in a bloody coup which resulted in the death of a number of civilians and ultimately the removal of the President of Fiji. Perhaps what is ironic is that the same man actively participated in the last coup which saw the removal of an elected government. The situation was further compounded when the Commander of the Fiji Military Forces who led the last coup appointed Chaudary as Minister of Finance and also appointed him to most if not all major portfolio's in the government. To the common Fijian, such a move is akin to the last nail on the coffin and thus explains the widespread rejection of the last coup and its purposes.
I headed down to JJ's one evening very recently and dined on some rather good food - uncommon in Fiji but a treat when such places are discovered. While there, I came to discover that Ratu Sakiusa Tuisolia and a manager of TFL sitting at the bar having a drink. They acknowledged my presence and I left. Earlier as I had been sitting at dinner, I had discovered two gentlemen sitting near me also having dinner. Their conversation fascinated me because it was being discussed with the same languor and ignorance with which European people living in foreign countries are famous for. Their conversation ranged mainly around the current political climate and how it was affecting them and their daily useless lives. It almost seemed as if they knew more about how to solve the current problems of the country and stopped short of stating that Fiji should be given to them to run. It irks me greatly when people who know nothing about the toils and troubles faced by the people of Fiji assume they know everything and try to use their countries policies in Fiji.
While I have become rather disappointed with the current work done by the government, no doubt the only way to overcome the lumbering leviathan of a prime minister and his henchmen would be another military coup which would depose the current regime, reinstate the previous government and ensure that perpetrators of treason against the state are given a death sentence instead of the complacent life sentence the country currently employs against such acts. But realistically, the situation grows fragile. Blog sites such as Solivakasama merely echo the growing resentment growing at the grassroot.
The recent state of events unfolding in Fiji has made me somewhat worried as to the future of the country. After hearing that there was to have been a fuel surcharge which would impact our electricity bills, I began to wonder where we were headed. In fact, while I have been an ardent fan of the Interim Regime, recent events have made me seriously consider my position and my support for this government.
For starters, we have the so called Finance Minister who is anything but skilled in the area of Finance. By hiking the duty on specific core raw materials, Chaudary has done anything but save the poor from the brink of extinction. Perhaps what compounds the matter further is that the minister seems to think that he’s Robin Hood. Unfortunately, he seems to have forgotten that the idea is to provide relief for the poor instead of hiking duty on core materials such as fuel. Instead of doing something which would benefit the nation as a whole, the minister seems busy trying to prove to the world how much money he’s managed to save and collect as opposed to be previous government.
Then we have a Prime Minister who seems to spend more time sitting in the chair of an airplane and inside the offices of other people in distant lands instead of sitting in his chair in his office here in Fiji. It is highly unorthodox for a PM to be sailing off into the sunset as soon as he touches base in Fiji. Bainimarama’s recent stint from the MSG meeting and straight onto Europe almost seems like the PM never even left the airport when he arrived from the MSG meeting. It is disappointing that a man who holds such a position leaves all the real work to be done by a finance minister who doesn’t seem to have any understanding of economics and finance considering his recent spate of unforgivable errors.
Finally we have an Attorney General who has become the talk of the town amongst those people who live life in fashion and have expensive tastes. The AG seems to spend more time trying to make a fashion statement with his suits and silk ties instead of reining in his PM and bumbling finance minister who are now spiraling out of control as the situation of economic woes further compound and wreak havoc in this country.
The creation of FICAC has been a disaster with the institution yet to successfully prosecute a single person despite having changed the CJ to someone of FICAC and the government’s preference. FICAC has become a lame duck and has lost the ability to shield itself from the public criticism now being labeled at it by the very public that initially applauded its formation. The organization which was heralded as the perfect solution for curbing corruption now walks blindly while ministers who have direct conflicts of interest in many organizations and boards secure hefty loans from Home Finance and other lending bodies because they have “friends” who sit on the boards of these bodies.
Between the three of the people mentioned above, the country is now nearing a stage where it faces the risk of collapsing into itself. The fact that an uprising or a civilian revolt is almost imminent as people become desperate is being ignored by the government who claim that these are merely rumors. It is ironic to learn that this view is loudly trumpeted in the media by the trio and yet they have taken every precaution to ensure that in the event such an incident were to occur, they would be whisked away from danger and to safe outposts where they would be surrounded by fully armed soldiers with enough firepower to sink half the island of Viti Levu. While I sit here and write this out of frustration, I know the murmurs of dissent are growing louder and the winds of change are blowing harder. The days of the giant stone are numbered as the winds and rain will wear it down inch by inch until it finally crumbles in a heap of dust to the ground, only to be swept up in the howling wind and churned to the heavens in all directions.
Wake up, people of Fiji – your country will soon lie in ruins around you and your children will be deprived of their carefree lives to work and toil the land which has been made barren through the actions of three people.
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