It would be five years (on December 6) since Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama overthrew the Laisenia Qarase and his Government and assumed power. A star-studded collection of coup planners and executors staged the May 2000 coup that dislodged the one-year-old Mahendra Chaudhary Government.
The Qarase Government was a Government of and for Fijian nationalists, Fijian elites, Chiefs and the Methodist Church of Fiji hierarchy.
It was directly anti-Indian but the adverse impact on ordinary Fijians and the nation was equally destructive.
The vehicle of Fijian nationalism was driven by the volatile fuel of racism. As it hurtled down the highway of persecution, the sparks were the visible signs of an ominous future, particularly for Indo-Fijians and indirectly the nation.
The sugar industry took the biggest hit, as it is struggling to regain traction.
Refreshing Changes
Indo-Fijian sugarcane farmers needlessly evicted from leased land by the Qarase Government loath returning to farming. Indications are that Fiji’s sugar industry may never recover despite the Bainimarama Government doing its best to restore it.
Since deposing Qarase, the Bainimarama Government initiated changes that have earned kudos from the public. Observers claim that no democratically elected government would have had the courage to initiate these changes. They were long overdue but those in power were its beneficiaries and they protected and promoted the evils to secure their own political power at the expense of the nation and ordinary people.
Importantly, the mindset of people, particularly Fijians, will also change, as their democratically elected leaders are exposed.
The dominance of the Chiefs and the Methodist Church hierarchy in Fiji politics has become a thing of the past. In the murky waters of Fijian politics, the real beneficiaries were Fijian leaders, including the Chiefs and those who comprised the inner sanctum of the Fijian elites. This group now opposes Bainimarama, labeling him as a dictator, while his supporters hail him as a liberator.
The GCC anachronism
The Great Council of Chiefs (GCC) was an anathema to democracy in Fiji. Dissolved soon after the December 2006 coup, it has not made an iota of difference to the Fijian people except those who lost their privileged positions as GCC members.
With the advent of elective system of representation for the Fijian people, the retention of the chiefly system had become obsolete. It should have been disbanded when Fiji gained independence. However, it could not eventuate because the Chiefs dominated the elected government, holding the posts of Governor-General, Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and other top assignments.
They secured their position, infiltrating the elective process and the elected body.
The Fijian elites spawned under them, remained gratified and protected and promoted each other’s interests at the expense of ordinary Fijians.
Methodist Church Restrained
The Fiji Methodist Church hierarchy used the pulpit to inject venom of racism in the political body of Fiji. Instead of preaching love, tolerance, goodwill and forgiveness, it preached malice, hatred and violence.
Bainimarama made the Methodist Church hierarchy to return to the pulpit and forbade them from preaching political ideologies. No democratically elected government would have had the courage to do so.
Rental income earned from land leased by Fijian landowners earned millions of dollars to the landowners. The Chiefs took a high percentage of this income.
Bainimarama quashed the policy and ordered that rental income be equally shared by every landowner. He awakened Fijian landowners to the inequities of the past and help them change their mindset.
All democratically elected, Fijian dominated governments used racism as the most powerful weapon to earn votes. It fissured the nation like nothing else and a nation with unlimited potential for growth and prosperity was made a pauper while those in power harvested from the spoils.
Bainimarama has turned the tables as a strong advocate of unity in diversity. The old structures of racism are gradually being dismantled.
A new Fiji is emerging from the ruins of racism and its fragrance is nourishing the hearts and the minds of the peoples of Fiji.
Land Use Unit
Fiji is blessed with abundance of arable land but it is not being used productively for the benefit of its owners and the nation. The Government has established a ‘Land Use Unit’ to promote Land Reform initiatives.
The Unit is responsible for creating a ‘Land Use Bank,’ which will have a database of land, including native and crown titles available for leasing. It is also responsible for issuing leases over designated lands, collect and distribute rentals, including administration of such lands.
The Bainimarama Government aims to create a just and fair society; unity and national identity; merit-based equality of opportunity for all Fiji citizens; a transparent and accountable government; uplift the disadvantaged in all communities; mainstream indigenous Fijians in a modern, progressive Fiji and sharing spiritualities and interfaith dialogue.
Much has been accomplished and much needs to be accomplished.
The Bainimarama Government is set to change the Fijian mindset and transform the Fijian society, which was caged and clandestinely exploited by its own leaders.
It will finally be liberated!
Rajendra Prasad is a thinker, author (Tears in Paradise) and Indian Newslink Columnist. Email: raj.prasad@xtra.co.nz
