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Business as usual in post-election Suva?

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In Brief

Fiji’s new parliament, led by Commodore Voreqe (Frank) Bainimarama, was sworn in on 6 October. In 2006, Bainimarama led the military coup that rendered the parliament inactive for eight years. Back then, Bainimarama promised that Fiji would return to electoral democracy, but not to the allegedly corrupt and ethnically discriminatory governance practices of the past. Rather, the new post-coup government would work to undo the relationship between the church, the state and indigenous customary authority, which has shaped Fiji’s political landscape since the country achieved independence.

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Historically, debates on governance have regularly focused on recognition of indigenous paramountcy (for example in land management policy or in political and economic participation) or the legitimacy of declaring Fiji a Christian state. Racial divisions between the country’s Fijian and Indo-Fijian populations have become sharply politicised as a result. Bainimarama’s election win now suggests he has a mandate to revoke these longstanding principles.

Fiji waited many years for the promised elections and in the meantime lived with government by decree. These decrees included a suite of restrictive media decrees which have attracted wide regional criticism, but also large public spending programs improving public and village infrastructure, and more progressive decrees calling for a ‘zero tolerance’ approach to violence against women.

Even these progressive ‘achievements’ have not been without criticism. The government’s infrastructure projects have been subsidised by Chinese ‘soft loans’, which have increased as a result of Fiji’s Look North policy and its eagerness to build closer aid and development relationships with China. But China’s loans are said to come with high interest rates and on the condition that Fiji import Chinese materials and labour. Critics say these infrastructure projects have done little to build local business and employment opportunities.

Critics have also scrutinised government programs on women’s advancement. Shamima Ali from the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre claimed that the way the zero tolerance decrees were implemented downplays state responsibilities to protect women from violence. Instead, they encourage women to reconcile with violent family members, and uphold the sanctity of marriage and the family. Christian and cultural norms continue to pervade the policing of gendered ‘crimes’ in post-coup Fiji, despite government rhetoric on the importance of breaking the link between church, customary authority and the state.

But these critical views were not reflected in the results of Fiji’s general elections on 17 September. Fiji First, Bainimarama’s party, won 32 seats in the 50 seat national assembly. This is a sizeable majority, but not the landslide some had predicted. The Social Democratic Liberal Party, led by Ro Teimumu Kepa, won 15 parliamentary seats. Their slogan, ‘Reclaim Fiji’, reflects a commitment to protect indigenous paramountcy, although this policy platform has been dismissed as regressive by Fiji First.

The opposition ranks also include three representatives of the National Federation Party, including former vice president of the Fiji Law Society, Tupou Draunidalo, and former University of the South Pacific Dean and Professor of Economics, Biman Prasad. These representatives will contribute to the opposition presence in the parliament and ensure that the government does not have things all its own way.

But even if Bainimarama’s ‘revolution’, as he terms his challenge to ‘race politics’, seems mandated by popular vote there is good grounds for questioning how far the promise of revolutionary change will be fulfilled.

The pervasive presence of military authority in the country seems unlikely to recede. At least six members of Fiji First are ex-military officers and many senior officials in the public service have been seconded from the military. The authoritarianism that has been a default response to the management of ‘dissidence’ inside the country is likely to continue. In the two weeks following the election, state security force brutality has again been in the spotlight, with members of the Fiji Police Force allegedly perpetrating extra-judicial violence against a retired school teacher.

On gender there is evidence of some concrete gains for women but also subtle indicators of policy backsliding. Eight women won seats in the new parliament, the opposition leader is a woman and all female members elected to the government benches have been allocated ministerial responsibilities. Dr Jiko Luveni, former Minister for Women, was elected unopposed to the position of Parliamentary Speaker. This is the first time a woman has held this role in Fiji. These are notable achievements in a region where women’s representation in institutional decision-making hovers under 4 per cent.

On taking up her new role in the parliament, Luveni expressed a hope that her example would inspire other women to follow a political career. But she, too, has been criticised for voicing opinions which reflect conservative ideas about appropriate conduct and dress codes for women. Under Luveni’s watch, conservative religious and cultural protocols continued to shape state policing responses to gender crimes and cases of violence against women. This is little reason to suppose this will change under the new government.

The challenge for the government will be to match its progressive policy rhetoric with positive tangible outcomes achieved through genuine political engagement. Despite his majority, many people did not vote for Bainimarama. For them his revolution is an imposed one. A continuation of the authoritarianism of the past eight years will only enhance their sense of ‘business as usual’.

Nicole George is a lecturer in Peace and Conflict Studies in the School of Political Science and International Studies at the University of Queensland.

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