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Issue No: 598; 18 March 2001
The influential daily, the Fiji Times, has withdrawn its hearty endorsement of Laisenia Qarase only a day after the endorsement. On Friday, the paper wrote that the reappointment of Qarase was a "wise and justified" decision. While the paper did not reason why was it wise and justified, especially in light of the decision being unconstitutional and unlawful, it stated that career politicians can not be trusted for maintaining law and order, rebuilding the economy and preparing the groundwork for the next election. It stated: "Qarase should think very carefully before reappointing his interim team - not because they have done badly but because of the public perception that the politicians among them will use their positions to attract votes. His team should be small and apolitical…. He should say when the election will take place and make a clear commitment that politicians - present and aspiring - can have no place in his interim regime". But Qarase did exactly the opposite. Not only did he reappoint the entire team of 30+ ministers and assistant ministers, but he also announced in clear terms that he was going to contest the next election. And over a half of his ministers and assistant ministers also announced that they will contest the next election. An irritated Fiji Times yesterday slated Qarase saying he "misled the public". It stated that the Qarase team "is too big for the job it is asked to do. And it contains a large number of active and aspiring politicians who cannot be expected to act impartially". The paper went on to call Qarase a power hungry politician: "Here is a man they [people] thought would guide the nation back to democracy without fear or favour - yet it can now be argued that he is just another aspiring politician hungry for power". Those who know Qarase know very well that he is not only power hungry but also corrupt and a racist. Over the recent past, the Fiji Times and the state owned Daily Post have been heaping praises on Qarase, each albeit for different reasons. The Post is not only state owned and as such used by the regime to the optimal, but its Acting Editor is also a close relative of Qarase. Furthermore, the Publisher and General Manager of the Post was put in that position by someone who is now in the Qarase team; he has for some time been writing a column called Aage-Piche column heaping praises for Qarase and his team, and the defeated National Federation Party. It is understood that the person had made overtures to the People's Coalition Government for a few top statutory body jobs for which he was deemed unsuitable by the boards. The Fiji Times, on the other hand, has been rail-roaded by personal agendas of one or two senior journalists with close links with defeated politicians and senior bureaucrats earlier put in place by the defeated politicians. The obvious political propaganda - for example that the Qarase regime did not do badly - in light of the historically unparalleled eviction of farmers in the country during the regime's term, the continuing economic recession, the massive rise in corruption and nepotism, the entrenchment of apartheid, the rising prices, the increasing gap between the rich and the poor, rising poverty, etc. - can only be explained not in terms of any objective assessment of the composition, performance, and legality of the regime, but in terms of hatred for the People's Coalition Government which a few senior journalists have. That the management of the newspaper has allowed these handful of petty politicians masquerading as journalists to continue with their propaganda reflects poorly on the management of the paper as well. It also tarnishes the image of a large number of professional journalists with the newspaper who have remained neutral of any government. |
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People's Coalition Government - Fiji Islands |
