7 Feb 2001

Having visited Fiji recently and witnessing first hand the suffering of our people I say with regret that the future of our people in this one time beautiful paradise now looks very dreadful.

Statements by the Interim regime advocating the supremacy of Fijian rights and simultaneously promising the protection of the rights of other Fiji Citizens seems all too contradictory and fanciful.

One wonders whether the regime is really championing indigenous rights or are they using such rights as a tool or vehicle through which they could prey on the innocence and/or the ignorance of our Fijian brethren so as to strengthen their illegitimate claim to stay in power.

The issue is how can a minority allow an unelected and unrepresentative government to bring back normalcy, respect and pride to the majority and in fact to our beautiful islands enjoyed by its people prior to May 19 2000 when the current regime is hard bent on firstly, laying the foundations of discrimination and then promising to protect the rights of other citizens.

The path taken by the regime in the name of strengthening Indigenous supremacy presumably deriving its blessing from the Great Council of Chiefs does nothing good but only brings into disrepute the Fijian race and the nobility of the GCC.

By calling for the strengthening of Indigenous rights which no doubt was well entrenched in the 1997 constitution, the regime is in fact portraying to all of us that the Fijians are so incapable as a race that they need to discriminate to achieve a level playing field.

The regime fails to realise that the way in which it is trying to address the concerns, in any, of our Indigenous people is absolutely demeaning to the Fijians and in fact its present policies will always hinder the proper development of an Indigenous person as he /she tries to compete in this modern day and age.

If the regimes' policies are implemented in the way it is advocated then at every stage of the development process a Fijian will take things for granted, require spoon feeding and if this is not forthcoming it will surely lead to frustration, chaos and in the ultimate failure.

Consider those Fijians living abroad. They have had no special treatment or Qarase like blueprints offered to them by the countries in which they now reside. But, history will show that those Fijians have become very competitive and successful despite the pressures of modern living.

The blessing that has been sought from the GCC which is often relied upon by the regime again brings into disrepute this noble body. Is the GCC a rubber stamp for every illegal act committed by the regime?. Perhaps the GCC should at least issue a clear statement and explain to the people of Fiji what were the parameters of the blessing that was presumably given by the GCC if any.

The distorted information that has been fed to the members of the GCC by political opportunists overtime and the conclusions reached therefrom by the GCC demonstrates that it has capitulated completely to false propaganda tainting it with bias sufficient to compromise its under-lying nobility.

If the GCC bends to the wishes of the regime and that of the ultra-nationalists under the false premise that it is safeguarding Indigenous Rights it will have done a great disservice to the honour and respect which it deserves as an august body.

The best way forward for Fiji is to restore the 1997 constitution, bring back the peoples coalition into the equation since they were elected by the majority and then canvass the idea of forming if possible a government of national unity. That government can then be given the mandate of looking further into addressing the grievances of our Indigenous population.

Any government of national unity should comprise of members who are sincere and should be free of suspicious and devious characters who have received widespread condemnation for their involvement in the May 19th takeover.

Afterall, the deposed government was a government of national unity anyway and the mere fact that some of the crooks could not be part of that government does that really mean that the deposed government was not a government of national unity?

By whose standards are we to judge whether a government is a government of national unity or not?

Fiji can no longer afford to rely on the leadership qualities of fly by night leaders who do not command the respect and the support of the majority at home nor that of the international community.

Yours Faithfully