SUVA (Pacnews) — Respect for the law is vital if Fiji is to abandon the coup cycle, says constitutional expert and Australian National University’s Professor Brij Lal.
Speaking on the 20th anniversary of the 1987 coup, Lal said Fiji was still paying the price of its first coup.
“We have lost so much in skills and investment in terms of the future,” he said.
“Where we are and where we might have been had there been no coups is too painful an experience to contemplate.”
The basic problems that started back in 1987 was the basic lack of respect for the law, Lal said. “No matter what institutions are in place and no matter how much you talk about social justice and good governance, if there is no respect for the law nothing will happen.”
Fiji’s former Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, who led Fiji’s first coup, said the only way to stop more coups from happening was if Fiji had responsive and responsible leadership in the political arena.
“All the coups we have had arise out of the dissatisfaction of the masses or the military,” he said. “Leaders must be prepared to be flexible and respond to the feelings of the people and not lead with only their party agenda as the focus.
“By now, we should all know what Fiji is prepared to have and what will take a few more decades to evolve, and leaders must be conscious of these. Pure democratic processes may still be in the realm of idealism in Fiji, and we must patiently muster and evolve in order to master our own unique situation.”
He said in 1987 he was a Fijian nationalist.
“In 1992 I became a national leader promoting the national interest,” he added.
Rabuka said the objective then was to change the government to avoid what ultra-nationalists were planning to do to disrupt national life.
“Yes, we have achieved the objective of the coups for that time.” He said the leader of any coup must remain focused because in a post-coup situation, many would try to promote their own agenda.