A coup, of course, is an unlawful seizure of power and it should seem that any court has to point that out. It’s a no-brainer. Fiji’s court, however, made its ruling under the watchful eye of the military regime, i.e., the coup’s beneficiary. Eight years ago, the Philippine high court had to rule on the legitimacy of the coup that ousted the duly elected president and was told that if the justices wouldn’t toe the line, the new regime would declare itself a revolutionary government and abolish the court.
That was exactly what happened in Fiji after the court made its ruling, and I’m quite sure that the three Australian justices on the Fiji court knew what was coming, but did the right thing anyway.
A day after the ruling, Fiji’s president announced that he had abrogated the constitution, dismissed the judiciary, and re-appointed military chief Frank Bainimarama as interim prime minister.
Commodore Bainimarama later told the media that freedom of speech causes trouble and should be blamed for Fiji’s political turmoil. A man of his words, he imposed tough restrictions on local and international media, deployed military censors to newsrooms and deported an Australian journalist.
Fiji, he said, does not need free and open public discussion about the issues. “That was how we ended up with what we came up with…. We [the government] now decide what needs to be done for our country, for the reforms that need to be put in place for us to have a better Fiji. We want to come up with these reforms and the last thing we want to do is have opposition to these reforms throughout.”
Blunt and to the point. He’s not going to b.s. and claim that his actions were motivated by his democratic impulses.
Another, well, action figure, actor Jackie Chan, more or less, said the same thing about freedom last week. “I’m not sure if it’s good to have freedom…. I’m really confused now. If you’re too free, you’re like the way Hong Kong is now. It’s very chaotic. Taiwan is also chaotic. I’m gradually beginning to feel that we Chinese need to be controlled. If we’re not being controlled, we’ll just do what we want.”
That sentiment is shared by a growing member of people back home and by folks in other countries whose democratic governments are struggling to cope with the problems they have created.
They think that the solution is simple. A strong leader who is intelligent and incorruptible should be allowed to do what must be done. Never mind elections and free speech. Look at Singapore, they say, which has prospered under the authoritarian rule of Lee Kuan Yew and, now, his son.
Singapore, however, is a small place with a small population. Metro Manila is three times bigger than the city state. Its population is also thrice that of Singapore’s.
Can you imagine a strongman taking power in the Philippines? Wait. We had one for almost 14 years, which resulted in…what we have now. But some of my kababayans who don’t give a hoot about history believe that we need another dictator.
Democracy is noisy and messy but so far humanity has not created a better alternative. Dictators, not surprisingly, always end up in the Marpi dump of history.
There is this yearning in each individual to be free and to choose for himself and not even brute force can stifle it. Indeed, who would have thought that the Soviet regime and its mighty army would just sit and watch the dismantling of the Iron Curtain in Eastern Europe by people who, despite years and years of repression and brainwashing, preferred MTV and Levis to Marx and Lenin? Marcos himself had the military in his pockets but that didn’t save his regime when the Filipino people finally stood up and said “Enough!”
As you read this, people who live under despotic regimes continue to flee to free countries.
Democracy may be sloppy but the alternative is the death of the human spirit, if not the body itself.
To take away the freedoms guaranteed by democratic governments is a denial of what makes us humans. Power corrupts and rulers must be held accountable by the ruled. Sure, the people need to be controlled, but who controls the controller? Without checks and balances — and noisy critics — a leader is bound to make costly mistakes. No one is allowed to question his wisdom. Creative ideas are killed before they are even conceived. The end result is always stagnation, decay and rebellion.
Fiji, sooner or later, will return to democratic rule. Singapore’s youth growing up in this era of the Internet and globalization will soon wonder why the heck can’t they speak out their minds.
The beauty of democracy is that it respects and values the individual. It is forward-looking and hopeful. It allows us to be what we are, and what we could be. More important, it works.
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