FIJI: 24 HOURS LATER
Julian Fox
SUVA: 2nd March -- Later? Than what?
The Australian media would have answered that question, not so, perhaps, the
Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Indonesian, Thai..... Just 24 hours ago, a
bench of five judges who had flown into Suva to offer legal judgement on
Prasad versus the State delivered their verdict: the 1997 constitution has not
been abrogated and is the law of the land; the parliament has not been
dismissed, only prorogued and should have resumed by 29th November 2000; the
President did not resign on 29th May at the time he was shipped out of Suva by
the army, but he did subsequently resign in December - the man holding the role
presently is 'acting' and only until 15th March 2001 according to the 1997
constitution.
But what is it like on the ground here? Calm
in respect to civilian and social orderliness for the moment. At a
political level, there is turmoil: all groups are groping for words to express
how they feel - the interim government which is not a legal government, but
there and occupying the offices of government, will speak on Tuesday next week -
its most obvious choice is to resign. The army which is still on the
streets will stay on the streets until directed to return to barracks by the
acting president. The president, who is sickly, will need to be endorsed
or a new appointment made by the Great Council of Chiefs, that other supreme
body in Fijian affairs. And the deposed Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudry
came on television tonight to reclaim his place and position - of all those
involved he is the one who has spoken most clearly of his stance. He will
not be involved in a government of national unity.
We do not expect social unrest in this immediate
period of transition from the certainty of what we know at the moment to the
uncertainty of where we have to go. For the rest it is 'wait and
see'. Suva can be easily held tight by security forces. Not so the
jungles of Naitasiri and Tailevu, the origins of the Taukei movement that began
it all.
But we do have a distraction - cyclone Paula!
Waves came in this morning at 12 metres height along the Coral Coast
between Suva and Nadi. The two cities were largely unaffected.
Villages inbetween however, found themselves somewhere other than where they
were before the waves struck! No deaths fortunately, but widespread
destruction.
