FLASHBACK: By Jala Moala, a former editor of the Fiji Daily Post, recalls the day of Fiji’s coup.

It is the morning of 14 May 1987, just after 10am, and I am becoming upset that the phone isn’t working, when my neighbour calls out, “The news is on the radio, the army has taken over the government.

“They have cut the phone.”

I should be shocked but I am not because the climate has been politically unstable with a rising tide of indigenous Fijian extremism.

I change quickly and rush down the road for a taxi. The newspaper is at least half an hour away outside Suva, at the Fiji Sun where I work and also string as correspondent for New Zealand Press Association.

I must get the story out, but how?

The phone’s been “killed” but the Southern Cross cable has been left untouched connecting Fiji to NZ, Australia and USA.

-Partners-

Front page via telex
Using telex I get my story out in time to make the front page of the Evening Post in New Zealand. That story includes an interview with the taxi driver who took me to work.

That coup d’etat by Lieutenant-Colonel Sitiveni Rabuka spawned other coups and Fiji has never been the same again.

As for me, 13 years and two more coups later, I took my young family out of Fiji and settled in New Zealand.

A brief reflection by prominent Fiji journalist Jale Moala who worked for the original Fiji Sun at the time of the first coup by Rabuka, and was editor of the Fiji Daily Post at the time of the third coup in 2000.

Sto press: Rabuka on comeback trail
In Auckland, former Pacific Media Watch contributing editor Alistar Kata interviews Rabuka, who is trying to make a political comeback as leader of the main opposition party SODELPA, at Radio 531pi.

She comments:

Sitiveni Rabuka is a polarising figure, best known for instigating two military coups in Fiji in 1987.

And this picture looks like “we just signed an MOU for world peace”.

(He wanted to shake hands so I just went along with it).

Broadcaster Alistar Kata with coup leader Sitiveni Rabuka at Radio 531PI today. Image: Star Kata

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Democracy and freedom of speech are at the forefront of discussions concerning the arrests of five prominent Fijian politicians over the weekend.

The men were allegedly detained on Saturday for a comment made at a meeting that discussed Fiji’s 2013 Constitution; the meeting was also held without a legal permit.  They were kept in custody overnight and released on Sunday.

Among the group was former Fiji prime minister Sitiveni Rabuka, National Federation Party (NFP) leader Dr Biman Prasad, academic Dr Tupeni Baba, trade unionist Attar Singh, and Jone Dakuvula from the organisation Pacific Dialogue.

Another former prime minister and current Fiji Labour Party (FLP) leader, Mahendra Chaudhry, handed himself into police on Sunday and was released yesterday morning without charge.

‘Intimidation’

In an interview with Radio New Zealand International, Chaudhry referred to the incident as an act of “intimidation” and said there is no democracy in Fiji.

“If we can’t hold a forum to discuss our own Constitution in a democracy…what kind of democracy is that?”

“We want to live in a free society not where there are restrictions on free speech.”

Chaudhry said Fiji’s current prime minister, Frank Bainimarama, and Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum were invited but didn’t attend the meeting.

The NGO Coalition for Human Rights stated police may have also searched the homes and offices of Prasad, Singh, Baba, Dakuvula and Rabuka.

In protest, Biman Prasad and the National Federation Party boycotted yesterdays parliament session over the continued intimidation by the Opposition and “muzzling of free expression” in Fiji.

Public Order Amendment

According to Fiji’s Public Order Amendment Decree, a permit is required for those wanting to hold a public meeting.

The Decree gives permission to the commissioner of police or any divisional police commander to prohibit a meeting they think may undermine the public safety and good order of the country.

The Fiji Times reported a statement by Bainimarama who said he was disappointed with the international community and their questioning of Fiji’s laws without objectivity.

“The Public Order Act, among other provisions, requires any group wanting to hold a public meeting to apply for a permit from the police before the proposed event.”

Bainimarama said no application was made therefore the police were acting within their rights.

“Those who attended this gathering were lawfully detained for questioning and there have been no allegations of any of their human rights being breached while in detention,” he said.

‘Step forward’

The arrests have spurred questioning of Fiji’s democracy as its 2014 general election, in which Bainimarama was elected prime minister, was deemed as a step forward for the country after eight-years of military governance.

When he was elected Bainimarama thanked a crowd in Suva: “I am deeply honored and humbled that the Fijian people have put their trust in me to lead them into our new and true democracy.”

In a separate RNZI interview, Dr Steven Ratuva, said after the 2014 elections there was optimism for a democratic space to be established within Fiji.

“In fact the Constitution itself talks about the rights of free expression and assembly.

“Now the Public Order Amendment Decree seems to provide a limitation to those freedoms which are being contained in the Constitution.”