March 30, 2013

No Right Turn Blog - Fiji: Unsurprising

Monday, March 25, 2013


Ever since the 2006 coup there have been doubts over whether Fijian dictator Voreqe Bainimarama will relinquish power and return the country to democracy. Now we have an answer, and unfortunately its negative: having eliminated all the political parties, Bainimarama is planning to contest the 2014 elections.

While this is what he should have done back in 2006, against the backdrop of eight years of dictatorial rule (not to mention torture and murder), it suggests that Fiji's new "democracy" will just be a veneer over an ongoing military dictatorship. And Bainimarama's comment that he is confident of victory immediately brings the fairness of the upcoming elections into doubt.

Fiji needs civilian rule, not a continuation of dictatorship. Sadly, it looks like Bainimarama's plan for Fiji is just more of the same.




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