The traditional paramount chief of Lau province in Fiji says immunity clauses sheltering past coup leaders cannot be a stand-alone discussion.
Ratu Tevita Mara said Fijians should also confront the economic disparity, and the drug and HIV crisis in iTaukei communities, as the public consultation phase of the Constitution (Amendment) Bill begins this week.
He warned that conditions behind the nation’s past upheavals remain unaddressed and the immunity cover protecting past coup leaders from prosecution cannot be addressed in isolation.
The Fiji Supreme Court, in an advisory opinion in August, said that immunity provisions in the 2013 Constitution cannot be changed.
Ratu Tevita said he respects the Court’s opinion, but warned that if the inequality and social problems exploited in past political crises are not addressed, then lasting reconciliation would not be achieved.
According to official statistics, 36 percent of the iTaukei population live below the basic-needs poverty line.
RNZI/Sally Round
Fiji has experienced four coups since gaining independence from Great Britain in October 1970. It has also operated under four constitutions, and the current Rabuka administration has set in motion a constitutional reform process that could result in a fifth constitution by the end of the year.
“Lasting reconciliation will not come from the law alone, whatever the law provides,” Ratu Tevita said.
“If we settle the question of immunity while leaving untouched the inequality that was exploited in our past upheavals, and the drug crisis now compounding it, we will not have addressed the causes.”
He said 56 years after independence, too many iTaukei families still stand at the edge of the nation’s commercial life, on land and sea that should be bringing them prosperity.
According to official statistics, 36 percent of the iTaukei population live below the basic-needs poverty line, compared to 20 percent of Indo-Fijians.
He believes these grievances were left unaddressed and then exploited in 1987 and in 2000.
“Nothing can ever justify the taking of power by force. But the conditions exploited then are still with us, and they must be addressed now, not left to another generation.
“Those conditions are made worse by the crisis in our communities. Government has declared a national HIV emergency, and with good reason.
“Around nine in every 10 new HIV diagnoses last year were among iTaukei, most of them young, and methamphetamine is driving it.
“This is not a matter of shame to be hidden. It is reaching into our villages and settlements, and the vanua, our churches and every family must stand with government in confronting it.”
‘Answer disrespect with dignity’
Ratu Tevita, who is the son of Fiji’s first prime minister, the late Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, also commented on recent remarks made by the leader of a Fijian teachers’ trade union body.
Fijian Teachers Association general-secretary Paula Manumanunitoga made a Facebook post last week weighing in on the constitutional reform debate currently dominating the country.
His controversial, profanity-laden comments while defending Indigenous chiefs and threatening to “roast” critics in earth ovens sparked a major political storm, for which he later issued a public apology.
Ratu Tevita said Manumanunitoga’s remarks on social media showed how close to the surface ethnic and political tensions remain.
While acknowledging that the author has since apologised to the Indo-Fijian community, Ratu Tevita said he does not condone such threats.
“I do not condone threats against our fellow countrymen and women. The chiefs of Fiji do not need to be defended with threats.
“I understand the hurt that moved some of our people to speak out in defence of our chiefs. Much has been said, especially online, about our chiefs and our traditional institutions that is deeply disrespectful.
“It wounds the vanua, and those who say such things should reflect on the harm they cause but we answer disrespect with dignity, never with threats.”
He said the Deed of Cession of 1874 and independence in 1970 should remind people that Fiji has become one nation for all its peoples.
Ratu Tevita said people should always remember to make statements that will lift Fiji and her people.
He pointed to the recent statements by the Republic of Fiji Military Forces commander Major-General Ro Jone Kalouniwai, in which he said that “a Fiji where the gun overrules the ballot is no independence at all”.
He said all leaders must work for the good of Fiji and help keep unity amongst all races, as the nation works through issues like the constitution, while also trying to find solutions to the ever-increasing drugs and HIV issues.
