The region’s largest meeting of the year, the Pacific Islands Forum, kicks-off next week in Cairns and will be without official representation from Fiji or its interim prime minister and coup leader Commodore Frank Bainimarama.
Following one Australian correspondent already being kicked-out of Fiji, the Australian media has had little direct contact with Commodore Bainimarama. But on Sunday evening, Australia’s SBS television and its Dateline current affairs program broadcast a series of discussions with Commodore Bainimarama.
Speaker: Frank Bainimarama, Fiji’s interim Prime Minister; Mark Davis, journalist for Australian television’s SBS Dateline program
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CONNORS: The SBS Dateline program is one of the most esteemed current affairs programs in Australia, and reporter Mark Davis one the the countries most awarded journalists. On the eve of the Pacific Islands Forum, from which Fiji is banned, Mark Davis had an audience with the Commodore and travelled with him through several days of meet-and-greets – including the opening of the Asia Pacific Instutute for Broadcasting Development conference. Commodore Bainimarama opened the conference, a point which the journalist found to be just a bit hypocritical.
BAINIMARAMA: Ladies and gentlemen, my government believes in media freedom. However, the media must ensure that their work does not impact negatively on the right of others or the stability and wellbeing of a nation. But it’s not a military dictatorship where we abuse our authority.
DAVIS: Well it depends what you call abuse your authority, sir. I mean, you’ve got censorship that would do North Korea proud.
BAINIMARAMA: You’re kidding me? You’re joking?
DAVIS: I’m not joking. You’ve got intelligence officers sitting in the TV station there as the journalists edit their stories.
BAINIMARAMA: What do you think they’re sitting down there? Tell me.
DAVIS: To make sure that there is nothing that criticises you or upsets you.
BAINIMARAMA: No, no, no – they are there to ensure that the press will not come up with any stories that will cause instability. That’s it. They can print whatever they want, but irresponsible journalism is not going to be tolerated.
CONNORS: While the Dateline program went to great pains to point out the censorship within Fiji, journalist Mark Davis also delved into what constitutional change was sought by the Bainimarama regime — and what exactly it means for any deposed or even opposition elements.
BAINIMARAMA: What I did in 2000 was exactly what I did in 2006. We took away executive authority in 2000 because of the chaos and I handed executive authority to the politicians, the political masses, in the understanding that politicians were going to take us forward. They did not. Qarase and his crowd did a turnabout, did a turnaround on the military. Everything, or the direction that we wanted them to take the country to, to include all the races, they didn’t do that. So I took it back in 2006. I took it back to prepare the politicians to lead this nation and the only way we can prepare the politicians is by getting a new constitution, getting a new electoral system in place.
One man, one vote, and see what happens? If one man, one vote is good for Australia and New Zealand, why isn’t it good for Fiji?
DAVIS: Mr Qarase – he’s not able to speak out against you or to organise against you. I believe he’s not allowed to leave the country. Is that correct?
BAINIMARAMA: That’s his bail condition, I think. The rule of law stays. Whatever the judges decide, I can’t go and say ‘no’ to it.
DAVIS: And one of the reasons given to not allow him out of the country is that he will speak to journalists, specifically he’ll speak to journalists in Australia.
BAINIMARAMA: Well, not really. He will go out and make destabilising remarks about what’s happening in Fiji.
DAVIS: And he should not be allowed to do that?
BAINIMARAMA: What we want right now is opportunity for us to move forward and make these reforms.
DAVIS: Is he able to speak freely?
BAINIMARAMA: Well, he can speak to his wife and his family. He can go to his pub and drink beer. There’s nothing to stop him from doing that. Freely in that sense, yes.
DAVIS: Can I speak to him?
BAINIMARAMA: Do you want to speak to him? What do you want to speak to him about?
DAVIS: Ask him his opinion of you, perhaps.
BAINIMARAMA: No, I don’t want you to speak to him because he doesn’t make sense. I want Qarase and his politics to be irrelevant. I want him out. I want his politics irrelevant from now on, OK? I don’t want any race issue brought back again.
CONNORS: While the Dateline story was done before last week’s arrests of key Methodist Church and chiefly leaders across Fiji, Commodore Bainimarama signalled the forthcoming arrests in answering Mark Davis’ question about his intolerence to opposition and criticism.
BAINIMARAMA: No, what we want right now in Fiji is to bring about radical changes. Strong changes. Make changes to improve the lives of the people of this nation. No-one can bring those changes into being except the military here, now. In Fiji’s history, no-one can bring about the changes to the public service. No-one can bring about the changes to the land and bring about land reforms. We can do that. We are not elected. We don’t have to please the indigenous community. We don’t have to please any chiefs. We don’t have to please any members in the Methodist hierarchy. We do what is good for the nation irrespective of your colour, irrespective of your religion, irrespective of your creed.
