It is political status quo for Fiji for next three years

[posted 1 July 2009, 1600]

Fiji’s political landscape will remain unchanged for the next three years at least - this was made clear in the Interim Prime Minister’s address to the nation today.

“He has now plunged Fiji deeper into isolation because this is not something that the international community will want to buy. Government wishes to re-engage with our development partners and the region but is offering nothing to bring them back to the table,” Labour Leader Mahendra Chaudhry said.

“The address was disappointing. It held no new hopes for us in Fiji, either,” Mr Chaudhry said.

In a televised address today, the PM made it clear his government will begin work on the ‘new constitution’ by September 2012. “The new constitution shall derive its impetus from the recommendations under the Charter,” he said.

Changes will facilitate the administration’s intention to “entrench common and equal citizenry, it must not have ethnic based voting; the voting age shall be 18 and it must have systems that hold governments accountable with more checks and balances,” he added.

Consultations on the drafting on the new consultation will begin in September 2012 and he hopes to have the new national charter in place at least a year before the September 2014 elections.

So there is no immediate roadmap to begin political dialogue to take Fiji back to parliamentary elections and democracy.

Fiji’s political and economic situation has deteriorated considerably in the past few months following the events of 10 April 2009 when the 1997 constitution was abrogated by the President and a state of emergency imposed.

In his national address, the Interim PM makes no mention of the current state of emergency or for how long it will remain in force, or the censorship of the media and ban on freedom of expression and assembly.

Apart from announcing the prolonged stay on political dialogue, the address carried nothing new. Government intends to concentrate on infrastructure and the economy, but these are the normal functions of any government.

In fact, Fiji’s future outlook remains bleak and unstable. The continuing lack of accountability and transparency in government decisions and transactions is very worrying.