Fiji, 2008

The people of Fiji

warmly congratulate Mr. Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann

on his election to the presidency of the General

Assembly at its sixty-third session. We also convey our

sincere gratitude to his predecessor, His Excellency

Mr. Srgjan Kerim. I am particularly happy also to

acknowledge the presence of the Prime Minister of the

Solomon Islands, Mr. Derrick Sikua, one of the Vice-

Presidents of the General Assembly and a member of

our region of the South Pacific.

This session of the General Assembly is

addressing several issues of critical global interest: the

global food crisis; climate change; peacekeeping; and

the law of the sea. All of those issues are of great and

direct importance to small island nations such as Fiji. I

will first briefly touch upon some of them.

The people of Fiji have been affected in a very

real, immediate, serious and tangible way by the

shocks transmitted to our small nation with the

dramatic escalation in global food prices, energy price

rises and the downturn in the global economy. In Fiji

we are using these adverse external developments as an

opportunity to revamp our long-neglected agricultural

sector. We have ample land resources, and we must put

them to better and more productive use.

The food crisis and the need for self-reliance

unfortunately run counter to the emergence of world

trading rules. The principle of free trade dictates an

open economy. Yet small developing economies like

ours in Fiji need to protect our agriculture to ensure

food security. We very much hope that international

trade negotiations and multilateral and bilateral trade

deals will enable us to protect agricultural development

in our small, vulnerable economies. Fiji will support all

concerted efforts, public and private, national and

multinational, regional and subregional, that are being

pursued to address the global food crisis.

25 08-52265

On the issue of climate change, Fiji looks to, and

is relying on, the leadership of the Assembly President.

This is a critical issue for the very small island and

atoll nations in the Pacific. While the rest of the world

continues endlessly to debate the implications of

climate change, in the very small islands and atolls in

the Pacific the problem is very much upon us. It is now

a present and very real danger. It poses a serious risk to

regional stability and security.

I appeal to the international community and its

system of institutions to enhance efforts to assist us to

address the threats of global climate change. We need

investments in adaptation measures. We need to move

from rhetoric to a more pragmatic and speedy

response. We call upon the agencies and our regional

partners to coordinate efforts to ensure that we in the

Pacific region have the capacity, both human and

institutional, to deal with this new threat, especially as

it is getting stronger. The observed and potential

impacts on our peoples and ecosystems due to climate

change are all too real and immediate. We count on the

President and the Secretary-General to exercise more

vigorous and active leadership on this issue of global

climate change.

I will now speak briefly on peacekeeping. I

convey our gratitude and appreciation to outgoing

Under-Secretary-General Jean-Marie Guéhenno for his

dedicated leadership at the Department of

Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO). He was fair and

generous in implementing the reforms within DPKO

and in the development of a United Nations

peacekeeping doctrine that will guide future United

Nations peace operations and missions. We wish

Mr. Guéhenno well and assure his successor, Mr. Alain

Le Roy, of our full support and cooperation.

Fiji’s soldiers have a proud track record in United

Nations peacekeeping operations — a record of

professionalism, discipline, compassion and ability.

Fiji’s Military Forces have shown that their training

and ethics are an asset to peacekeeping operations. We

continue to work very hard to keep that exceptional

record intact. Yet despite that, the relationship between

Fiji and DPKO has been under strain. That is because

of Fiji’s military’s involvement in our Government

since December 2006. We are, however, encouraged by

the ongoing discussion between officials of our

Permanent Mission and the Department of

Peacekeeping Operations. It would be less than honest

of me if I did not observe that undue external influence

appears to have been brought to bear to exclude Fiji

from participation in new peacekeeping missions. I

express the hope that the opportunity will be extended

to us to participate in new peacekeeping missions.

Please allow me to now address this body on

Fiji’s current situation and on our efforts to take the

country forward. I should first like to look back, albeit

briefly. Fiji became independent on 10 October 1970.

Our country then was seen as having great promise and

potential. Our people, with high hopes, placed their

faith on our country’s leaders to build a new nation that

would be peaceful, stable, culturally vibrant, tolerant

and prosperous. We felt then that by being part of the

international family of nations Fiji could demonstrate

by example the way the world should be.

For just over 15 years following independence,

we achieved some progress. However, following the

coups of 1987 and 2000, the rot set in. Since then,

Fiji’s overall political, economic and social situation

has continued to deteriorate. Our people’s dream of a

tolerant, united and prosperous nation was replaced by

a different reality — a reality characterized by political

instability, economic stagnation, increasing religious

and racial intolerance, ethno-nationalism and politics

based on ethno-nationalism, a rise in crime, violence

and corruption, increased poverty and the emigration

of many of our talented, skilled and experienced

citizens.

On 5 December 2006, a political transition took

place in Fiji following an intervention from the Fiji

Military Forces. Interim measures were put in place by

the President to ensure good governance, maintain law

and order and stabilize the economy. The President of

Fiji subsequently appointed an interim Government,

which I head. The legality of those actions has been

challenged and the matter is now before the courts of

Fiji.

To date, my Government, which remains in

effective control of governance in Fiji, has done

everything within its power to adhere to the current

Constitution. We recognize that that is the supreme law

of our nation. At the same time, we have also come to

recognize that the very foundation on which we have

sought to build our nation has been shaky and weak.

Therefore, our efforts must now focus on re-laying a

more solid foundation to return Fiji to sustainable

democratic governance. Our island nation must be

rebuilt on the solid rock-like foundations of equal

08-52265 26

rights, social justice, democracy and good governance.

We cannot and must not repeat the mistake of trying to

rebuild again on the proven proverbial foundation of

sand, which is washed away by the evils of self-

interest, incompetence, intolerance and greed.

In January of last year, the interim Government

embarked on a comprehensive examination of our

political, economic, social and governance problems.

We did that to identify what contributed to the abysmal

record of successive Governments since May 1987, and

also to find durable and just solutions. Early in that

undertaking, my Government decided to reach out to

the people of Fiji to ensure that they became better

aware of Fiji’s problems and that they all became part

of the solutions going forward. We did that while being

mindful of the larger issue of mandate that the events

of December 2006 raised. For my part, I took the view

that the interim Government must not pretend that it

had the capacity or the wisdom to solve our country’s

problems entirely on its own.

My country, Fiji, faces deep-rooted and very

fundamental problems that are both complex and

structural. My Government therefore recommended to

the President of Fiji that he set up a broadly

representative and independent consultative body to

reach out to the people of Fiji and to get them actively

involved in charting the way forward for Fiji. In late

2007, the President of Fiji established a 45-member

national council for building a better Fiji and officially

launched what is now known as the Peoples Charter

Initiative. The President invited the leaders of all major

political, social, community, business and religious

organizations in the country to join the national council

and to contribute to formulating a people’s charter for

change, peace and progress. Some, in particular those

organizations that remain vigorously opposed to the

interim Government, chose not to accept the invitation

of the President of Fiji. They wilfully persistently

rejected the call to engage in constructive dialogue and

to work towards a broad consensus on the way forward

for Fiji.

Last year, when I addressed the Assembly, I

briefly mentioned our preparations to launch the

Peoples Charter Initiative. I said then that through this

initiative the broad cross section of Fiji’s people would

be fully engaged and involved through consultation

and participation in developing a comprehensive action

agenda, and that that would be Fiji’s own way of

addressing its problems. Today, I am pleased to inform

the Assembly that very considerable progress has been

achieved on the Peoples Charter Initiative.

The overarching objective of the people’s charter

is to rebuild Fiji into a non-racial, culturally vibrant,

united, well-governed and truly democratic nation — a

nation that seeks progress and prosperity. The vision

for rebuilding Fiji that underpins that overarching

objective is guided by a number of key principles, such

as creating a just and fair society; achieving unity and

national identity; ensuring merit-based equality of

opportunity for all citizens; transparent and

accountable Government; uplifting the disadvantaged

in all communities; and mainstreaming our indigenous

people, the i-Taukei, in a modern and progressive Fiji.

We embarked upon the very bold programme of

drafting a people’s charter advisedly and for some very

compelling reasons. We can ill afford to carry on with

business as usual and in ways that continue to fragment

and divide our nation. In that context, the process of

drafting the people’s charter has been a unique and

unprecedented one — a nation-wide participatory and

consultative process of a scale and type never before

attempted in Fiji. The whole process is one of

empowerment the likes of which the people of Fiji

have never experienced before. Too often in national

governance — and this applies to so-called

democracies — it is the professional politicians who do

the thinking for the people. While the cries and voices

of the people are often heard, however, they are just as

easily ignored by the elected representatives and so-

called leaders.

From the outset, after being appointed as head of

the interim Government, I have felt that it was my duty

to go to the people of Fiji in the most basic and

democratic sense, that is, to consult, to actively involve

our people, and to put real people’s democracy to

work, house to house, in each settlement and village

and in towns and cities right across the country.

Through the People’s Charter Initiative, that is what we

have been doing.

There are some, both in Fiji and outside, who are

cynical in that regard. I am able to understand that, and

not only because such a process has never ever been

tried before. It is indeed a most challenging and

difficult process to undertake. Even though the

people’s charter process has been undertaken by the

national council at arm’s length from the interim

Government, there are those who oppose it simply

27 08-52265

because it is an initiative of the interim Government.

What they recognize, but choose not to admit, is that

the people’s charter process is a real threat to their

positions of vested power and privilege.

When I addressed the Assembly last year, I

pleaded for the support of the international community

to help us in the wake of all the political and economic

turbulence that Fiji has experienced since 1987. I

pleaded for support to develop a political and

governance framework that is truly democratic,

accountable, inclusive, equitable and non-racial, and

which will seek to unify Fiji’s diverse communities as

a nation. I also sought constructive dialogue and

engagement with the international community and with

all our bilateral and multilateral development partners.

I urged the international community to support us in

addressing Fiji’s fundamental problems.

I am asking the international community today

not to focus only on the removal of a Government.

That has already been done exhaustively. We have been

subjected to harsh international measures, which we

accepted. We have endured those through the suffering

of our people. The coups of 1987 and 2000 were

executed in the interests of a few and based on ethno-

nationalism, racism and greed. The events of

5 December 2006 were not for any such extremist

motivation.

In 2000, in quelling the civilian-led coup, as

Commander of the Fiji Military Forces, I played a

pivotal role in the handing of political power to a

civilian Government. Through the People’s Charter

Initiative, I am seeking to empower the people of Fiji

at large and to find just and sustainable solutions to our

deep-rooted and persistent problems. I wish to assure

the international community that I am personally

deeply committed to breaking the cycle of coups.

Equally important, I am committed to breaking the

cycle of bad and unjust governance that Fiji has

suffered since May 1987.

To remove the coup culture and to commit to

democratic and just governance and the rule of law, it

is imperative that policies that promote racial

supremacy and that further the interests of self-seeking

political, religious and traditional elites are removed

once and for all. In good faith, I anticipated that the

international community would rally behind and extend

support for such goals to help move Fiji forward.

Regrettably, so far that has not happened.

To the contrary, since December 2006 punitive

measures have continued to be taken against Fiji.

Travel sanctions continue, which are being imposed in

particular by Australia, New Zealand, the United

Kingdom and the United States of America. Those are

applied to interim Government ministers, senior civil

servants, military personnel and statutory board

appointees. Those sanctions have had significant

adverse effects on our economy, as well as on the

functioning of our key State institutions, on which we

rely to promote good governance and accountability.

Pressure has been exerted on regional and multilateral

agencies not to extend to Fiji much-needed financial,

development and technical assistance.

As a result, we have not been able to make as

much progress as we should have. We cannot travel

and engage in discussions at important regional and

international meetings abroad. That is despite the fact

that Fiji has made every effort to engage in dialogue

with our bilateral partners and the international

community in a constructive and transparent manner.

We have openly embraced and allowed various

missions sent by regional and international bodies such

as the Pacific Islands Forum, the European Union, the

United Nations and the Commonwealth secretariat. We

extended to all of them our fullest support and

cooperation in terms of engagement, in arranging

appointments and in making available to them

whatever information they needed. That demonstrates

that we are keen to engage constructively in dialogue

with whoever is interested in helping move our country

forward. Following the recent Pacific Islands Forum

meeting in Niue, I wrote last week to the Forum Chair

and indicated that the interim Fiji Government is

prepared to re-engage with the Forum Joint Working

Group and that we are prepared to welcome a visit,

before December 2008, by the Forum’s Ministerial

Contact Group.

We are not able to schedule an election to return

Fiji to parliamentary democracy in the early part of

2009, as earlier anticipated. We realize that that has

caused concern to some of our own people in Fiji, to

countries of the region and to some of our development

partners. The stance taken by the international

community with regard to the delay in convening the

election, however, has given much ammunition to our

opponents within Fiji. They have used it to vilify us

despite the progress that we are making towards just

and sustainable solutions to our fundamental problems.

08-52265 28

I have already explained to Fiji’s people the need to

delay the election. I wish to inform our regional

partners and the international community represented

here today that the interim Government cannot convene

an election by March 2009. That is due to work still in

progress to agree on a democratic electoral system that

is acceptable to the people of Fiji and that all political

stakeholders can agree to through political dialogue.

We believe that the general election must be held

as soon as possible. That will be done only after we

have achieved broad consensus in Fiji on a non-racial

and truly democratic electoral system, and agreed on a

constitutional and legal way to introduce the changes.

It is necessary to change our current electoral system

because it is undemocratic and does not provide for

free and fair elections. It contravenes the principle of

equal suffrage as set out in the Universal Declaration

of Human Rights. To achieve that, the President of Fiji

has proposed that a political dialogue forum be

convened as a mechanism independent of the national

council. It is through that forum that we hope to reach

consensus and introduce the reforms through legal and

constitutional means. Again, I say with emphasis, the

timeframe to achieve all that is not dependent upon me

or the interim Government; it is the collective

responsibility of all stakeholders.

In May of this year, Fiji sought assistance from

the Commonwealth and the United Nations to

facilitate, as a priority and with urgency, the

President’s proposed political dialogue forum. We had

hoped that the forum, which would initially focus on

electoral reform, would have been convened by now.

Little progress has been made, and we are concerned

about the delay. I would like to take this opportunity to

reiterate our request to the United Nations and the

Commonwealth to help us urgently in that regard.

After taking into account the feedback from our

nation-wide consultations, the draft peoples charter

will be amended as necessary and appropriate before it

is finalized. It will then be adopted as a vision

statement that identifies our core problems and the

solutions recommended through the nation-wide

consultation process. It is incumbent upon me and my

Government to build consensus on the peoples charter

as the common principles on which we should rebuild

our nation. The peoples charter will present a

considered way forward for Fiji. We are not obliged to

abandon the enormous and important work being

achieved through an extensive participatory and

consultative process just because some people remain

opposed and have decided not to participate. My

Government’s task now is to persuade those opponents

to come aboard, to join and to contribute. We hope to

and must achieve consensus.

At this particular juncture in the history of our

nation, leadership is more about how we can seize the

present historic opportunity to manage the transition

from the interim Government to a truly democratic

Government and nation consisting of various ethnic

communities but which is one nation with its people in

unity in the true spirit in which the United Nations was

established.

In conclusion, I reaffirm Fiji’s commitment to the

United Nations and to the various United Nations

conventions on human rights, the rule of law and

democratic governance. We do not seek any special

exemptions from our obligations under those

conventions. All we seek from the United Nations is its

understanding of our particular circumstances and the

complex situation of Fiji. We invite the Organization to

work with us to assist us to rebuild our country and

move it forward.