Fiji, 2000

I bring you greetings from the

people of the Fiji Islands.

On their behalf, I also convey our warm

congratulations to you, Mr. President, along with the

pledge of my delegation to support you and to closely

cooperate with you in ensuring the success of this

session.

To the Secretary-General, I would like to express

the sincere gratitude of the people of Fiji for all that the

United Nations family is doing every day, in every part

of the globe, to bring relief to those in need, and to

promote peace, security and development.

I would like to take this opportunity to warmly

welcome our neighbour and close friend, Tuvalu, as the

newest Member of the United Nations. Fiji is very

proud to see the flag of this very important Pacific

island country taking its place alongside the other 188

Members of the United Nations. We look forward to

the admission in the future of more Pacific island

States.

I address the Assembly today on behalf of the

Interim Administration in Fiji, which I have been

entrusted by our President to lead.

In the wake of the coup d'Ètat in my country on

19 May this year, and the political crisis it triggered,

my Interim Administration has two very important

tasks to undertake within the two-year time frame we

have set for ourselves.

First, it is to return Fiji to constitutional

democracy and, secondly, it is to stabilize our economy

and to lay the foundation for a return to sustained

growth and expansion with increased investment.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all

those Governments who have shown sympathy and

understanding, who recognize the complexities of the

situation in Fiji as a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural

society, and who readily accept that solutions to the

present political crisis can be developed within Fiji, by

the people of Fiji themselves, without external

interference in any form.

With the end of the cold war and of the dual

division it created in world order, it would seem that a

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new form of imperialism has emerged along with its

twin-brother, neo-colonialism. As if the corrosive

influence and impact of their mass culture of

consumerism and materialism are not enough, this new

form of domination is being propagated by the purists

of the liberal democracies, in the name of good

governance, human rights, accountability and

transparency. In themselves, these are important

general standards to ensure the integrity of the system

of Government in a country, and the just and fair

treatment of its citizens. But what is of concern is that

we are being told to apply these standards and values

of liberal democracy strictly according to their

standards, without regard for the particular or complex

circumstances in each country.

Our concern is that some of the fundamental

principles upon which this unique world Organization

was founded 55 years ago are being eroded and

violated the principles of respect for national

sovereignty and of non-interference in the internal

affairs of an independent State.

We appreciate that we now live in a closely inter-

linked global community, and we are all part of one

humankind; we are children of one divine Creator. We

must, therefore, be concerned about each other, about

our common well being, and common basic standards

of rights and freedoms.

This, however, does not give a country the right

to impose on another, its standards of democratic

governance and what it perceives or considers to be

right and acceptable.

If, within each of our countries, we believe and

accept that civilized behaviour among the citizenry can

only be one based on mutual respect, mutual

understanding, and a willingness to assist and support

each other, why is it that some countries today should

think that these rules of civilized and respectful

behaviour within a country, should not apply in their

dealings with other members of the international

community of nations.

I have raised this point not only because we here

at the United Nations should be ever watchful of this

disturbing negative trend, but also to remind my own

country's friends and neighbours that stridency of

political rhetoric, smart sanctions and threats of more

sanctions will not really assist us in bringing about a

speedy and amicable resolution to our political

situation. In fact, the very opposite is true; they have

only served to harden attitudes of one community

against the other. I, therefore, make a plea to Members

of the United Nations to show greater understanding of,

and sensitivity to, the complexities of the situation in

Fiji.

We are a country of many communities and many

cultures. All have contributed to Fiji's development.

We have all accepted each other as citizens and as

communities, and Fiji is our common and permanent

home.

But we also have peculiar features, which bear

directly on inter-communal relationships within our

society.

We have a total population of around 800,000.

Indigenous Fijians and Rotumans make up 52 per cent

and are growing at 1.8 per cent every year. The second

major ethnic group is our Indian community. They

make up 43 per cent of the population, but with a low

birth rate and emigration, this is continuing to decrease

at 0.3 per cent each year. The other communities in Fiji

are Europeans, Chinese and Pacific Islanders.

Ethnicity is only one basis of distinction and

difference in Fiji. Then there is land ownership. The

indigenous Fijians and Rotumans own, by custom, 84

per cent of all land in Fiji. Much of the best of this,

however, is on lease for various purposes, residential,

commercial and agricultural, and more than 60 per cent

of the tenants are members of our Indian community.

Most of the agricultural leases are sugar cane farming

leases, and more than 75 per cent of these are held by

Indian tenants, and most of these tenants have lived on

their leased land for three generations.

In our urban areas, the situation is the reverse.

The majority of property owners, of businesses, of

those in the professions, of those working for a regular

income, are non-Fijians and mostly Indians.

In religion, more than 57 per cent of the

population, the indigenous Fijians and Rotumans, and

the other minority communities, are mostly Christians.

On the other hand, the remaining 43 per cent, the

members of the Indian community mostly belong to the

Hindu, Muslim and other faiths.

Then there are our culture and value systems.

Indigenous Fijians and Rotumans have a hierarchical

social structure. Traditional hereditary chiefs and

commoners alike have their place and role in society

and are bound together by reciprocal obligations of

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loyalty, obedience, and of sharing with, and caring for,

each other and everyone in the community. Fijians

value their democratic rights as individuals, but as a

community they know their place in their traditional

society.

In our Indian and other communities people are

much more individually based. There is, therefore, a

greater consciousness of and emphasis on individual

rights and freedoms the right to equality, the

importance of education, success in professional life

and the security of property rights.

We all live together side by side in Fiji, yet we

remain apart, separated by our ethnicity, religion,

cultural differences and value systems. We

communicate with each other, not through the

languages of our communities, but through the English

language. With regard to our general standards of

living, even though indigenous Fijians and Rotumans

own 84 per cent of the land in Fiji, they have, on

average, the lowest level of household income, and

they also lag well behind the other communities in

almost every aspect of life in a rapidly expanding

market-based economy.

I have explained all this to highlight the delicate

and sensitive nature of our multi-ethnic and

multicultural society in Fiji. The crux of our political

crisis in Fiji is that the indigenous Fijian and Rotuman

communities felt threatened by certain policies which

the non-indigenous leadership of the People's Coalition

Government had implemented following their decisive

victory in our national elections in May 1999. It was

this fear and anxiety about their future as the world's

only indigenous Fijian and Rotuman community of just

over 420,000 people that led to mass demonstrations

and ultimately the coup d'Ètat on 19 May this year. It

also manifested itself in the mass looting of shops, the

destruction of property and threats to people and their

families. Unfortunately, and tragically, the victims

were mainly members of our Indian community.

It was in this serious and deteriorating law and

order situation that the Fiji military forces responded to

a request from our police to take direct control of law

and order and the protection of citizens. To facilitate

this, on 29 May the Fiji military forces abrogated our

1997 Constitution.

However, as the civilian interim Administration,

we have ourselves taken over from the army, and, as I

have said, we are firmly committed to returning Fiji to

constitutional parliamentary democracy. We intend to

promulgate a new constitution in August next year.

General elections will then follow within 12 months.

The new constitution is to be prepared by a constitution

commission, which we shall appoint early next month.

It will be representative of all our communities and

will consult widely throughout the country, giving the

public at large every opportunity to submit their advice

and recommendations on the new constitution.

I should also mention a new initiative I have

taken to deal with the inter-ethnic crisis in Fiji: the

establishment of a Ministry of National Reconciliation

and Unity, together with a Council for National

Reconciliation and Unity. It is my sincere hope that the

Council will bring together the representatives of the

various communities in our rich, multicultural society,

as well as representatives of the various sections of the

wider community, including employers, trade unions

and civil society, to discuss and make

recommendations on various ways by which we can

promote greater intercommunal understanding and

cooperation.

What we have realized is that it is not enough

simply to focus attention on the constitution as the

framework for our different communities in Fiji to live

together peacefully and harmoniously. We need to do

more. We have to build and reinforce foundations for

living together in all aspects of our lives in our multi-

ethnic and multicultural society. We are making good

progress in education, and proposals are now under

consideration to broaden the curriculum in schools to

include compulsory study of the Fijian language, Fijian

culture and the ethno-history and ethno-geography of

Fiji. We also need to encourage and promote more

social interaction and cohesion at the neighbourhood

and community level. Most important, it is my sincere

hope that the Council for National Reconciliation and

Unity will develop a consensus on national leadership

and power-sharing in Fiji. I believe sincerely that the

most enduring foundation for unity in Fiji is one that is

built in a spirit of give and take, of justice and fairness

for all and of responsibility for one another.

Very recently the United Nations launched a

Decade, from January 1995 to December 2004, on the

theme, Indigenous people: a new partnership, which

seeks the formation of new relationships, founded on

mutual respect and understanding between indigenous

peoples and States and the United Nations. In the

context of Fiji, what we hope to build is a new

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partnership between the indigenous Fijian and

Rotuman communities and the other communities, as

the basis of living together in our multi-ethnic and

multicultural society in the twenty-first century.

I again assure the international community that

within the two years of our transitional Administration

we shall return Fiji to constitutional democracy. A new

constitution will address the concerns of indigenous

Fijians and Rotumans about their future. At the same

time, however, it will also maintain and protect the

equal fundamental rights and freedoms of all citizens

and groups, without distinction on the basis of

ethnicity, religion, culture, gender, or economic and

social status.

Indeed, as the interim Prime Minister in the

transitional Administration in Fiji, I am committed to

building a united Fiji with a multi-ethnic and

multicultural society in which all the different

communities can live together in peace, harmony and

prosperity, in which the aspirations of the Fijians and

Rotumans are realized and the paramountcy of their

interests is secure and in which the provision of

important social services, such as education and health,

to all our communities is a priority, so that the quality

of life and standard of living of all our people are

continuously improving.

Fiji commends and supports the Brahimi report

(A/55/305) on peacekeeping. It is a timely and

thoughtful report which, if implemented, will

considerably enhance the ability of the United Nations

to carry out its peacekeeping tasks. With regard to

Fiji's continuing participation in United Nations

peacekeeping activities, I am pleased to confirm our

positive response to the Secretary-General's request for

a further increase in our troops serving in the United

Nations Interim Force in Lebanon. In that connection, I

commend the efforts of all those involved in the

Middle East peace process. Fiji earnestly hopes that the

negotiations will be successful in resolving

longstanding differences and bring about long-term

peace in the region.

We in Fiji have been greatly inspired by the

positive developments on the Korean peninsula, with

the growing rapprochement between the South and the

North. We express the hope that the same spirit of

goodwill and readiness to enter into dialogue will also

spread to the great country of China, between the

People's Republic of China and Taiwan. With regard to

the very important country of Japan, I reaffirm Fiji's

support for Japan's admission as a permanent member

of the Security Council.

The Secretary-General's report (A/54/2000), We

the Peoples has inspired the entire United Nations

community with its vision of a more humane and more

holistic future for our children and our world. We agree

entirely that the United Nations should focus not just

on the relationship between and among States, but,

increasingly, on the well-being and development of the

peoples of this world.

Once again, I extend my congratulations to you,

Mr. President, and best wishes for a successful

Millennium Assembly.