Fiji, 2014

I join those who have

spoken before me in congratulating Mr. Sam Kutesa on

his assumption of the office of President of the General

Assembly at its sixty-ninth session. Like them, I am

confident that, under his leadership, the sixty-ninth session

will be productive. I would also like to express Fiji’s

gratitude for the leadership of Mr. John Ashe throughout

the sixty-eighth session.

Five years ago, I stood in this great Hall and promised

the global community that my Government would introduce

the first genuine democracy in Fiji’s history before the end

of September (see A/64/PV.10). It is my honour to inform

the Assembly that, with the support of the Fijian people,

I have kept that promise. I return to the Assembly today

as the duly elected Prime Minister of the Republic of

Fiji. At our general election on 17 September, I led my

Fiji First political movement to a decisive victory in

the first election to be held under our new Constitution

on the basis of equal votes of equal value. The new

Constitution replaced the three previous constitutions

since our independence from Britain in 1970, in

which Governments were chosen under a weighted

and discriminatory formula that separated the various

communities and favoured some citizens over others.

For nearly four decades, we laboured under a system

that was undemocratic, unjust and unfair. Indeed, we

were a case study of a nation that was supposedly

democratic and casting itself as such, but was failing

to meet some basic democratic standards — a common

and equal citizenry, a common identity and a level

playing field on which every citizen can excel. We

have often heard it said that elections are key to having

democracy. We in Fiji knew that that was not the case,

because our electoral system, before it was reformed,

did not give us true democracy. It did not facilitate

justice, transparency or good governance. It was about

reinforcing power, the power of elites, and keeping the

population divided into different communal groups.

That weighted system perpetuated injustice for a great

many of our people, created different classes of citizens

and encouraged corruption. It was a system that no

advanced democracy would accept for itself. The status

of any Fijian in national life depended on his or her

racial origin, whether that man or woman came from

one of the chiefly or business elites, and even what part

of the country the person lived in.

We needed a revolution to put us on the path to

true democracy. And from the time that that revolution

began in 2006 to our election 10 days ago, we embarked

on a series of reforms that have transformed our nation.

More laws were passed during this eight-year period to

improve our standard of governance than in the entire

36-year period since independence. And central to that

was the development of our supreme law — the 2013

Constitution — from which all other laws flow. It is the

blueprint for the new Fiji. Now every Fiji Islander enjoys

equal opportunity and a common identity — Fijian. That

name was once reserved for the indigenous majority but

now applies to everyone from the Republic of Fiji, just

as the common name American applies to all from the

United States or the name Australian to any Australian

from Australia.

A range of social and economic rights have also

been enshrined in our supreme law for the first time,

rights that comply with a number of United Nations

conventions — the right to economic participation,

a just minimum wage, education, housing, health

and adequate food and water. The right to live in an

environment free of pollution is a principle we hope

that every nation will embrace, as we strive for the

preservation and protection of our natural surroundings.

So today, I am proud to report to the Assembly that Fiji

is a fairer, more just society and a more compassionate

society, as we step up our efforts to alleviate poverty on

the back of a rapidly strengthening economy.

We have also set our sights on being a smarter

country by introducing free schooling at the primary

and secondary levels for the first time. Plus we now

have an array of scholarships and a tertiary loans

scheme to enable our young people to go on to higher

education. Our vision is to cement our place as a

pre-eminent Pacific Island nation, a true regional hub

and a Pacific beacon of prosperity and progress for our

smaller neighbours. We intend to play a bigger role in

the wider world to voice our collective concerns about

such issues as the environment, climate change and the

need to create a fairer trading system to benefit our

people in the Pacific and in all developing countries.

As we begin this new era in our national life, I want

to thank those in the greater community of nations

who have stood by us in recent years as we made the

reforms that were necessary to create a better Fiji. Not

everyone understood what we were trying to do. Some

tried to damage us with sanctions and to degrade our

quality of governance because we refused to accept

their prescriptive and high-handed approach towards

us. But the majority of nations recognized our right

to determine our own future and came to understand

that we were working not for the benefit of a governing

elite but for the common good. To those in the General

Assembly who gave us their support, our friends, 1

extend the grateful thanks of the Fijian people.

I also want to especially thank those countries

that made up the Multinational Observer Group that

declared our general election credible, free and fair.

For the co-leaders from Australia, India, Indonesia,

Canada, the European Union, Israel, Japan, the members

of the Melanesian Spearhead Group, New Zealand, the

Republic of Korea, Russia, South Africa, Turkey, the

United Kingdom and the United States of America — I

offer many thanks to them all. It has been a long and

sometimes traumatic journey for our nation in the

44 years since independence: four coups, a rebellion,

four Constitutions and 56 days of shame in 2000 when

members of our Parliament were held hostage.

Fiji has struggled to be unified and cohesive; our

development was retarded by our inability to think and

work as one nation, one people. But with the recent

election, we have put that era firmly behind us. In

our new democracy, we are all Fijians, not members

of separate ethnic and religious groups. And having

established a common and equal citizenry, along with

a secular State, we intend to move forward together

to finally fulfil our promise as a nation, to fulfil our

destiny.

I especially want to pay tribute today to the Fijian

people. I say to them today before the world: this was

their victory. Whichever candidate they chose, theirs

was a vote for a better future for our nation. I pledge

again that I will govern for the benefit of all our citizens,

no matter who they are, where they come from or who

they voted for. Mine will be an inclusive Government

over the next four years. I will be the leader of all Fijians,

for all Fijians. As we move our beloved nation forward,

I am determined to leave no one behind. In that spirit, I

extend a hand of friendship to my political opponents.

Whatever our differences, let us now work together

constructively in our new Parliament, when it convenes

on 6 October, to improve the lives of every Fijian.

We are currently enjoying the most sustained period

of economic growth in our history. The possibility to

create more jobs and raise the living standards of our

people has never been greater. Let us join hands to put

our nation first, to put Fiji first.

I want to assure our Pacific neighbours of Fiji’s

continuing contribution to the region as we work

together and collaborate to resolve the great challenges

facing us, develop our economies and improve the lives

of all Pacific islanders. Fiji has played a leading role

in the formation of the Pacific Islands Development

Forum, an addition to the existing regional framework,

which, for the first time, links Governments with civil

society groups and the private sector in a joint effort

to solve our development problems in a sustainable

manner.

Fiji is privileged to have been given the

responsibility of hosting the Pacific Island Development

Forum Secretariat in our capital, Suva. We were equally

privileged that the outgoing Indonesian President,

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyno, was our principal guest at

this year’s Forum in June.

In this International Year of Small Island

Developing States, we need a more concerted effort to

strengthen our regional institutions in order to confront

the enormous challenges we face in the Pacific, namely,

population growth, the unsustainable use of our ocean’s

natural resources and rising sea levels caused by climate

change. Climate change threatens to engulf some of our

Pacific Island States altogether, and is already forcing

the evacuation of coastal villages in Fiji.

I repeat here what I have said in other forums:

history will judge the world’s major carbon-emitters

extremely harshly, unless they take immediate and

comprehensive steps to reduce emissions. It is simply

not acceptable, purely in moral terms, for the world to

allow the small island developing States to sink slowly

beneath the waves because of the selfish determination

of industrialized nations to protect their own economies.

Time is fast running out, and I beg Governments to act.

I am also here to rededicate ourselves as a nation

to the ideals of the United Nations and to its service,

whenever and wherever it is required. That service is at

the core of our foreign policy, whose central purpose is

to be friends to all and enemies to none. It has been our

privilege to chair the largest voting bloc at the United

Nations, the Group of 77 and China, and this year to

assume the Presidency of the Executive Board of the

United Nations Development Programme.

For some 36 years now, Fiji has proudly contributed

our troops to successive peacekeeping operations in

Lebanon, Sinai, Iraq, Syria, Timor-Leste, South Sudan,

Darfur, Liberia, Bosnia, Kosovo, Kuwait, Namibia,

Cambodia and the Solomon Islands. Some of those

peacekeepers have paid with their lives — as have

troops from other countries — and we honour those

who have fallen in the cause of peace. Last month, 45 of

our soldiers currently serving with the United Nations

Disengagement Observer Force, were held captive.

As a nation, we held grave fears for their safety, but

after two anxious weeks our prayers were answered,

and our men were freed. I want to thank the skilful

team of United Nations negotiators who worked with

our military officers and diplomats in a tireless effort

to secure the release of our men. I also warmly thank

those nations that came to Fiji’s assistance during that

trying period. We will never forget the role played by

those Governments in keeping our men safe so that they

can continue to fulfil their United Nations mandate and

eventually return safely to their families and friends in

Fiji.

I am proud to say that not once during the course of

that crisis were there any calls in Fiji for the withdrawal

of our troops from that, or future, peacekeeping

missions. Peacekeeping is a noble cause and is our

contribution to the welfare of ordinary men and women

living in less fortunate circumstances far from our

island home. I want everyone to know that Fiji will

always be ready to serve.

To strengthen our commitment to meeting our

international obligations, this year Fiji opened a

Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva,

which is focused on strengthening our interaction

with treaty bodies, such as the Human Rights Council,

the International Labour Organization, the World

Trade Organization, the World Intellectual Property

Organization, the International Telecommunication

Union and other organizations based in Geneva.

In closing, Fiji looks forward to contributing

positively to the work of the United Nations during the

President’s stewardship of the Assembly at its sixty-

ninth session. On behalf of all Fijians, I pledge our full

support and cooperation as the President carries out his

tasks in the cause of the great global family to which

we all belong.