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Guillermo
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Commonwealth suspends Fiji after coup
December 8, 2006 - 10:00 AM
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The Commonwealth has suspended Fiji from its decision-making councils following a military coup in the South Pacific nation, the group's secretary-general said.
"The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group unanimously and unequivocally condemned the military takeover of Fiji's democratically elected government, in total disregard of the authority of the prime minister and Parliament," Secretary General Don McKinnon said on Friday.
"The group agreed that the unconstitutional takeover constitutes a serious violation of the Commonwealth's fundamental principles."
The action group included ministers from Canada, Malta, Lesotho, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, St. Lucia, Sri Lanka, Britain and Tanzania.
Fiji's military commander, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, announced Tuesday he had taken control of the country from the elected government in the South Pacific nation's fourth coup in two decades. This is the third time in 20 years that Fiji's membership in the Commonwealth of Britain and its former territories had been suspended following coups.
Fiji was suspended from the Commonwealth in 1987 following a coup led by Lt. Col. Sitveni Rabuka. It was readmitted in 1997 after Rabuka made a formal apology to Queen Elizabeth II.
Fiji was again suspended in 2000 after Bainimarama declared martial law and abrogated the 1997 constitution. It was readmitted in 2001.
The 53-nation Commonwealth and its former territories suspended Pakistan from its decision-making councils after Gen. Pervez Musharraf seized power in a coup in 1999. It was readmitted in 2004.
Nigeria was suspended from the Commonwealth in 1995 after military ruler Gen. Sani Abacha executed playwright and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa. It was restored as a member in 2000 after democracy returned.
The Commonwealth suspended Zimbabwe in 2002 to protest election violations, and the country dropped out of the organization the following year
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Ajay Kamalakaran
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Re: Commonwealth suspends Fiji after coup
December 8, 2006 - 11:23 AM
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Fiji should not have been isolated ever since the racist coup when George Speight held Prime Minister Chaudhary hostage.
That coup was a disgrace. I think Bananirama is actually doing the right thing by not letting Qarase letting the criminals from that coup go free.
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Sally John
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Fiji's Coup Causes Commonwealth to Suspend Country
March 25, 2007 - 08:33 PM
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Clearly this is more than just a simple power struggle. The underlying cause of all of Fiji’s four coups in the last twenty year is racial tension. Forty percent of Fiji’s population is the ethnic Indian minority. The ethnic Indians came to Fiji in the 19th century, to work on British cotton plantations. Ever since, there has been a huge divide between the ethnic Fijians and the ethnic Indians.
The coup in 2000 was led by a man called George Speight, who claimed that the ethnic Indian Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudry’s government was oppressing the Fijians. At that time, Fiji’s military chief, Commodore Bainimarama, suppressed the uprising. Bainimarama was instrumental in putting Qarase into power.
Cmdr Bainimarama, an ethnic Fijian, ousted Qarase on December 5th 2006 because the government was planning to produce legislature to let the 2000 coup members free. It might have also allowed military members who tried to mutiny in 2000, causing the commodore to flee for his life.
Even though the 2006 coup occurred as a result of the 2000 coup, there were a few differences. Unlike the previous coup, its more recent counterpart was led by a man who has strong military support. Also, in reference to the controversial legislature, on October 16th Bainimarama gave Qarase an ultimatum to concede to. There were nine specific demands and Qarase had only partially conceded to them by November 30 (most importantly he had agreed to suspend the bill letting the members free and to drop it if found unconstitutional). A resolution was not reached and so a hurried extension date was sent by Bainimarama for the next day. This time passed without compromise and both leaders then declared themselves in control. The next day Bainimarama took military action in the form of a coup and subjected himself to much criticism because of it.
Although Cmdr Bainimarama was apparently trying to act in the interest of democracy and equality between Fijians and Indians, a military coup was not the way to go. In this case, the means do not justify the ends. The Commonwealth acted correctly when it suspended Fiji, once again, for violating democracy.
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Zachary H. Bodine
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Re: Commonwealth suspends Fiji after coup
March 25, 2007 - 11:10 PM
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Cutting Fiji off from the commonwealth is completely justified. They havebeen having on and off governments and coups for the past twenty years. These coups are largely due to ethnic differences. However, there are also religious tensions building. The Ethnic Fijians are predominantly Methodist, whereas the Indians are Hindu. This is only adding to the sevre ethnic tensions, especially since the Methodist church supported the highly oppressive government put in place during the 2000 coup. Now that Bainimarama is in power, there are once again conflicts of intrest are arising. Bainimarama opposes the right to power of the church and this has brought him into numerous conflicts with them in the past.I believe that isolating Fiji is a smart decision right now. Just like a child having a tantrum, they need to be set aside until they can work through their problems themselves.
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Ajay Kamalakaran
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Re: Commonwealth suspends Fiji after coup
March 26, 2007 - 12:00 AM
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First of all, the so-called ethnic Fijians are also immigrants from Samoa.
Suspending a country from the Commonwealth doesn't ensure that it reinstates democratic institutions.
Look at Pakistan, when Musharraf seized power, the country was suspended from the Commonwealth. Did that help bring back democracy in the country?
Now Pakistan is again a member of the Commonwealth and Musharraf is still in power.
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Udara
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Re: Commonwealth suspends Fiji after coup
April 4, 2007 - 02:25 AM
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Yep. A great point Ajay!
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