- 1. Identify the reasons for the 2006 Coup? Which were the controversial bills that led to the confrontation between the military and government during the phase between 2000-2006? [500-800 words]
The Fijian coup d'état of December 2006 occurred as a continuation of the pressure which had been building since the military unrest of the 2000 Fijian coup d'état and 2005–06 Fijian political crisis. Fiji had seen four definitive coups in the past two decades. At the heart of the previous three of these lay the tensions between the ethnic Fijians and Indian Fijians. Religion played a significant role; the majority of ethnic Fijians belong to the Methodist church whereas the majority of the Indians are Hindu. In each coup, one of the sides sought to establish reduced rights for the Indian Fijians; the other side sought to grant greater rights and equality to the Indian Fijians. Bainimarama’s 2006 coup demolished those political axioms in several ways. It overthrew a government elected only seven months earlier with the support of 80 per cent of the indigenous Fijians. The 2006 coup, in the longer view, might indicate the end of an era during which the bipolar conflict between politicians represents the indigenous Fijians, and those representing the indo-Fijians, dominated the political stage. Alternatively, it might prove a brief hiatus which, by serving to inflame ethno-nationalist passions, delays that inevitable shift away from bipolar politics. Although the military was not the catalyst for Fiji’s second coup, in May 2000, The 2006 Military Takeover in Fiji the fate of George Speight’s rebellion was ultimately sealed by the internal balance of forces within the military. Fiji’s third coup, on 5 December 2006, represented a reversion to a straight military coup, although in other respects it differed markedly from its predecessors. Once a coup takes place, the route back to democracy is complex, fraught and laborious; the most pronounced difficulties are usually political. George Speight’s takeover in 2000 gave a hint of how hard and unpredictable that road might be. Yet, what followed that coup offered hope. The army intervened and installed a government of civilians. That government, unexpectedly, accepted a decision from the courts that its rule had no legal foundation and Fiji went to an election in 2001. A long-running conflict between the government and military of the Republic of the Fiji Islands (Fiji) reached crisis point in early December 2006. The catalysts for the unrest were three bills under consideration by the Fijian parliament, one of which would question the illegality of the Fiji coup of 2000 and offer pardons to some of the rebels who participated in it. Nine demands were handed down from Commodore Josaia Voreqe (Frank) Bainimarama to Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase largely pertaining to issues concerning these bills. Bainimarama gave an ultimatum to Qarase to concede to these demands or to resign from his post by Friday 1 December. This was then deferred to Monday 4 December. The current crisis has its origins in the Fiji coup of 2000. The 2000 coup was aimed at the multi-ethnic Government led by Mahendra Chaudhry. The proponents of the coup were an armed faction not closely associated with the military, who opposed their actions. After Bainimarama declared martial law and resolved the crisis by force, an interim government was sworn in, headed by current Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase. The Prime Minister was democratically elected in elections in 2001 and 2006, and has since begun to take actions that have provoked the displeasure of the military. On 22 September 2006, Commodore Bainimarama attacked government policies in a speech at Ratu Latianara Secondary School. News service Fiji Village reported that he claimed that government leniency towards perpetrators of the 2000 coup had created a culture of disrespect for the law, to which he attributed the increasing incidents of rape, homicide, and desecration of Hindu temples. He also criticized the Methodist Church of Fiji and Rotuma, for supporting the government. The next day Prime Minister Qarase accused the Commodore's statements of being unconstitutional, and announced his intention to refer the matter to the Supreme Court for a judgement on the proper role of the military. The Methodist Church also reacted strongly to the Commodore's suggestion that government policies could take Fiji back to paganism and cannibalism. Reverend Ame Tugaue, the General Secretary of the Church, commented that the Commander appeared to be ignoring the fact that it was the influence of Christianity that had abolished cannibalism in Fiji.On 25 September, military spokesman Major Neumi Leweni said that the government's proposed court action was a threat to the nation, and that the military was united in its resolve to prosecute persons implicated in the 2000 coup and in its opposition to legislation proposing amnesty for such offenders. He also reiterated the opposition of the military to the "Qoliqoli Bill", which proposed to hand control of seabed resources to ethnic Fijians.