FIJI UPDATE 8/7/07: UK ARMY RECRUITS FROM FIJI;

C O N F I D E N T I A L SUVA 000391 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/07/2017 TAGS: PREL PHUM ASEC FJ SUBJECT: FIJI UPDATE 8/7/07: UK ARMY RECRUITS FROM FIJI; STRIKE NEWS; BAINIMARAMA ON ELECTIONS; ANTI-CORRUPTION TRAINING IN MALAYSIA REF: SUVA 387 Classified By: Amb. Dinger. Sec. 1.4 (B,D). UK, the Commonwealth, and Fiji recruits -------------- ¶1. (U) New Zealand media report that Australian Foreign Minister Downer and Commonwealth Secretary General McKinnon tried hard to get Britain to end its recruitment of Fiji citizens for the British army after last December's coup but met no success. McKinnon argued that Britain "is not setting a good example by taking on recruits from a country whose army has carried out a coup." More than 2000 Fijians serve as soldiers in the British Army. The UK noted that it has suspended its modest program of military support for the Fiji military, and no or almost no recruits to the British Army come from the Fiji military. They are recruited independently by Britain, with Fiji authorities playing no role. Fiji military spokesman Maj. Leweni welcomed Britain's move to "resist pressure from some Commonwealth countries" against a program that has always been welcomed as an employment option for Fiji youth. Two unions end strike; Nurses detained; Court grants stay -------------- -------------- ¶2. (C) The Public Employees Union (PEU) and the Viti National Union of Taukei Workers (VNUTW) ended their strike action on Aug. 7. Leaders said the interim government (IG) is "not budging;" it has rejected compulsory arbitration; so the only solution is to go to court. In the meantime, it makes no sense to stay on the picket lines. The nurses strike continues. When 15-20 nurses attempted to picket peacefully outside the government building where the IG Cabinet was meeting Aug. 7, police took them away to a police training school where they were reportedly "cautioned" but not formally arrested. In the courts, a judge granted public-sector unions a victory, at least temporarily, by staying the IG's decree to reduce the civil-servant retirement age from 60 to 55. A case challenging the decree is to go to trial in late October. Until then, the judge said older civil servants may stay on the job. (Comment: the instant action to remove picketing nurses from the street indicates yet again the IG's nervousness about allowing any public suggestion of dissent.) Bainimarama says early elections not the answer -------------- -- ¶3. (U) Interim PM Bainimarama has told the media that the coup culture of Fiji is "far from over" and "hurried elections" will not solve Fiji's unique problems. He suggested the problem with previous coups was that democracy returned before underlying problems were resolved. Now again, "the international community has been rather naive in pressurizing Fiji to return to parliamentary democracy...without allowing the people of Fiji to comprehensively address the root causes of conflict and dissention." (Note: Bainimarama also continues to state publicly that the IG has agreed "in principle" to hold general elections by March 2009.) Anti-corruption officers to train in Malaysia -------------- ¶4. (U) The Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC) intends to send all its investigators to overseas courses to enhance their professional skills, according to Deputy FICAC Director (and military LtCol.) George Langman. The first two trainees are to depart Fiji for Malaysia within the next month for courses lasting from two weeks to a month. Meanwhile, it appears KL is taking its time responding to the IG's agrement request for Col. Pita Driti, implicated repeatedly in post-coup human rights violations, to be Fiji High Commissioner to Malaysia. DINGER