Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08SUVA13
2008-01-15 17:11:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Suva
Cable title:  

FIJI: "LAND" ISSUE; ELECTORAL BOUNDARIES; PEOPLE'S

Tags:  PREL PGOV MARR PHUM FJ 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO3097
PP RUEHPB
DE RUEHSV #0013/01 0151711
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 151711Z JAN 08
FM AMEMBASSY SUVA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0258
INFO RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 1908
RUEHPB/AMEMBASSY PORT MORESBY 1454
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON 0024
RUEHNZ/AMCONSUL AUCKLAND 0578
RUEHDN/AMCONSUL SYDNEY 0988
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RHHJJAA/JICPAC HONOLULU HI
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 SUVA 000013 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/15/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR PHUM FJ
SUBJECT: FIJI: "LAND" ISSUE; ELECTORAL BOUNDARIES; PEOPLE'S
CHARTER

REF: SUVA 005

Classified By: Amb. Dinger. Sec. 1.4 (B,D).

Summary
-------
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 SUVA 000013

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/15/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR PHUM FJ
SUBJECT: FIJI: "LAND" ISSUE; ELECTORAL BOUNDARIES; PEOPLE'S
CHARTER

REF: SUVA 005

Classified By: Amb. Dinger. Sec. 1.4 (B,D).

Summary
--------------

1. (C) Interim Finance Minister Chaudhry has proposed that he
and interim PM Bainimarama can resolve Fiji's racially
charged "land" issues. That vision has raised intense
concern among ethnic-Fijians, most of whom trust neither
Bainimarama nor Chaudhry to handle the issue. The interim
government (IG) has belatedly finished appointing a
three-person Electoral Boundaries Commission. None of the
three is an ethnic-Fijian, a major political problem. All
those arrested last November in an alleged assassination plot
are now free on bail, to the IG's consternation. An appeal
is in the works. The first meeting of the People's Charter
process took place Jan. 16. A number of seats were empty,
including those for Qarase's SDL Party and the Methodist
Church. President Iloilo expressed extreme disappointment
that no foreign donors are assisting. Bainimarama gave a
rather pensive speech and acknowledged, surprisingly, that
"coup culture" and the military's roles may need addressing.
End summary.

Chaudhry raises "land" issue -- red flag
--------------

2. (U) Last weekend, interim Finance Minister Chaudhry told
the media he intends to commence discussions with the interim
Fijian Affairs Minister to resolve Fiji's long-standing land
issue. Chaudhry noted that interim PM Bainimarama assumed
the "Fijian Affairs" portfolio under the recent interim
cabinet reshuffle, so the time is now ripe.


3. (C) "Land" is a hugely sensitive issue for Fiji. Ethnic
Fijians own 88% of the land communally; ethnic Indians have
farmed most of the arable land under lease arrangements.
Under mechanisms set up in the colonial days and occasionally
tinkered with since, a government body, the Native Lands
Trust Board has overseen the rental process. Both
land-owners and lease-holders have been unhappy. For
ethnic-Fijians, "land" is more than an economic issue, it is
spiritual and cultural. Reportedly, Chaudhry's efforts to

revise land policies when he became PM in 1999 were a
significant motivation for the ethnic-Fijian coup of 2000.


4. (C) Chaudhry's proposal that he and Bainimarama will
resolve the "land" issue now was bound to infuriate the many
Fijian opponents of the interim regime. A spokesman for
deposed PM Qarase's SDL party flagged concern to the media,
saying "the most important stakeholders" haven't been
consulted. No doubt concerns are also being expressed around
every village kava bowl. On Jan. 15, the first meeting of
the new IG Cabinet reportedly decided to begin outreach to
the ethnic-Fijian communities as part of a process to make
land management more productive. An SDL spokesman publicly
suggested that any IG effort should be confined to the land
holdings of Bainimarama's own clan, the only land he has any
right to discuss.

Electoral Boundaries Comm'n -- no ethnic Fijians
-------------- ---

5. (C) On Jan. 11, interim Attorney General Sayed-Khaiyum
named Suresh Chandra as the final member for the three-person
Electoral Boundaries Commission. Chandra, a little-known
Suva property lawyer, joins Father Kevin Barr and Albert
Queet. Father Barr, head of the human-rights NGO ECREA, has
made clear his sympathies are with the IG. Queet is a former
civil servant. Two nominees proposed last fall for the third
position, both ethnic-Fijian women, withdrew: one reportedly
because of family pressures; the other, Adi Koila Nailatikau,
wife of the Interim Foreign Minister and daughter of Ratu
Mara, because she had recently been a member of the Fiji
Senate, and thus, embarrassingly, was constitutionally not
eligible. Sayed-Khaiyum dragged out the selection of a
replacement, thus slowing the process of gearing up for March
2009 elections. Census numbers have been available since
September, but the Boundaries Commission has been unable to
start crunching the data. We hear Australia and New Zealand
raised concerns about that at a PIF-Fiji Joint Working Group
meeting in recent weeks.


6. (C) The selection of Chandra raised eyebrows. Few
observers have any knowledge of him at all, though he
reportedly worked in the Fiji lands-registration office after

SUVA 00000013 002 OF 003


obtaining a law degree in New Zealand, and his private
practice has been mostly in "conveyancing." One rumor is
that he is a Labor-Party supporter of Chaudhry. Some suggest
he is part of a network of ethnic-Indians with New Zealand
connections that has been actively supporting the IG. On
Jan. 14, an SDL Party spokesman expressed grave concern that
the EBC has no ethnic-Fijian representation, even though
ethnic-Fijians constitute 57% of the population.
Sayed-Khaiyum responded that the Constitution does not
require racial representation on the EBC and all
constitutional requirements were followed. (Note: actually,
the Constitution states that the PM and Opposition Leader
each select one member, with the third selected by the
President after consulting the PM and Opposition Leader.
Mick Beddoes, the Opposition Leader of the 2006 Parliament,
claims he retains that title since the IG has never formally
deposed him. Beddoes was not consulted about the EBC
appointments and has described the appointment process as
unconstitutional.)

Alleged assassination case -- update
--------------

7. (C) During the holiday period, the dozen people the
military and police detained in October on allegations of an
assassination plot against Bainimarama, Chaudhry, and others,
were released on bail, contrary to the wishes of the IG.
Ballu Khan, an alleged mastermind, was the last to be
formally arrested, on his departure Jan. 8 from a two-month
stay in Suva Private Hospital recuperating from a military
beating. The same evening a magistrate granted him bail. We
hear the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Office has
concluded the assassination-plot evidence produced thus far
is weak. Reportedly, the IG pressed very hard for the DPP to
appeal the bail decisions. Those appeals have now been
filed. In the meantime, the accused have strict bail
conditions and presumably are under surveillance.

People's Charter -- first meeting
--------------

8. (U) The first meeting of the National Council for Building
a Better Fiji for All, the People's Charter process, convened
in Suva on Jan. 16, after several delays as the IG scrambled
to fill seats. Reportedly 13 organizations, out of 35
offered seats, declined to participate, including Qarase's
SDL Party and the Methodist Church. Mick Beddoes took a
seat, despite his many critical statements about the process.
Eight IG Ministers and a number of Fijian Provincial Council
reps are included, along with the head of the Fiji Media
Council (Tarte) and the head of the Citizen's Constitutional
Forum (Yabaki).

Iloilo disappointed at lack of foreign help
--------------

9. (U) President Iloilo opened the meeting, saying he hopes
for a "happier and more prosperous New Year." Iloilo called
for "constructive engagement and trust-based dialogue." He
pleaded for those with reservations to come forward. He said
suggestions that a draft Charter already exists are "far from
the truth." He said he is "extremely disappointed" that none
of Fiji's traditional development partners have offered
financial support for the Charter process. Without such
help, the capacity to move forward will "certainly be
constrained...we are on our own."

Bainimarama pensive; raises "coup culture"
--------------

10. (U) Interim PM Bainimarama delivered a rather thoughtful
address. He described 2007 as "marked by turmoil but also
momentous opportunities." He was disappointed with the
progress made since the coup to respond to past
"self-serving" leadership, "race-based politics," and a lack
of accountability and transparency in governance that
severely hindered progress. Fiji's series of coups,
including 2006, raised "very fundamental questions about
governance, democracy, race relations, and the meaning of our
nationhood." He acknowledged the economy has been in
decline. Fiji has been "regressing" for the past 20 years.
He asked: "where did we go wrong, and why?...Where do we, as
a nation, go from here?"


11. (U) Bainimarama suggested the Charter process can answer
the questions and chart the course. He assured everyone that
"nothing concerning the proposed People's Charter has been
cast in stone" and "the Charter will not replace our
Constitution." He noted that "the initial draft" on the

SUVA 00000013 003 OF 003


Charter proposal "was silent on the...role of Fiji's military
as a key institution in our nation." He suggested a new
working group might be set up to specifically address that
issue. He said, "As the current head of Fiji's Military, I
am very much aware of the concerns regarding what is now
being widely described as the 'coup culture' in Fiji. Fiji
must rid itself of this reputation; and for us to be able to
do this, we must address the fundamental problems and
issues." Thus the People's Charter.

Comment
--------------

12. (C) The Iloilo and Bainimarama speeches presumably were
drafted by the same team. Both speeches acknowledge that
2007 was a difficult year, undoubtedly much more difficult
for the IG than its leaders had anticipated. Iloilo's denial
that a draft Charter exists is interesting, but Bainimarama's
acknowledgment of a draft proposal is the reality.
Bainimarama's questions -- where did we go wrong and why? --
are important. Many would say Fiji's coups are extremely
relevant factors in the answers. Bainimarama has not
accepted that thought in the past. His suggestion that "coup
culture" and the RFMF roles are now fitting subjects for
debate is startling, and suggests that he, at least for the
moment, is seeing the need to accommodate critics of the
People's Charter process. The presence of Beddoes inside the
Charter tent could be useful. He thinks independently, is
articulate, and cultivates the media. If, as many surmise,
the Charter end-game is pre-cooked, Beddoes is positioned to
raise public alarms.
DINGER