Dr Robert Wolfgramm is editor-in-chief of the Fiji Daily Postnewspaper. He speaks with DAVID ADAMS about what’s happening in the Pacific island nation, almost two weeks after the military – led by Commodore Frank Bainimarama – ousted the government of Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase…
Dr Robert Wolfgramm is editor-in-chief of the Fiji Daily Post newspaper. He speaks about what’s happening in the Pacific island nation, almost two weeks after the military – led by Commodore Frank Bainimarama – ousted the government of Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase…
How would you describe the situation in Fiji at the moment?
“Tense but calm.”
The text of ‘When Angels Stand Beside Me’, an editorial by Dr Robert Wolfgramm, published in Fiji’s Daily Post on 15th December…
“When angels stand beside me
I do not run
I do not hide
I love too much
the One who died
to save me
“When angels stand beside me
Though lions roar
and dogs attack
His promise holds
He is not slack
to save me
“When angels stand beside me
My voice is clear
My conscience grips
The truth is here
upon my lips:
‘He saves me’
“Don’t let it get you down son
Life will not be denied us
We stand on holy ground
When angels stand beside us.”
What is the feeling among people on the streets?
“Everyone is trying to go about their pre-Christmas business and doing their best to ignore the military coup presence on the streets of the capital Suva. Beyond Suva to the remote towns, villages and islands there is virtually no sense of a coup going on. But Suva is a different story; army checkpoints on all routes in and at major intersections. Soldiers foot patrolling the streets with police. Truckolads of soldiers coming and going to various offices and buildings searching for who-knows-what as part of their self-styled ‘clean-up’ campaign. There is apprehension, distrust and sadness, but, being Fiji, friendliness, hospitality and wary smiles are in there too, it has to be said. We are hanging on to hope.”
What’s been the reaction of the nation’s churches to events of the past couple of weeks?
“All Christians here find the coup worthy of condemnation. The Protestant churches have been especially strong in their vilification of the commander and his troops and urging repentance and a return to democracy. Some specifically want the return of the democratically-elected but deposed government of Laisenia Qarase. The Catholic Church has condemned the coup, but rejects the vilification of those involved and some Catholics express solidarity with the commander’s manifest agenda i.e. to clean up corruption. Hence there is a range of rejections of the coup from total to qualified.”
How does this situation compare with previous periods of political upheaval in Fiji – such as George Speight’s coup in 2000?
“1987 and 2000 were morning-tea coups with interim care-taker cabinets sworn in by afternoon-tea or thereabouts. This 2006 coup was a dinner-time coup and two weeks later, still no sign of an interim caretaker lineup. 1987 and 2000 were May coups – by December/Christmas, things were sufficiently normalised for Fiji to be on the recovery ropes. This present coup is a December/Christmas one – bad timing. In short, as far as coups go, this is a messy, clumsy, ill-conceived operation that looks as if it is being made up as they go along. I mean, what kind of coup takes advertisements out in newspapers for application to fill emptied government?”
You’re a Fijian-born Australian national. Is it true you’ve been told you will be deported to Australia by the army? What reason was given?
“Yes, that was the advice from Colonel Mara after a brief and sharp interrogation. No reason, other than ‘Fiji doesn’t need people like you’.”
Is the media generally facing strong censorship in Fiji at the moment?
“Self-restraint, self-censorship is how I would put it. The military has visited every media outlet with warnings, directives, and urging cooperation to help them. As the officer who came (with four armed soldiers) to our offices put it, ‘we’re trying to set up something here, so it would help if you cooperated with us’.”
What needs to happen in Fiji for the restoration of democracy?
“The military needs to stand down, restore and hand back executive authority to the president (which is possible), restore the fallen government (which is most unlikely) or let the president put in an interim regime (most likely) elections to come. Much, if not all, depends on the Great Council of Chiefs meeting tomorrow and Thursday.”
Does the international community – including Australia – have a role to play here? What should it be?
“Yes, smart sanctions are already in place. No one wants them, but they would seem to be a necessary evil under the circumstances. Urge the military commander to back down, to come to discussions, to come to his senses. Show solidarity with the silent dissenting movement. Pray for Fiji’s chiefs, that they have the courage as well as the wisdom to re-set the military in its place.”
How can Fiji prevent such a situation from happening again?
“Demilitarise. Obliterating coup-culture by means of demilitarisation and other structural reforms has never been addressed by any government; it must be once and for all or coup-cycle will be a fact of life.”
