“The real question is whether Fiji could handle a genuine democracy with a free press, or if the country needs an ultra-authoritarian strongman like Bainimarama to keep control. … …Calls for an end to the “coup culture” that has bedeviled the country have perhaps been answered with a militarisation which has seen an elected government laced with army officers. Combined with restrictive decrees which amount to almost as much government control as during martial law, the result is perhaps a permanent state of coup which will indeed preclude future coups” (Marc Edge: “A permanent solution to the coup culture in Fiji?” 27/09/2014. http://discombobulatedbubu.blogspot.com/).
Given some positive messages we have been receiving lately about the course of political developments in Fiji – one even suggesting that we should use it as a model (“The Bainimarama model should be given some thought for Guyana” SN, 11/10/2014) – the above assessment appears overly pessimistic. Thus, it is in our interest to understand what is happening in Fiji.
As suggested in Edge’s opening sentence, like Guyana, Fiji is characterized as a bi-communal society in which it is difficult to establish democracy. Indeed, two ways of maintaining order are common to this condition: the creation of political dominance by some group, or the sharing of political authority. As the Guyanese experience easily demonstrates,
