Fiji's military leader would win fair elections : Kaieteur News

Dear Editor,
This has relevance to Sir Ronald Sanders?s commentary (KN Feb 3) on ?who is standing up for the people of Fiji? in which he called for sanctions of the military regime and its expulsion from the Commonwealth of Nations.? I am not sure that is the way to go.? But I am surprised that the Fijian ruler, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, has rejected the constitution prepared by the independent Constitutional Commission because it was a respected body comprising of eminent individuals.
The work of the Commission was funded by the Commonwealth and the European Union.
I was in Fiji last August speaking at the universities (FNU and USP) on Caribbean politics and educational issues and did some comparisons and contrasts with Guyanese society.
Fiji?s constitution and model of governance was also raised in my lectures and my views were requested on the work of the Fiji constitutional commission and what kind of constitution it should have ? democracy and equity of representation for the ethnic groups in governance and allocation of resources was my position.
I also met with several members of the constitutional commission including Prof. Yash Ghai with whom I had breakfast at his invitation at his home in Suva, the capital. We exchanged views on constitutional matters for countries like Guyana and Fiji and also discussed Guyana?s politics; Prof Ghai was a guest of civil society of Guyana a few years back giving a talk imploring the political forces to find a solution to the ethnic conflict bedeviling Guyana and negatively impacting on its development.
The Fiji Constitutional Commission traveled all over the islands obtaining views of people on the kind of constitution they should have.? Prof. Ghai assured to produce a constitution that would reflect the view of the population that would strengthen democracy and reduce ethnicity in politics ? which was one of the goals stated by Commodore Bainimarama when he appointed the commission.
I traveled all over the main island and a few smaller islands querying the views of the population on the work of the commission on Commodore Bainimarama?s approval rating.
The people I interacted with overwhelmingly supported Commodore Bainimarama as ruler of Fiji and also approved of the work of the commission. They were confident the Commission would produce a constitution reflective of the views of the population and that would strengthen democracy.
Also, the people pinned their hopes and faith on Prime Minister Bainimarama restoring democratic (free and fair elections) rule.
They had no doubts in their mind that after the constitution is put in place and elections held, Bainmarama would win a huge majority giving him legitimacy to continue his good work to crack down on corruption and ethnic politicking.
I visited Fiji several times and spoke at the university and conducted informal opinion polls. Of all the Fijian leaders I know, Bainmarama received the highest approval rating. Before I left Fiji in late August, I spoke with several opposition politicians and academics and told them that Bainimaram will be the next democratically elected leader of Fiji.
They agreed that he has done some positive things for Fiji like ending the physical attacks on Indians, cracking down on the crime spree, reducing corruption, prosecuting crooked politicians of both main ethnic groups and giving the stability that has allowed for investment and tourist confidence.
An increasing number of people are moving away from ethnic voting and backing Bainimarama. In fact, more Indians back him than his own ethnic party because of the reduction in discrimination against Indians.
I don?t know why the new draft constitution was rejected.? Commodore Bainmarama has nothing to worry about winning an election unless the constitution allows for continued ethnic dominance of one group as previous constitutions when the British non-ethnic constitution was toppled.
Vishnu Bisram

Source: http://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2013/02/06/fijis-military-leader-would-win-fair-elections/

breeders cup Mitch Lucker Red Cross CMA Awards 2012 election day Electoral College map nyc marathon