Thursday, July 9, 2009

The Way back from the Brink

Ni sa bula.

It's been a patchy few years for me as a blogger. From the few of us who started out in the beginning, only an handful are still plugging away, with Intelligentsyia and Disc. Bubu being at the forefront of this group. I take my hat off to these people, as they have not stopped in their efforts.

However, the reason behind my rather "inadequate" postings has been a search for a way out. I hit the "wall" about 2 years back, when I started to realize that we, as a country are stuck in a rut. This is what I mean.

Imagine if we actually have democratic elections. 2014, I believe, was the date last given by the "roadmap", not that those of us with our wits still intact take that with any seriousness. Why?

  • Because we have valid reasons to seriously doubt the sincerity of Bainimarama's latest decision.
  • Because he has done this in the past and changed set dates as and when it suited him.
Now, I don't know about you, but this is a major inconvience for me. I mean, come on, I'm trying to get on with my life here, plan for the future of the family, the tokatoka/mataqali/yavusa etc etc and this guy, on a monumental matter of this nature, cannot make up his mind. How can any turaga, marama, bhaiya, bhaini, man or woman plan their lives around this?

This brings something to the fore, something that should be front and centre, but has been allowed to slip into the background, as we "ooh" and "aah" and throuw our collective oileis into the air whilst pouring over the latest news, the lack of cement, the circus at FHL, the dwindling Governmental assets, the laying off of staff etc etc. While all of these things are important, they are mere symptoms of the cause.

If said elections are held, what guarantee does anyone (let alone the poor sods elected into Government) have that this regime will allow them to govern as they see fit, with the real mandate of the people (versus the "mandate of one" that this regime uses as justification of it's actions)? How do we know that they won't take over government again using our "interests" as a thin, sham of a lie excuse for doing so? After all, since 2000, Bainimarama and the military has always been in the background, hovering, exerting a disproportional amount of influence over the government and the country as a whole.

I have thought long and hard about this, and while I'd prefer another way, I think there is no other.

This regime, and the military that backs it has to go. It must be removed, and destroyed. It is a cancer in the affairs of our nation, a tumor that sucks up the "blood" of this country, and does nothing for us in return. We see career civil servants being laid off unceremoniously, after years of experience, and investments made in the way of training, further education etc etc. Trade opportunities are being denied to us. Doors for aid, assistance, travel are being closed. We are payiing a price that is way too heavy for us to bear, collectively and individually.

We must dismantle the RFMF. While it will leave us with 3000-odd unemployed people, it is far better than having a nation of beggars. Do not be deceived, that is exactly where we are heading right now, and this regime is steering us there, with the ineptitude and collective idiocy.

We do not need a strong army to protect us. We need strong citizens, people who will stand up and defend this nation. And this is where we start.

If you read this post, tell your trusted ones that this is the way to go, the path to our salvation as a nation. We need to convince the people of Fiji that this regime must be toppled at all costs.

In the Gospel of Luke, the Christ said: "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish." This is exactly what we must do. You need to sit and consider the cost to you, if you decide to take this path.

What will you do if it comes to bloodshed? Are you willing to lay your life down? What if it costs you your job? You livelihood? Your family? Your current way of life? These are things you, and I must consider if we want to have this freedom that we all yearn for, that we all cry for.

Consider also, the cost of doing nothing. Look around you and see what it has brought us. Lower GDP, lower tourist numbers, more inflation, shortage of goods (milk, butter, cement etc) brain drain, restrictions of speech, movement, on opinions itself, a very bad future for our children.......

Some of you will favor limiting their influence. That is akin to taking one step away from the edge of the cliff we are about to jump off as a nation. If we are to do this, we must remove this cancer altogether, so that we can heal and live free from this evil. If not, they will come back to haunt us again in the future.

Now if you decide that doing something is the lesser of two evils, compared to doing nothing, you must help me convince our fellow citizens that we must do something, and that we must remove this regime, by force if required. Tell your friends that the army must go. It needs to be dismantled. Their weapons have to be destroyed. Their influence on our lives must be nulified. Convince them that we need to rise up against these tyrants, and stop them. We need to do this collectively, if we are to be effective, because this is a collective problem, and only collectively, we can suceed. If this is attempted by individuals, we will fail, we will fall, and our doom, that that of our children and their children will be on our heads.

Spread the word.....no more military in Fiji.



5 comments:

Anonymous said...

One thing at a time!

First get rid of Frank!

Then review the Constitution legally, and try to plug whatever holes we believe are there. At the same time, start the process of winding down the military.

Good Men (and women) Doing Something.... said...

That won't work, IMO. If you remove Frank, someone else from the Military will step into his place. There might be some infighting about who gets the position, but the last man standing will then walk over the corpses of his fellow antagonists and continue this injustice perpetrated upon Fiji.

Also, your response begs the question....

How do you tell 3000 men with guns to give them up?

Luvei Viti (Children of Fiji) said...

Great posting & have added yr post to our blog.
Vin'aa!!

Tim said...

As I've commented a few times before, IF Frank actually gave a stuff about members of the RFMF, he'd have been providing them with a decent education, training in trades, and getting them involved in fixing Fiji's ailing infrastructure (like the problem with water and roads). That may even have earned him some brownie points amongst the population.
But NO......he'd rather have his snout in the trough and use any oversized and overspent budget the military has had to prop up his own ego. Weapons and uniforms. Not very smart really. And despite all his bleating about how mean the neighbours are, noone can provide a good excuse as to why they would want to provide aid to a lying, scheming, self-obsessed and cowardly little despot - they'd rather assist struggling Fijians.
The outcome is inevitable - Frank's course is just like the drug addled P Freak - self-destructive and something that will eventually cause his own demise. The longer it goes on of course, the greater the calls will be for retribution but if he and the Military Council saw some sense and took time to consider the options, they'd see a better course in returning to legitimate rule perhaps with what Tui Savu has suggested - a pardon rather than amnesty.

Anonymous said...

The view to dismantel the military or abolish the institution ltogether has been revisited by numerous individuals as a solution for the "coup culture" we are establishing as our own in Fiji.

There was a defence white paper that was to be for the Military's downsize that was supposed to be utlised by the Qarase government, the delay might have to be explained by the SDL party, because it could be a contributing factor to the 2006 coup in some way.

My solution for the this problem is to use the "death penalty' and show anyone with devious plans that the gallows await treason, as is the penalty of the crime.

One might say that being a Christian state, this penalty should be abolished and replaced with some other form of lighter sentence, we did that, Speight is in jail and Bainimarama went ahead and did the unthinkable again.

I remeber what he said after he arrested Speight, he said "Out of tradegy must come a dream"

A dream sure did come, it wsas his own, to takeover the leadership of the government and get as much out of it,as he could not get that (dream) in his entire Naval career.

I am quite sure if Speight had gone to the gallows, Voreqe would not have risked his life in this venture, he is not the type of person to do that as proven in the 2000 mutiny in which a couple of dozen soldiers tookover an entire Military camp. He did not risk his life for the sake of his soldiers and Camp.

Bring back the death penalty, have an election and then downsize the military, there are useful arms of our military that can be used in rural development.

When the death penalty is back in place, wacth closely, you will see that staging a coup is the last thing a soldier would want to try.

Of you say my thinking is un-Christian, I say watching the people of our Nation treated like dogs is even worse.

Suliasi Daunitutu