It may not seem to be a big issue (at least in international circles), however considering Australia's proximity to the country in question, and the fact that the Qarase has already asked for help from Australia (and was rejected), the current situation could theoretically escalate if foreign powers such as Indonesia decide to intervene. In addition, if I recall correctly, Qarase was elected to the position in May and the coup is seen by some as an attack on Fijian democracy. As you know, "Democracy" is one of those cries that is not often ignored, so it will be interesting to see how things play out.

badly?

escalate into what exactly? it's thousands of miles from anywhere! 1630 miles from your big island full of rabbits, 2640 miles from Indonesia - not exactly close neighbours, are they? Or are you just worried that you won't have enough bananas in the shops? (do they grow bananas on Fiji?)

yes I am remarkably ignorant of anything like this that happens in the Pacific Ocean region, largely because it really is so far away and rather unimportant. The recent typhoon and the havoc it's caused is far more important imo. No-one's died in this coup yet, there's been no fighting, it's going to be another non-event like that one in Thailand a while back. All a lot of fuss over nothing.

Perhaps nothing will happen, but as far as I know there has not yet been a direct confrontation between large groups of pro-Government and military forces. If two substantial groups *do* meet, then it seems unlikely that the meeting will be amicable.

As for escalation, you know how modern politics works. Fiji ask for help from country X, country X accepts arrives with troops which upsets country Y that then complains to country X and possibly the UN, the UN support on side over the other but take no action at all (as usual), etc, etc. Granted, such a situation is unlikely considering Fiji's lack of tactical and commercial value, but it is possible considering the fact that Qarase is still around (see alive) and was the democratically-elected leader (i.e. the "good" guy).

I might also mention that this is the fourth coup in 18 years...

see? how many people even knew that? and how many were bothered? I don't recall the other ones being earth shattering news at the time. clearly they like their coups out there, it would appear to be almost as popular as the rugby they play (and they're good at that too.)

Fijians are actually a rather warlike and aggressive people; ignore all that grass skirt and garlands of guava halves malarkey, they enjoy fighting and quite possibly military dictatorships and the iron-fist sit well with them?

Actually, I read that it was four coups in *20* years, not 18. Not bad, eh? Every five years... at least they are consistent .

Bula !
OMG - you ignorants
I have been to Fiji three times what doesn't make me an expert, but I have seen with my proper eyes what is the ethnical background of the conflict: The population if Fiji is about 48 % of Melanesian/Polynesian origin (indigenous), 44 % of Indian origin, 8 % mainly of Chinese origin. Official figures say 54 % Melanesian an 38 & Indian (cf. Demographics of Fiji on wikipedia.org) but this is a political census.
The economy of Fiji could not work without the Indian Workers but the tradition and the laws give priority for melanesian people to ALL better paid or higher valued employments. Wherever there is a "boss" it is a person with Melanesian background. Exceptions only where a Melanesian does not want this job.

Of course this situation causes tensions. And those tensions are the background of all the military coups in the past years. The Fijian Army (see below) knows that there is a certain risk for a civil war which would destroy the way of life of the "friendliest people on earth" (as they like to call themselves). The army chooses the best men as officers that's why they have also high officers of Indian origin. The highest leader of the Fijian army have proven a remarquable high standard of civil values during the last two decades while the civil leaders of the Melanesians concentrated their efforts to secure the privileges for themselves.

From my personal point of view it is absurd: as a pacifist (!) I have to admit that General Bainamarama is taking care of Fiji's democratic future (of course without knowing if this general will keep his line).

Last point about the small Fijian Army: Fijian Soldiers are well trained and of excellent reputation. If ever the UN sends troops for peacekeeping operations they ask Fiji to help. Actually their troops are in Lebanon, Iraq, Timor and on the Sinai (from wiki, not researched).

Oh, and if someone here is travelling to Nadi: my greetings for Rex Kumar, the best Taxi Driver in the world !

Actually, there was a small contingent, I believe less than a couple dozen of Oz soldiers in Fiji because of what had been going on. They'd been detailed there to establish a stabilizing presence.

Unfortunately, things got very violent in Tonga. The Tongan king had, yet again, deemed himself the better arbiter of what was best for Tongans and rejected a renewed bid to hand over greater legislative power to an elected body. Students rioted and burned the town square, etc.

So while the Fijian situation had not been fully quelled, those same handful of Ozzies were redeployed to Tonga, along with an NZ to calm things down as the Tongan police and military were overtaxed.

The issues between Melanesian natives and Indians who were brought in during colonial days to provide reliable labor has been brewing ever since Fiji became a sovereign nation.

The Melanesians are working toward establishing the same kinds of pro-Melanesian legislations that the Malays have done in Malaysia, vis a vis the more prosperous Chinese and Indian minorities in Malaysia.

As long as the Fijian military officer corps is predominantly Indian, clearly coups will continue whenever a threat is perceived that will disrupt the delicate balance of power now in place and which will disadvantage the Indian population.

The unfortunate thing is that, eventually, the Melanesians will resort to more violent means and there may well be an insurrection among the lower military ranks.

What hasn't happened in Fiji, from what I've seen, is an acknowledgment that Melanesians need help to catch up to the Indian community economically and educationally and some form of affirmative aid and support of the Melanesians is justified as well as far more pragmatic and beneficial to Fiji as a whole.

Taw, if you think coups in Fiji aren't that big of a deal, then why are you posting a topic about it in a forum that gets thousands of hits per day...?

i think what we all really want to know is how will this affect Lister's plan to retire there and start a farm with his cat Frankenstein?

J Dawg - cos I'm fed up of hearing about it on the tv and news and wondered if anyone else wondered why it was such a big deal.

zeds - thanks for the info. Always nice when someone has first hand experience.

CV - an excellent point! still he has to marry Komchanski first and so far he's only managed to do that that as an alternate Dave Lister in Ace Rimmer's universe (Ace Rimmer what a guy!)

All- you do know that the big soldier guy is called General Bananarama - one of the reasons why I find the whole thing rather amusing and I can't really take it terribly seriously. Mind you, I couldn't take President-for-Life Robert Ebagum of Rumbabwe seriously either, and look how he turned out He used to be such a nice little man too, with his shiny teeth and smart little suits.

Edited by - Tawakalna on 12/8/2006 11:45:59 AM