<
https://theconversation.com/as-fiji-prepares-to-vote-democracy-could-already-be-the-loser-195555>
"When Fijians elect a new parliament on December 14, it’s likely their votes
will be counted fairly – yet the country will remain a conditional and fragile
democracy.
This will be the third election since the “coup to end all coups” in 2006,
which followed two earlier coups in 1987 and a civilian overthrow of the
elected government in 2000.
After the 2006 coup, Fijian military head Frank Bainimarama appointed himself
prime minister. In 2013 he rejected a new constitution commissioned to support
a democratic state. Instead, he promulgated his own. Section 131(2) of the
Constitution of the Republic of Fiji states:
It shall be the overall responsibility of the Republic of Fiji Military
Forces to ensure at all times the security, defence and wellbeing of Fiji
and all Fijians.
In other words, overall responsibility for the wellbeing of Fiji and its people
does not belong to the government or parliament. The military interprets this
as meaning it is “mandated to be the guardian of Fiji”.
Democracy’s fragility is entrenched. Furthermore, Fiji’s unicameral parliament
is not big enough to support robust parliamentary checks on government, even
though it will grow from 51 to 55 members at this year’s election."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
