Bulamans Fidschi-Tagebuch

PS: Natürlich kein richtiges Tagebuch, aber Kommentare und Artikel zu Fidschi, entweder in deutsch oder englisch. Aeltere Einträge sind im Archiv zu finden.

18. Juni 2007

Entdeckte einen sehr interessanten Artikel, welcher von Dr. Brij Lal - einem der 3 "Architekten" von Fidschis gegenwärtiger Verfassung - geschrieben wurde. Er wurde in Grossbritannien veröffentlicht, ich fand ihn hingegen zufällig in der 'Fiji Times'.

War of words ends in coup

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Fiji experienced a range of emotions over the course of a fateful 2006, with the year ending on the unsettled note on which it had begun, says academic and co-architect of the 1997 Constitution, Dr Brij Lal.

In a London journal called The Round Table and obtained by The Fiji Times, Dr Lal said Fiji was caught in a dilemma of its own making, hobbled by tensions, refusing to heed the lessons of its recent past, and reeling from the effects of the December 5 coup.

"A Fijian army confronted a Fijian government, fuelling the indigenous community's worst fears about spilling Fijian blood on Fijian soil," he said.

Dr Lal said this fourth coup sidelined institutions of the indigenous community, the Methodist Church and the Great Council of Chiefs, severing the overarching influence they had exercised on national life.

He said politicians who supported past coups transformed themselves into fearless defenders of democracy because this time they found themselves on the other side of the barrel of a gun.

On the other hand, victims of previous coups like Labour leader Mahendra Chaudhry, accepted ministerial portfolios in a military-appointed interim administration "in the national interest.

Dr Lal said Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama, who initially disclaimed a political role, accepted appointment as interim prime minister while remaining military commander, with the full support of a visibly ailing and curiously ineffectual President, Ratu Josefa Iloilo.

He said in between talks of coup and confrontation, Fiji had its share of drama caused by an intense election campaign in May and the multi-party power-sharing cabinet that promised to take the country towards a new era of multi-ethnic co-operation.

He said the flashpoint between the military and the Government in January 2006 came at the end of a long and troubled relationship.

"A cold' war between the two had begun as early as 2003 when it became clear that Commodore Bainimarama was a no-nonsense personality' who would not toe the Government line.

"An early indication came in 2004 when Commodore Bainimarama single-handedly took on both the President and the Prime Minister and reversed a government order to reduce the sentence for soldiers involved in a mutiny in November 2000," he said.

In May that year, five senior military officers alleged that Bainimarama was plotting to overthrow the Government. In retaliation, the Government quietly and unsuccessfully initiated moves to have Commodore Bainimarama replaced. Dr Lal said the military objected to people close to the Government, some even part of it, variously implicated in the attempted coup of 2000 being released from jail after a brief period under the Compulsory Supervision Order, and others on "dubious" medical grounds.

These included former Vice President, Ratu Jope Seniloli, and ousted Fijian Affairs Minister Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu. The military insisted that the real' players in the 2000 crisis were walking free while the small fry' were being caught in the net.

"Others implicated were safely out of the country on plum diplomatic postings. These included Ratu Inoke Kubuabola posted to Malaysia and later Japan as Fiji's High Commissioner, Isikia Savua, the controversial Police Commissioner in 2000, cleared of misconduct and dereliction of duty in a closed trial headed by the former Chief Justice Sir Timoci Tuivaga was sent to the UN.

Dr Lal said having installed Qarase as the interim Prime Minister after the Speight crisis of 2000, Commodore Bainimarama hoped he would form a lean and corruption-free government but it was not the case.

Dr Lal said revelations of massive scams in the Ministry of Agriculture involving millions of dollars to buy votes in the 2001 general election under the guise of pro-Fijian affirmative action policies, hardened Commodore Bainimarama's opposition against the Government.

"Bainimarama fingered Attorney-General Qoriniasi Bale and raised questions on his competence and integrity."

Mr Qarase defended his government from the "untruthful allegations".

Dr Lal said the military's condemnation of the government crystallised around two controversial bills including the Promotion of Reconciliation, Tolerance and Unity Bill.

"The provision that inflamed not only the military's but civil society's vehement opposition to the Bill concerned the granting of amnesty to persons who made full disclosures of all facts relevant to acts associated with a political, as opposed to purely criminal, objective during the crisis. Rightly or wrongly, the amnesty provision came to be viewed as a device to pardon coup perpetrators.

"The hasty release from jail of those convicted of coup-related crimes increased the public's suspicion about the Government's real, unstated, intentions.

"It was argued that the Bill's amnesty provision was in fact intended to circumvent the country's generally robust judiciary, whose proper role it was to adjudicate matters of such importance.

"How could there be reconciliation without justice, many asked?"

Dr Lal said faced with sustained vocal pressure from a wide cross-section of the community, the Government withdrew the Bill, promising to take account of the concerns that had been raised.

Ultimately the Government decided to drop the amnesty provision. By dropping the provision after months of insisting that it would not be removed or amended under any circumstances, Qarase caught the nation by surprise and briefly reclaimed some of the ground he had lost to Commodore Bainimarama.

"Expedient or genuine, the concession came too late. By then, the military had already decided to overthrow the Government," said Dr Lal.

But the question was asked: "If the much-criticised amnesty provision was dropped, what remained of Bainimarama's objection?

"Self-preservation was said to be the answer. If the Reconciliation Commission, which the Bill proposed to set up, was established, the Commodore's violent suppression of an army mutiny in November 2000, which nearly claimed his life and resulted in the brutal death of rebel soldiers would be scrutinised. Many in Fiji believe that Bainimarama is haunted' by the mutiny — indiscipline and insubordination in the ranks of the military, its violent quelling, attempt on the Commodore's life and read his subsequent behaviour in the light of that fact.

"Questions would be asked about the commodore's role as then head of the Military Government, in the dismissal of the President, Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara in 2000," said Dr Lal.

The other piece of legislation that the military opposed was the Qoliqoli Bill (2005) designed to transfer all proprietary rights to and interests in qoliqoli areas within Fiji fisheries waters to owners.

"Many qoliqoli boundaries are uncharted or unregistered and the critics, including the military, felt that the Bill would accentuate conflict among Fijians when registration started."

Dr Lal said the Government, which went to the elections promising to introduce the Bill in parliament if it was returned to power, claimed that it had majority Fijian support for the Bill. The upshot of the public debate on these two controversial bills was to secure wide opposition support for Commodore Bainimarama."

16. Juni 2007

Natürlich habe ich mich sehr gewundert, dass die Interim-Regierung in Fidschi den Hochkommissar von Neuseeland als 'persona-non-grata' erklärt hat und ihm bis Montag Zeit gegeben hat, das Land zu verlassen. Er habe sich zu stark in die inneren Angelegenheiten Fidschis eingemischt, wurde verlautet.

Das kann sein, mag sein und vielleicht ist es ja auch wahr. Wahrscheinlicher ist es aber, dass sich damit Fidschi wieder einen Bärendienst erwiesen hat. Denn die internationale - die nationale sowieso - Gemeinschaft und Presse wird das Land einmal mehr mit berechtigter und unberechtigter Kritik überhäufen.

Es bleibt also die Frage, warum kein guter PR-Mann (warum nicht Ken Rowe anfragen?) die Regierung in Sachen Diplomatie und internationaler Oeffentlichkeitsarbeit berät.

Denn wie es Mick Beddoes, der Oppositionsführer, ausdrückt: im Endeffekt werden durch diese traurige Geschichte wieder die kleinen Leute.

***

Fijilive zeigt heute einen weiteren Artikel über die IT-Saga bei NLTB. Demnach wird geprüft, ob mySAP nicht zu komplex für eine kleine Organisation wie NLTB ist.

Ueberrascht hat mich jedoch, dass auch mein früherer Arbeitgeber, Vinod Patel Limited, keine SAP-Software mehr verwende. Dabei habe ich von Dave S. noch vor einem Jahr gehört, wie Bachubhai Patel - der "Mann" bei VINCO - bei einer Cocktailparty eben gerade diese Software gerühmt hat. Und wie viele Millionen F$ die Firma darin zu investieren gedenke. Muss mal meinen alten Kollegen Daksesh P. fragen, ob sie wieder SBT Pro verwenden.

Hier noch der Artikel:

NLTB to decide on mySAP system

Saturday June 16, 2007

Fiji's Native Land Trust Board is expected to make a decision on whether to continue using the mySAP IT system by the end of this month.

Interim Minister for Fijian Affairs, Ratu Epeli Ganilau confirmed that the board will be meeting in two weeks time to decide whether the IT system is suitable for a small company like NLTB.

"The system is too complicated and we don't have experts in Fiji to operate such system which is why the company cannot afford such a sophisticated system," he said.

He said a lot of bigger companies like Vinod Patel Limited are not using the mySAP system anymore because of its complexity.

"We are just too small for a company (NLTB) to be using the system because it will only cost us a lot of money in maintaining it," Ratu Epeli said.

"For instance if the system goes down, we don't have the experts locally to fix the problem so we have to refer to overseas countries like India for assistance."

He said three years back they had to bring in four Indian IT experts to fix a major breakdown at NLTB.

"The damages caused us a lot of money so we have to do something to see that we can see that this is not repeated in future."

Ratu Epeli also confirmed that NLTB's General Manager Kalivati Bakani and IT manager, Mojito Mua were sacked over allegations of misconduct.

He said that it was a unanimous decision by the board.

"There was no two ways about it because the evidence was there."

5. Juni 2007

Es ist viel passiert in Fidschi, aber ich habe einfach nicht (mehr) die Zeit, das Geschehene zu kommentieren. Aber heute muss ich mich mal wieder in die Tasten hauen. Denn die mexikanische Regierung hat vor einem Jahr eine starke Protestnote an die Schweizer Regierung gesandt. Grund war ein Verbotskleber in der VBZ (Verkehrsbetriebe Zürich), welche ein Piktogramm mit einem Mann mit mexikanischem Sobrero zeigte. Dabei wurde indirekt suggeriert, dass Mexikaner mit Guitarren im Tram um Spenden betteln. Die Einsprache der Mexikaner war erfolgreich - der Kleber wurde in allen Trams und Bussen entfernt.

Ein "Fidschi" ist im deutschen Raum - vor allem in Deutschland selbst - zu einem Schimpfwort geworden. Damit werden Asiaten benannt. Wahrscheinlich weiss keiner dieser Kerle und Girls, welches dieses Wort benutzen, wo überhaupt Fidschi auf der Landkarte zu finden ist.

Kopiere hier den englischen Artikel darüber aus dem "Spiegel" rein:

Severe Anti-Semitism Hits Youth Football in Germany

By Heike Baldauf

They were two teams of 14-year-olds. But that didn't seem to matter. Right-wing fans rained anti-Semitic and racist insults down on a youth-league game in Eastern Germany last month. Police are investigating, but it's far from an isolated incident.

The Ascension Day holiday was to be a big day for the football community in Wurzen, a small town of 15,000 near Leipzig in former Communist-ruled East Germany. The local junior league had a match scheduled with a team from the industrial city of Chemnitz, formerly known as Karl-Marx-Stadt and located near the Czech border.

A number of fans had found their way to the stadium and by the time the whistle blew for kick-off, they were in high spirits, swilling beer and chanting supporters' songs. The usual horde of young neo-Nazi skinheads and xenophobes were in the stands, looking for trouble.

Then the taunts began. The fans struck up a welcoming chorus for the visiting junior soccer team: "We'll build a subway from Chemnitz to Auschwitz..." You "Fiji pigs," they yelled at two 14-year-olds who were subbed in. You "foreigner pigs!" They made monkey noises every time they touched the ball. They also targeted the 14-year-old goalkeeper from the visiting team: "Jewish pig, go fuck your Jewish mother," they yelled.

'They're Making Us Look Like Such Monsters'

The crowd didn't just target the visitors. A linesman flagged an offside call, earning him a torrent of abuse including: "Get it right, Jew, or we'll come and pull your foreskin off."

Despite a number of attempts by the referees to get the crowd under control, the insults continued.

The kids from Chemnitz were not to be put off their game, eventually winning 2-0. But referee Christine Weigelt was not going to let matters rest there. From notes made during the game, she compiled a report on the anti-Semitic and racist abuse and handed it to district police chief Bernd Merbitz.

Her deputy referee Henry Lickfeldt added his protest. But some sport functionaries sided with the rabble, branding Weigelt and other accusers as liars tarnishing Wurzen's reputation. Sports Association President Heiko Wandel said Weigelt had lost control of the match: "They're making us look like monsters," he said. "We've got Vietnamese and Russians among our players. They should stop putting on such a show."

Many of the insults also came from the players on the field. Indeed, one player from the Wurzen team was barred from playing while the league looked into accusations that he had racially assaulted a Chemnitz player with a Vietnamese background. Wandel was not impressed. "That is going too far," he said. "I'll cover for him. He promised me that he didn't say anything. One is allowed to insult the Germans, but as soon as a Vietnamese is insulted, it is exaggerated."

The Vietnamese boy in question, son of a communist-era immigrant family, was given a red card just as the game was ending for shoving the player he accuses of having insulted him. "I would like too apologize for doing that," the boy said later. "But I won't put up with remarks like that." On the other side of the ball, a father of one of the Wurzel players apologized to the Chemnitz team for the insults.

But how could such a thing happen, and that at a children's league game? That is exactly the question that Harald Sather, chairman of the Committee of Referees in the state of Saxony is asking. "We have to get to the bottom of all this," he said. "Abuse is going too far. Foreign players deserve respect. How could this happen at a juniors' game?"

For Germany's amateur sports world, the involvement of 12- to-14-year-old kids in incidents during the game at Wurzen is a worrying new trend, while abuse by far-right fans at soccer fixtures in East Germany is a fact of life. After major disturbances in amateur football in Saxony last February, 60 matches were cancelled on a single day as a punishment.

Police have promised to press charges. But Germany's Federation of Active Soccer Fans claims no police action would have been taken had referee assistant Lickfeldt not taken the initiative to call the police. Indeed, after the game, Lickfeldt says that the referee supervisor from Wurzen said he had seen nothing out of the ordinary and warned the referees against filing a report. He also says that the Wurzen trainer told him: "If you write something, then play it down. The German Football Association has their eyes out for such things."

Martin Endemann from the fans' association says that is what normally happens. "Referees often look the other way in such situations in order not to have any trouble. We have seen this again and again over the years." His group, based in Hanau in Western Germany, is running a campaign against intolerance and xenophobia in the country's football stands.

Wurzen -- which has 1,700 unemployed among its 15,000 residents and is famed for a cookie factory, the poet Joachim Ringelnatz and a mail-order firm specializing in far-right music and clothes -- was put on the map by its neo-Nazis and anti-Semites after communism collapsed in 1989. Skinheads and hard-right thugs chased Portuguese workers through the streets and attacked a hostel for asylum-seekers in the 1990s.

Wurzen's mayor Jürgen Schmidt, a member of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic party (CDU), is keeping silent about the Ascension Day soccer match. He happens to be vice-president of the Wurzen club and shares a council administration table with local functionaries of the far-right NPD party.