Fiji Labour Party likely to survive - academic
An academic says the Fiji Labour Party is likely to survive after the conviction of its leader, Mahendra Chaudhry, but will have to take a new form.
Transcript
An academic says the Fiji Labour Party is likely to survive after the conviction of its leader, Mahendra Chaudhry, but will have to take a new form.
The Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal by Chaudhry, blocking his ability to contest the election next month.
Chaudhry was convicted in April of breaching the Foreign Exchange Act.
A Fiji academic at the Australian National University, Brij Lal, says Chaudhry's trial appears to have been timed in a way to hobble opposition to the regime before the election.
Dr Lal told Mary Baines that while it may be the end of Chaudhry's parliamentary career, he will still have influence in the Labour Party.
BRIJ LAL: He's a very skilled politician and he will continue to exercise influence on the party from outside. But the Fiji Labour Party is not today what it was in the past, for a variety of reasons. The conviction of Mr Chaudhry itself is a major factor. He is disabled in terms of his political participation in this election, also a number of the founding members of the Fiji Labour Party have now deserted to form their own political party, the People's Democratic Party. The urban poor in the mushrooming squatter settlements seem to me to be heading in the direction of the Fiji First, that is Mr Bainimarama's party, so I think this is not the best moment that the Labour Party has enjoyed in its life.
MARY BAINES: With the conviction and these other points you have raised, will the Labour Party survive?
BJ: Well I think the Labour Party will survive, but not in its present form. Mr Chaudhry has been the heart and soul of the Fiji Labour Party since its inception founding in 1985. He won the 1999 elections, was Prime Minister for a year. So the identity of the Labour Party has been tied with the name of Mahendra Chaudhry. But now that he is effectively no longer in the political arena at least as far as elections are concerned, and as parliament is concerned, that is a matter that will affect the Labour Party in the future. Of that there is no doubt.
MB: The case against him has been around for three or four years now, but obviously the election is just in a few weeks and the conviction comes just before that. Is this just good timing for Frank Bainimarama?
BJ: No, it is not for Mr Chaudhry! I think there is a perception whether it is fair or not that the whole thing was timed in a way to hobble opposition to the government in power at the moment and that includes Mr Qarase, the former Prime Minister, leader of the SDL, and Mr Chaudhry, who are seen as prominent opponents and critics of the regime. So there's sense in many people's minds that the timing of this whole exercise had a political dimension to it.
MB: The two potentially most threatening opponents of the regime are now out of action, Chaudhry and Qarase. But Frank Bainimarama, who overthrew a democratically elected government seems to be carried on unscathed. Do you think the people of Fiji are concerned about that?
BJ: I think the government is using its incumbency. It is still passing decrees and so on even after the election was called. They will be in effective control of the government until the eve of the election. So I think using the public purse for political purposes is blatant, it's all there for everyone to see. The advantages of incumbency. But I think a lot of people, I suppose in the last eight years or so, there has been no political activity in Fiji and all they have known is Bainimarama and the regime. They have very clearly targeted the poorest sections of the community and it is a bread and butter issue.
MB: Do you think Frank Bainimarama will ever be held to account for overthrowing the government in 2006?
BJ: Well I think he has tried every trick in the book to escape punishment. I mean you have in the 2013 Constitution, they have given themselves complete immunity. I don't think he envisages facing the courts for his actions. He is certainly convinced he is going to win all 50 seats in parliament. Now how he can predict that, and he is quite adamant about that, when it is a very complicated process of voting and nothing is certain, is a mystery to me. So I think the chances are he will not face prosecution because of the way things are in Fiji. And given the fact, very important, the role of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces is given the guardian role of the Constitution. In other words, parliament can do whatever it wants but the ultimate say rests with the military. And I think that in this case, birds of a feather flock together. They are all in it together, and if the immunity provisions go, then everyone who was involved in the coup will be culpable.
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