11:05 AM |
Title – 6632 FIJI: Comment: Diplomacy with Fiji - the regime should build bridges
Date – 28 January 2010
Byline – Crosbie Walsh
Origin – Pacific Media Watch
Source – Pacific Scoop 27/1/10
Copyright – PS
Status – Unabridged
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DIPLOMACY WITH FIJI - THE REGIME SHOULD BUILD BRIDGES NOT THREATEN THEM
http://pacific.scoop.co.nz/2010/01/diplomacy-with-fiji-the-regime-should-build-bridges-not-threaten-them/
Opinion - by Crosbie Walsh
HOROWHENUA, NZ (Pacific Scoop/Pacific Media Watch): Having spent 20 minutes on Radio New Zealand in an interview with Bryan Crump this week, arguing a case that the nomination of Lieutenant-Colonel Neumi Leweni – the regime's chief media minder - as Fiji diplomatic counsellor in Wellingon is not provocative, I read that Brigadier Pita Driti said on Radio Tarana that Fiji is "testing" New Zealand's sincerity.
This is provocative. If New Zealand also decides to "test" Fiji's sincerity, the good work of both countries' foreign ministers will have come to nothing.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama has again said the proposed regional trade agreement PACER Plus – advocated by Australia and New Zealand – will not benefit Fiji. He may be right but this is not the time to say it.
His speech in Kadavu was also not helpful, leaving the impression of the military leaning on any future government not toeing the line.
He presumably meant if it departed from the principles of the People's Charter (that few can disagree with, and which will will provide the framework for the new Constitution) but this was not made clear.
Bainimarama spelt out what he intends for Fiji's future:
* Elections will be held in 2014;
* The country will be run by government (and not the Great Council of Chiefs or the Methodist Church), and
* "The military will always be there to see the path taken by the new government is on the same track".
Sinister as this may seem to some, it is similar to other former colonial countries, such as Indonesia, Philippines – and even Singapore, where the path to democracy followed a different route from Western democracies.
Diplomacy is about building bridges, not threatening them when construction has hardly begun. It is also about tact, timing, keeping your eye on the long term goals, and good PR, and being misunderstood only when intended.
I cannot see how Fiji can possibly benefit if New Zealand does not accept Colonel Leweni as Fiji's senior representative in Wellington, good man that he might be.
Driti was right about one thing, though.
He said Jone Baledrokadroka's claim on Radio New Zealand that Leweni, the Permanent Secretary for Information, was to go to Wellington to "spy …is childish."
Dr Crosbie Walsh is emeritus professor of the University of the South Pacific and retired founding director of USP's Development Studies programme. He publishes the independent blog Fiji: The Way it Was, Is and Can Be
* Check out the links on Pacific Scoop www.pacific.scoop.co.nz and other links on http://crosbiew.blogspot.com/
* Comment on this item www.pacific.scoop.co.nz
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