FIJI: West threatens split
The claim by the terrorists who have kidnapped Fiji's prime minister and government that their actions are supported by most "indigenous" Melanesian Fijians has been dealt blow by the announcement that Melanesian Fijians in the western provinces of Fiji's main island, Viti Levu, are prepared to form their own government in opposition to the coup plotters.
The west has a long history of support for the Fiji Labour Party (FLP). Dr Timoci Bavadra, the FLP prime minister overthrown by Sitiveni Rabuka in the 1987 military coup, hailed from the west. Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry, who is now being held captive by coup leader George Speight's gangsters, is also from the region. The vice-president in the deposed government, Ratu Josefa Iloilo, is from the village of Veiseisei.
Many in the west — Melanesian Fijians and Indian Fijians — work on the sugar plantations and mills, and in the tourist developments. The area is a stronghold of trade unionism. Many traditional chiefs in the area also back the FLP.
A non-racial protest gathering on June 3 to defend the elected government held in Veiseisei, between Nadi and Lautoka — about 160 kilometres from Suva — attracted around 600 people. The rally was called by Ratu Sairusi Naganigavoka, who is a supporter of Chaudhry. The rally was also endorsed by the Fiji Trades Union Congress (FTUC).
The rally included a prayer meeting that included Methodist (most Melanesian Fijians are Christians), Hindu and Muslim ceremonies. It was attended by Melanesian and Indian Fijians.
According to a June 2 report on Fijilive (), Ratu Sairusi has warned that the west may establish its own government if Speight succeeds in forming a government.
The FTUC leadership met on May 31 and deferred a national stoppage planned for that day until June 5 because most industry, schools and shops were already shut.
Following a meeting with the martial law leader Commodore Bainimarama, FTUC secretary Felix Anthony told Workers Online's Andy Casey, "We put our demands to him that the constitution should be reinstated and that the elected government should be put back into place. To be frank, he wasn't listening. He clearly stated that at this stage only one issue concerned him: how to get the hostages out of the parliamentary complex. That is his first and only priority."
The FTUC issued a statement that accused the military of being complicit in Speight's coup. "The Fiji Trades Union Congress, like all other democratic bodies in the country, cannot give any recognition to the unlawful and illegal interim military government. It will exert all the pressure it can to restore the 1997 constitution and the democratically elected government. Its resolve and determination to achieve both these goals is absolute."
Anthony condemned the Australia Fiji Business Council's call for Australian trade unions to lift bans on postal, airline and shipping services to Fiji. "They are only looking at their business and how they should continue to make money ... We have bigger things at stake here like democracy, the rule of law and the restoration of a democratically elected government", Anthony said.
Meanwhile, the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) in Brussels on June 2 backed the FTUC's call for the restoration of democracy in Fiji. The ICEM executive committee pledged to "mobilise a campaign of international actions" in support of the FTUC's demands for the release of the hostages and a return to democracy.
On June 1, the International Transport Federation of unions called on its affiliated trade unions around the world to monitor maritime and airline links with Fiji and target cargoes bound to and from the island state. The ITF asked affiliates to forward information about any cargo and passenger transport services to the ITF worldwide coordinating body.
The ITF has six affiliates in Fiji. Chaudhry was general secretary of the ITF-affiliated Fiji Public Service Association from 1975 to 1999.
Australian transport unions on May 30 delayed the departure of an Air Pacific flight from Sydney to Nadi for more than two hours, eventually loading passenger luggage but imposing a strict ban on all freight and mail. Maritime workers in Melbourne on May 30 refused to load 50 containers on to the Fiji-bound Columbus Queensland, and workers at other wharves began stockpiling cargo marked for Fiji.
The Direct Kookaburra, due into Australia on June 2, will not be worked by Sydney wharfies, who have voted against loading it with containers for Fiji. The Kapitan Tasman, due in Melbourne on June 5 will face similar bans.
BY NORM DIXON