Blue Ribbon Campaign (Fiji) - Provincial Councils

Provincial Councils

• The Ba Provincial Council declared its support for the bill on 5 July, following a vote of 23-2 by the chiefs of the province, the nation's largest. This vote followed clarifications from Attorney-General Bale, following reservations expressed by certain Council members on 28 June.

• The Bua Provincial Council announced on 11 July that its chiefs and members had voted unanimously to support the bill, following a special visit from Prime Minister Qarase and a team from the Attorney-General's office, which explained the legislation in detail. Council Chairman Ratu Filimoni Ralogaivau told the Prime Minister that the council fully supported the bill.

• The Cakaudrove Provincial Council endorsed the bill at a special meeting in Yaroi Village in Savusavu on 14 July. The Council Chairman, former Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, declared a personal interest in the matter, as one under investigation for his alleged involvement in the 2000 coup, and declined to chair the meeting, handing over to his deputy, Ratu Sairusi Daugunu.

• The Council of Rotuma declared its support for the bill on 1 July. Council Chairman Injimo Managreve said that forgiveness was a part of the island's culture. Managreve said the seven traditional chiefs from the island had all endorsed the bill, and the seven elected members of the Council had followed suit. "We are being looked after by the Government and the GCC of Fiji and if anything happens to them we will also go down with them. That is why we are standing behind them and supporting them with their new Bill," he said.

• Kadavu Provincial Council Chairman Ratu Josateki Nawalowalo said on 23 June that he supported the bill. He said it was time for Fijians to focus on positives, not negatives, and called on opponents of the legislation to get behind the government and support its initiatives to take the country forward. He also invited Attorney-General Bale to address the council to explain the provisions of the legislation more fully, after which the Provincial Council unanimously endorsed it. On 27 June, he pleaded with military and other opponents of the legislation to give it a chance, as the chiefs, "in their wisdom," had endorsed it. He expressed hope that common sense would prevail.

Meanwhile, Sitiveni Qio, the youth coordinator of the Kadavu Provincial Council, said that teams of soldiers that were travelling throughout the country to explain the Military's opposition to the legislation to rural Fijians, would not be welcome in Kadavu.

• The Macuata Provincial Council announced on 13 July that it was supporting the bill, following a meeting with Prime Minister Qarase.

• The Naitasiri Provincial Council declared its support on 1 July. Council chairman Ratu Solomoni Boserau said that the forgiveness was the only way for the country to move forward. "We need to forgive those who have hurt us and get on with life. We cannot continue to live together with hurt because it only leads to division. The Bill will bring us together and that is why we are supporting it," Boserau said.

• The Ra Provincial Council endorsed the bill on 8 July, saying that it could ease some of the pain, misery, and suffering experienced in 2000. Chairman Simione Naikarua said that some members of the council had opposed it on the basis of a "misconception" about what the bill contained, and he thanked a visiting government team for having given a presentation in the Fijian language. They had been assured, he said, that the bill "would not impinge on the integrity and independence and will not interfere in the work of the judiciary, the Director of Public Prosecutions and the police."

• The Rewa Provincial Council came out in favour of the bill on 15 July. Council Chairperson Ro Teimumu Kepa, who is also a Cabinet Minister in the Qarase government, described the legislation as "a way of bringing the country back to stability." She said that all nine districts of the province had endorsed the bill after its amnesty provisions, which had concerned many of them, had been explained by a team led by Attorney-General Bale.

• The Serua Provincial Council voted to support the legislation on 5 July. Council Chairman Atunaisa Lacabuka said that the bill would promote unity among Fiji's diverse races and would provide a way forward for reconciliation. The council also tied its support for the legislation to native Fijian land rights and cultural values, which Lacabuka said were based on Christian principles. These principles should be taught, he considered, to non-Christians - a reference to the 94 percent of Indo-Fijians who are either Hindu or Muslims.

• The Tailevu Provincial Council declared its support for the bill on 6 July. Council Chairman Josefa Serulagilagi said that they were satisfied with an in-depth explanation from Attorney-General Bale, and took it as "a good and healthy sign that democracy is alive and well."

• At a meeting from which the media were barred, the Lau Provincial Council voted on 25 July to endorse the bill. It was the last of Fiji's fourteen Provinces to vote on the matter, and the vote of support followed similar verdicts from the other thirteen Provincial Councils. The vote was seen as significant, however, as the Lau Islands are the homeland of Prime Minister Qarase and Attorney-General Bale, the chief promoters of the bill, and of the late Prime Minister, President, and Paramount Chief of Lau, Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, whose family is bitterly opposed to it. Nine of the Province's thirteen districts voted in favour of the legislation, with two opposed. One district abstained, and one did not send any representatives to the meeting. Radio Legend News reported that the two districts opposed to the bill were Lomaloma and Lakeba, Mara's home area. His daughter, Senator Adi Koila Nailatikau, was too disappointed to speak to the media following the vote, but later said that the Council members had not adequately understood the ramifications of the bill and how it would undermine the judiciary.

• The Provincial Councils of Lomaiviti, Namosi, and Nadroga-Navosa have also endorsed the bill.