Yellow Ribbon Campaign (Fiji) - Other Politicians and Chiefs

Other Politicians and Chiefs

• National Federation Party (NFP) President Dorsami Naidu spoke out against the bill on 14 May, saying that what happened in the 2000 coup was "an act of terrorism", and that he could not see why persons implicated in it should be considered for amnesty. On 20 May, he called for public demonstrations to oppose the bill, which he said was "just a cover for providing amnesty to people who committed the May 2000 coup crime acts." The NFP has disagreed with the Fiji Labour Party (FLP) over tactics for opposing the legislation, with its General Secretary Pramod Rae saying on 6 June that the FLP decision to boycott parliamentary committees was "a cowardly act" that would "effectively render the Indo-Fijian community voiceless." It would be better, he said, to work to change the viewpoints of government legislators by scrutinizing public submissions on the bill in the parliamentary committees.

• Fijian Political Party Secretary Ema Druavesi accused the government (18 May) of harbouring ulterior motives in promoting the bill. The real purpose was to retain the loyalty of the Conservative Alliance (CAMV), whose six votes are crucial to maintaining the government's parliamentary majority. Many members of the CAMV have been implicated in the coup.

• Ratu Aisea Katonivere, the Paramount Chief of Macuata Province, announced on 2 June that he was withdrawing his previous support for the bill after Attorney General Bale clarified that amnesty was, indeed, provided for in the legislation. "I do not support its amnesty provisions," Katonivere said. "The majority of our sons who were convicted have accepted, suffered and served sentences for their deeds. People should learn to respect the law and abide by it, and face the consequences. Only then will they learn from their mistakes ... To suspend or hinder the process of law by the judiciary will not be championed by me."

• Senator James Ah Koy announced his opposition to the legislation on 28 June, in defiance of the Kadavu Provincial Council, labelling it a "diabolically conceived bill with its origins in hell." Ah Koy acknowledged that his defiance of the Provincial Council's decision to support the bill might cost him his seat in the Senate, but said that he would not shrink from standing for truth as he saw it. "This Bill is anti-Bible and every Christian should vote against it if they are true to the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Israel," he said. He criticized Ratu Nawalowalo and the Provincial Council for supporting the bill without consulting the tribes and villages of the province. He charged that the government's real motive in promoting the bill was to save the skins of some of its members who were being pursued by the police.

• Adi Ema Tagicakibau, a Cabinet Minister in the deposed People's Coalition government and now a spokesperson for the Pacific Concerns Resource Centre, said on 31 July the Great Council of Chiefs had missed a great opportunity to show true leadership when it decided on 27 July to endorse the bill. "We are naturally disappointed as we had hoped in our submission to make the chiefs see the self-serving interests behind this Bill, that had nothing at all to do with genuine reconciliation for the nation," she said. She said that opponents of the bill needed to continue to educate the public as to its true purpose, and to vote their conscience in the upcoming election, due in 2006.