The Independent (NZ): 22 November 2000
FIJI: BUDGET ATTACKED AS ILLEGAL AS FIJI STRUGGLES TO MAKE A BUCK
The Fiji Labour Party, which led the coalition government ousted by coup leader George Speight, has rejected the 2001 Budget on the eve of its delivery as illegal. Deposed Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry says the Fiji economy has been shattered by the coup with tax evasion now rampant.
By DAVID ROBIE in Suva
THE FIJI Labour Party, which led the coalition
government ousted by coup leader George Speight, has rejected the 2001 Budget, due to be delivered today, as illegal.
Deposed Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry said the Fiji
economy had been shattered by the coup. He said tax revenue had fallen
by about $F200 million, with tax evasion now
rampant.
An estimated 18,000 job losses had pushed unemployment to 20 per cent, said Chaudhry.
"Since May 19, all capital projects planned by the elected government
have been shelved, except those ongoing and under contract," he said.
The Labour Party also rejects decrees passed by the military as
unlawful.
Interim Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase. meanwhile, described the budget as
"reasonable", saying it would ease the country's economic
difficulties.
Qarase's position is weaker, however, since Justice Anthony Gates last week delivered a landmark ruling that Fiji's military
installed interim administration is illegal and that the multiracial
1997 constitution is still the Pacific country's supreme law.
He also ruled that 80-year-old Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, who is currently in New Zealand, is the rightful President and should recall
Parliament and form a government of national unity.
The interim administration and political supporters of Speight reject the judgment and claim unelected Qarase is the
rightful caretaker prime minister.
The Gates judgment is in fact the third ruling in recent weeks that has
upheld the 1997 constitution.
Justice Nazhat Shameem ruled in a High Court appeal against a conviction
over the Suva Town Planning Scheme, and Justice Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi
ruled over a dispute between an Indo-Fijian tenant farmer and a Fijian
landowner.
Both judges ruled that the 1997 constitution was still in force.
Acting Police Commissioner Moses Driver admitted on Fiji Television that
Judge Gates had been threatened and police were providing security for
the judge. Driver did not give further details on the
threats.
Driver confirmed police would respect the Gates
judgement at the High Court in Lautoka. But he said the police, like the
military, would also observe the appeal process.
Popular columnist Liu Muri (a nom de plume for publisher Ranjit Singh)
in the state-owned Daily Post blasted Attorney-General Alipate
Qetaki over a spate of extraordinary personal attacks on British-born
Judge Gates and accused him of contempt of court.
"It is not [Qetaki's] duty to criticise the judge's decision or to make
a personal attack, or make adverse comments about the judge," said the
columnist.
"If he considers the decision to be wrong or unfair then the proper
method and accepted procedure is to appeal to the Court of Appeal but
not publicly make adverse comments.
"The Attorney-General is an unelected person, but nevertheless holds a
public office. Hence, he is expected to show the traditional demeanor
and decorum accorded this position."
The Fiji judiciary was stunned by several resignations of judges after
the May coup, including Court of Appeal president Jai Ram Reddy and
Justice Madraiwiwi.
None spoke publicly about their reasons for resigning.
But it is understood that the judges were opposed to the compromise
of the judiciary's independence when the Chief Justice, Sir Timoci
Tuivaga, collaborated with the military in drafting decrees which
purportedly abrogated the 1997 constitution.
Since his resignation, Madraiwiwi, himself a high chief, last week stirred
controversy with a scathing criticism of the chiefly system and said it
was time for Fijians to break the silence.
"People in senior positions like me need to encourage people to speak
out. The time for silence is over," he said.
"There needs to be more debate and Fijians need to express their
opinions more openly so their leaders have a better sense of what they
want and we don't result in a situation where people with the loudest
voices are heard."
Madraiwiwi disagreed with the view that ethnic Fijians had rejected the
1997 constitution. He said the views of ordinary Fijians should be
sought through a referendum because the consensus-mode of provincial
councils did not allow individuals to express themselves.