Fiji’s democracy 2022, a complex situation

It was within this climate that the 2006 coup occurred, led by Bainimarama (then head of the military forces and now prime minister) who believed “this country is going to go to the dogs” with further inaction.

As of 2010, while Australia and New Zealand urged the restoration of democracy, Bainimarama expelled Australia’s Acting High Commissioner in retaliation for alleged Australian sabotage of a Melanesian countries’ meeting in Fiji, and organised an 'Engaging the Pacific' meeting with ten island countries supporting Bainimarama at a time when some island leaders had their own runs-ins with Australia and New Zealand.

At a time of sanctions and diplomatic isolation, Fiji continued to enjoy ties with countries like India, Korea and China with the latter providing increasing aid leading Bainimarama to laud China as a “true friend”.

Yet, while Bainimarama stated after the 2006 coup that he acted to remove a “corrupt, racist” government in order to rebuild “a non-racial, culturally vibrant, truly democratic nation”, this remains a difficult task given the immense cultural and economic differences.

A 2016 study, comparing intermarriage in the US and Fiji, found that Fijian culture placed “a huge emphasis on the ability to belong to a social group and making almost all of one’s social connections through that group”, and that an indigenous‐Indo‐Fijian marriage leads to greater strain through disapproval by family and friends to a greater extent given language and religious differences.

immense cultural differences remain given that most indigenous Fijians (iTaukei) speak Fijian as their first or second language along with English and are Christian, while most Indo-Fijians speak Fijian Hindi with around 76 per cent of Indo-Fijians being Hindu, 16 per cent Muslim, and around 6 per cent Christian.

Hence, the 2016 study also notes generalisations that have emerged from such cultural and economic division which includes ethnic Indians being portrayed as hard working with many overcoming their hard lives in the fields, while indigenous Fijians can be perceived as lazy who enjoy an easy life, want the goods that Indians produced, do not know how to spend or save, and revert to theft when without cash.

Yet, indigenous Fijians have a totally different culture, with most giving their money to their extended families in line with the importance of kin relationships within Fijian culture.

While it has been estimated that the poverty rate had improved to 28 per cent in 2017, potential turmoil again emerged in the immediate months before Fiji again reopened its borders to tourism in September 2021 after the long shutdown due to the COVID-19 outbreak. 

During June 2021, at a time when the COVID-19 outbreak had shrunk Fiji’s economy by 19 per cent, many Fijians were angered by stay-at-home orders and wanted more government support, with tensions also evident in the villages as unemployed workers wanted to plant cassava but did not have any land.  

During July 2021, dissent also emerged after a government bill was introduced to amend the iTaukei Land Trust Act which prohibits the sub-lease or raising of mortgages on leased land without the consent of its board at a time when 87 per cent of the land in Fiji remained owned by Indigenous people.

With the proposed amendment to remove the requirement to obtain the board’s consent and prevent land owners from going to court to dispute land use, Bainimarama (chair of the board) indicated that the bill would remove bureaucratic obstacles to minor activities such as arranging electricity or water supply as the board takes too long to provide consent which constrains economic development.