ey presto! See what Fiji's

new team has done

From a Suva correspondent If Dame Rumour has reformed and is now anything but lying jade, Fiji will about June 26 take another step along e broad road which leads to whatever form of independence le colony finally decides on.

E Legislative Council, which opens a meeting on that date, be told that the Ministerial m will be introduced in Sep er and the portfolios, which are led “Member” for this or that, change their labels to “Minister”, tis was forecast by Governor Derek Jakeway a few months so that it won’t take anyone by *ise, least of all the members, r all, it will be nothing but a inological change, it there are reports, unconfirmed, the Ministerial system will fide with changes in the Judi •e, and that there will be a Chief Justice, and also a direc -3f Public Prosecutions, who will dr. John Falvey. le Alliance Government will, wer, carry on as it has done : it was elected last year, a body ling real authority and doing it ithout singling anyone out for a }uet, it can be said that the ibers (Ministers) have had the ; idea from the start. They have out of the ivory tower and told ile what they ought to know.

There have been several safaris into the bush and away to the outer islands by Members and their staffs, the idea being to create personal links with the people. And the idea has worked well.

It may only be a coincidence that several improvements for which people have pleaded in vain for years—water supplies, roads, minor land developments, protective legisla tion—have all suddenly been ef fected.

Real achievements

But the people in the rural areas don’t think there is any coincidence about it. Hey presto! See what our new Government has done!

And it’s all been good for the politicians. If a snap vote were to be taken now, the opponents of the Alliance would get nowhere.

The Federation Party took all the communal seats in the elections, but the success the Alliance Government has enjoyed over the past few months—propaganda successes, the real success of real achievement, and the personal success of the Members

and many of the backbenchers — have reduced the influence of Mr.

A. D. Patel and his supporters in many places, particularly in South Viti Levu.

The main job since the elections has been to get the Indian members of the Legislative Council who sup port the Alliance across to the Indian people.

It was an astute move to replace Mr. Patel as Member for Social Services with Mr. Vijay R. Singh, who has grown in stature as a con sequence. Some of his glow has bounced off his Parliamentary Sec retary, Mr. K. S. Reddy.

Racial progress

It is this sort of thing which im presses the Indian community.

Prestige, face, is something they value. But another side-effect of the joint activities of the multi-racial Alliance has been the fading of some of the inter-racial suspicion in the colony.

For the past eight months people have seen their leaders, Fijians, Indians, Europeans, Chinese, work ing together in a Government.

Ratu K. K. T. Mara, the Leader of Government Business and who undoubtedly will be Fiji’s first Prime Minister, has done much of the touring round the constituencies, usually in the company of Mr. Singh and Mr, Reddy. TTiere is now much more readiness to co-operate.

A case in point is in education.

Previously the Fijian school teachers have refused to accept the principle of multi-racial schools. But when they held their annual con ference in the middle of May there

At Conference

On Tourism

was strongly represented at the rt of Polynesia" conference begin in Apia on May 29, as her delega included the Leader of Government ess, Ratu K. K. I. Mara (left), the oer for Comunications and Works, C. A. Stinson, and the Member for nerce, Industry and Tourism, Ratu Cakobau. Other delegates included Mayor and Mayoress of Suva, Coun and Mrs. Harvey Hunt.

Photo: Rob Wright.

was a big change in their thinking.

Multi-racial schools were in. And their leaders appealed to the rank and file to accept more Indian teachers in Fijian schools. There was no opposition to this.

And what has been the Opposi tions’ contribution to recent politics?

Ever since the creation of the new Government, the Federation Party has never ceased to attack. Their pro paganda has been bitter, directed against the Fijian chiefly system and the Europeans.

In the Legislative Council the Federation Party has formed a responsible and effective Opposition, but its members have been anything but responsible outside especially in rural areas.

The Member for Social Services, Mr. Vijay R. Singh, has been a prime target for them.

Those Indians who oppose them faithfully continue to support the Alliance, and the Indian organisations opposing the Federation Party have been more or less united.

There is one problem on the horizon.

Mr. Andrew Deoki, who is an opponent of the Federation Party, which ousted him at the last election from the Legislative Council, plans to form a new party. It is planned to limit membership to the Fiji-born Indians.

The Alliance views the idea with unease. No doubt the Federation Party will view it in much the same way, because it is aimed at the ex patriate Gujeratis like Mr. A. D.

Patel. So far as the Alliance is con cerned, the creation of another organisation on racial lines can only accentuate the divisions which have recently been closing.

Mr. Andrew Deoki, who plans to found a new party.