Fiji’s political

party battle 'just a sham'

Controversial Fiji-born James Anthony is not particularly impressed by the Opposition’s walkout from Fiji’s Legislative Council, which will now lead to bi-elections. He says the walkout has been an embarrassment only to the ruling Alliance Party and to Fiji’s top civil servants.

Mr, Anthony, 32, a former militant union leader in Fiji who still keeps a hand on Fiji industrial affairs, gave his views in an address to students at the Australian National University, Canberra, recently.

He was speaking before the April session of the Legislative Council, which was the third meeting the Opposition had not attended, thus forfeiting their seats.

He is a research scholar at the university, undertaking a PhD thesis, which was to have taken him to New Guinea for research. Because of restrictions placed on him in New Guinea ( PIM, Mar., p. 23) he has refused to work there and for the next few months will continue his work in Canberra.

Mr. Anthony is co-author, with Professor Norman Meller, of a book shortly to be published by the East- West Center Press, Honolulu, Fiji goes to the Polls: The Crucial Legis lative Council elections of 1963.

Following are verbatim extracts from his Canberra address:

What he said

The Federation Party walk-out is merely a “flank eruption”—and a weak one at that. That it has tended to throw things off balance a little there is no doubt.

But despite the walk-out, life in Fiji goes on pretty much as usual, only to be interrupted by the occasional Federation Party meeting at which the champions of the walk out harangue their audience in a rhetoric which belongs to another generation ...

The “opposition” walk-out has embarrassed Ratu Mara and his Alliance Party colleagues—their little game of “colonial democracy” is dif ficult to play without their “official opposition”.

In short, it is the Alliance govern ment leaders and top civil servants who are disturbed about the walk out. If the walk-out can be used as

Leaders 'out of touch'

a device to electrify a disgruntled populace and thus precipitate a con stitutional crisis then Patel and his colleagues have not yet found a way to do this. . . .

Status quo

The Alliance, made up as it is of :he Fijian establishment, represent atives of the hard core of Australian nig business interests and a section af the Indian business establishment, dings steadfastly to the status quo.

Patel and his colleagues of the Federation Party claim to represent [ndian interests in Fiji and would ike the world to believe that they ■epresent the forces of progress.

But it would require little in vestigation to realise that both the \lliance and Federation parties are n fact narrowly based and revolve nainly about aging politicians who, vhen they do talk of issues, address hemselves to problems which are dther no more, or issues which are ;o broad as to be meaningless.

Fiji’s substantive problems remain mresolved while, quite ironically, its wo major parties seem locked in ‘deadly combat”. The “battle” I vould suggest is really a sham.

Neither party has a grasp of Fiji vide problems nor the ability or the vill to do anything about them. Both )arties remain hopelessly incapable )f delivering the political goods vhich Fiji’s peoples expect.

In all of this Fiji is rapidly going 0 the dogs—it is tragic to see a vhole country being castrated by so nany mediocre people including both ;xpatriales (mainly from Australia, Vew Zealand and the United King iom) and local administrators who ire fundamentally timid, unimagin itive and out of touch with grass •oots sentiments and expectations. . ..

Rafu Mara

Ratu Mara, I think, is essentially 1 good man (“good” in an ethical sense) but he has allowed himself, perhaps through a combination of Dad advice, miscalculation and political naivete, to have become Jed to the apron strings of most Australian and some Indian big busi ness men.

As a consequence of this he is now “boxed” into a corner from vhich he is completely incapable of :he kind of flexibility which might ?ive him enough “elbow-room” in vhich he might be able to face and Jo something about some of Fiji’s substantive problems. So the present