Fiji Mayoral Row Was A Timely
pp. 11-74 · Read in the full issue
Shakeup' Says Prime Minister
From ROBERT KEITH-REID in Suva Dejections, broken promises and some back-stabbing continue to enliven Fiji’s usually staid political scene with some welcome entertainment.
A couple of months ago the par liamentary Opposition, the National Federation Party, blushed with shame and fury when a founder member, Raojibhai Patel, walked out of it, and his job as Fiji’s Speaker, amidst rumours that he was helping to set up a rival party.
In November came the turn of the party in power, the Alliance. Arrows in the Alliance side came as a nasty bit of family warfare over who should be Mayor of Suva and the resignation from the government benches in parliament of an ex-NFP man, lawyer Vijaya Parmanandam.
Parmanandam’s departure was not really worrying for the party. But the business of the Suva mayoral election provoked some unwelcome racism and bitterness that could have some long-lasting, bad effects for both the party and Suva City Council.
However, Prime Minister Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara was blase about both matters when asked about them at one of his regular post-cabinet meet ing news conferences.
It was a timely stir-up to shake the party out of its growing com placency, was his verdict.
The mayoral row, involving former Fiji Times editor and past mayor Leonard Usher (68) and two Fijian members and an Indian member of the council came as a shock after joy in the Alliance camp over the party’s victory in the Suva city coun cil elections.
In these, the Alliance had won 13 of the 20 seats and the outgoing mayor, Navin Maharaj, fell only eight votes short in trying to oust the NFP leader on the council, Chandra P. Bidesi.
Maharaj turned down the offer of a “safe” seat and took Bidesi on in his own Samabula constituency, an area regarded as an NFP stronghold.
The votes he took away from Bidesi were read by some as evidence of a swing of support away from the Indian-dominated Opposition in favour of the Alliance.
When the rejoicing was over, the Alliance got down to choosing which of the 13 should be nominated as candidate for mayor.
A Fijian councillor, Joape Roko soi, who has had several years expe rience on the council, got the party nomination but this did not do him any good.
Came the election, and seven Alliance councillors changed their minds and decided that Ten Usher was the man needed in the mayor’s chair.
Mr Usher had been elected fack to the council after an absence from it of four years and he had served seve ral terms as mayor.
The turn-about, which did not become evident until the actual elec tion, infuriated Rokosoi, another Fijian councillor, lone Banuve, and a new Indian councillor, Maan Singh.
They stalked out of the council chamber yelling, as they went, that they didn’t want another European as mayor. This remark seemed un called-for since there had been three non-European mayors, two Fijians and an Indian, to occupy the mayor’s
chair since Cr Usher had last held it.
The three huffed Alliance coun cillors were followed out by the seven men of the NFP.
These, said their leader, Chandra Bidesi, did not want to be involved in Alliance squabbles.
The walk-outs hamstrung the council as it was left without a quo rum. It was a little like the chaos threatened in Australia over the Whitlam government sacking—no money to keep the government ma chine working.
The Alliance Party, at its annual convention two days after the walk out, told its member councillors they should hold a “mayoral re-selection meeting” and Rokosoi and Banuve told the convention they had with drawn their opposition to Cr Usher.
But, although the re-selection meet ing plumped for Cr Usher, Rokosoi, Banuve and Singh staged another walk-out.
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As it’s necessary to have a mayor if only to sign cheques, Suva faced i a crisis for nearly three weeks. The only money available was in a coun cil imprest account. That paid staff wages but there was no money for anything else.
Then the government stepped in and Minister for Local Government Mr Mohammed Ramzan ordered the council to hold a mayoral selection meeting. As a refusal might have prompted the minister to dissolve the council and order fresh elections, the councillors came to heel.
The mayoral election was a tie, 10 votes each for Usher and Roko soi so the result came out of a hat —Cr Usher.
The vote for deputy-mayor was also a tie, but the Loval Government Act doesn’t provide for a ballot so the council was stuck with that one, new Mayor Usher promising that he would call for immediate changes to the act which is full of holes. It doesn’t even provide for the mayor to give a casting vote on any motion.
Once in the chair, Cr Usher sued for peace and warned that Suva faced possible bankruptcy unless they all worked together. There were clear indications, however, that the three renegade Alliance men would con tinue to be a thorn in Cr Usher’s side.
What’s happened to party discip line, Alliance supporters wondered, but the Alliance had troubles higher up. Suva lawyer, Vijay Parmanan dam, who defected from the National Federation Party opposition in April last year and crossed the floor, there by strengthening the Alliance image in Fiji-Indian eyes, announced he was quitting the Alliance. He said he didn’t like party internal conflicts arising out of the City Council row or an accusation levelled at him at the Alliance convention alleging he campaigned for NFP candidates in the municipal elections.
Later, he said he intended forming a steering committee to organise an “Indian Nationalist Party”.
Asked how he saw the council dis pute and Parmanandam’s resignation, the Prime Minister replied; “I think' that, on the whole, it is always good to have a little stir up in the party now and again”.
But not so much as to shake the whole thing apart.
“We tend to get complacent”, the PM remarked. “I think this shaking up is very timely, before the next election, so we know exactly who our friends are, who our half-friends and who our non-friends are”.