Of The Year

Opinion

Leader Of The Year

Nominations for Pacific is lands Monthly's Leader Of The Year began arriving within days of the publication of our June issue. Readers’ choices contain quite a few surprises, but an interest ing overall pattern has already started to emerge.

As well as the men and women who have contributed so much to the development of the Pacific over past years, and whose legacy will con tinue to guide policy decisions and national identites for generations to come, there have been many nomi nations for younger leaders; not yet in positions of power, perhaps, but faces that will appear with growing fre quency in the future.

Nevertheless, the “establishment” is well represented, with names that are familiar to observers of the region.

Mr Brian Doyle of Helensvale, Queensland and a former resident of Tonga, contributed a nomination of King Taufa’ahau Tupou, cleverly written to contain a word for each year of His Majesty’s life: “While the rest of the Pacific re gion erupts around him and media prominent leaders in the region vac illate, the quiet achiever His Majesty King Taufa’ahau Tupou IV stands head and shoulders above them all.

“Over the past years he has led his people quietly forward in an atmos phere of stable government, at a pace they can accept and understand.

“Beyond doubt, the Leader Of The Year and a role model.”

Although we do not ask that read ers’ nominations contain the same number of words as their subjects’ lives, we are looking forward to hear ing who you think has made the great est contribution to the stability, change in world attention, develop ment or evolution of this, our Pacific.

Perhaps the Leader Of The \fear may turn out to be the elusive Mo hammed Rafiq Kahan, apparent mastermind of the Fiji arms-smug

gling affair. His actions have certainly galvanised international public inter est in the Republic at a time when badly needed calm was beginning to return to its affairs.

Not only has Mr Kahan embar rassed Australian Customs and Fed eral Police through his ability to escape detection and arrest, he has spot lighted the world media’s inability to resist “beating up” a story in the ab sence of hard information.

As Jai Kumar reports on Page 20, newspaper, radio and television cov erage of the arms affair have spun a few facts into a complex web of spec ulation: with the ultimate effect that the interim government in Fiji has in troduced draconian security laws that give the military and police almost unlimited powers to detain without charge, to search property and to in vestigate matters no government has the “right” to see.

Despite the paranoiac reactions of politicians both in Fiji and other parts of the region, investment and confi dence in Fiji is returning: and it may well be that Mr Bungo Ishizaki, prin cipal investment advisor for the Jap anese development firm Electrical Industrial Enterprises (which is in vesting a significant amount in tour ism development in Fiji) is chosen as the most influential person in the re gion for 1988.

Perhaps you would prefer to name a scientist, activist, artist or re searcher rather than a politician: the United Nations Environment Pro gram, for example, has recently hon oured two Pacific islanders Sione Latuila Tongilava of Tonga and Sheila Davis of New Zealand for their contributions to environmental conservation.

Nominations should be addressed to Pacific Islands Monthly , GPO Box 4245, Sydney Australia 2001, and should be mailed before November 1.