The Sugar Industry

What is wrong and what can be done about the sugar industry?  Please comment thoughtfully, and bounce your ideas off those of other readers. I hope a useful discussion will result.

Thinking Series. Introduction and #1-6. Running a Govt with Bad Advice

The dialogue between an anonymous reader “Wishful thinking” and me started with the initial exchange shown below. It went on to become a series of comments written under the pseudonym “Thinking … Not Sleeping,” a name that in itself tells much. I think the ideas expressed comprise a most helpful string of suggestions and for this reason they are re-published here on Na Sala Cava where it is hoped they will attract more readers and more comments than on the main blog where new postings push older ones ever further down the page.

Thinking Series, #7- 8. Double Standards, #9-10. Travel Ban, Elections, # 11-13. The Good and Bad News on Business

# 7-8 Double Standards

7. Mighty words, minor action and double standards

When you hear the PM talk about getting rid of corruption the words are mighty. No one can disagree with what he says and there are many minor cases of this government taking action. In particular against public servants – well done. They are all minor cases, though. Where is the massive corruption the former prime minister was involved in?

Thinking Series. # 14. What Can Fiji Do?

It will be impossible for a 100% military run government to hand over to a civilian run government. It would be impossible today and it will be impossible in 2014. Assuming government is genuine about 2014 and democracy, etc., it has to start changing how government is run now. I’m no politician but here are a few thoughts:

Thinking Series. #15. What should Australia/New Zealand do?

Here are a few ideas.

Na Sala Cava? # 9. What Government Should Do

A reader 'On the Sidelines in Viti Levu' thinks Govenment would be more likely to achieve its obectives if it took the following actions:

• USE THE NUMBERS (1-7) IN MAKING YOUR COMMENTS.
• PLEASE ANSWER THE NUMBERED POLL QUESTIONS IN THE RIGHT SIDE BAR.

1. Decide if they want to be friends with Australia and NZ or not. If yes, then stop the wild outbursts and work on a plan to re-engage.
2. Be flexible - even bringing the election forward say 6 months would be signal that they are prepared to negotiate. Why the hard line on this one ?
3. Deal with some of the respective poor decisions made after the coup that continue to dog them. For example, remove Mr Kean from Navy command. You have to live what you preach. maybe hand back the back pay - no one believes the PM never took a day of leave in all his career. On Kean surely he must be replaceable? There are plenty of other examples, e.g., the soldiers released early. Also stop the army taking people to the barracks and put a professional police person in charge of the police.
4. On the media decree,  give the Fiji Times  12 months to sell or scrap that component altogether.
5. Start the dialogue forum TODAY. Get a draft new voting system out soon. It's not surprising that people are becoming suspicious about 2014 when nothing is being done to work towards it. The claims of 'we are concentrating on the economy' are rubbish. Government has to be able to do both. Fifty Decrees have been pumped out so clearly they do have some resources for doing this stuff.
6. Lift the public emergency NOW. Govt promised they would. There is a lot of self-regulation happening anyway and that will continue.
7. Learn to live with critics. It's part of being Government. Don't react to everything. Accept some criticism - change things accordingly and for other criticism just ignore it.

Na Sala Cava? #8. The President

Under the 1997 Constitution the President and Vice-President were appointed, or could be vetoed, by the Great Councl of Chiefs. In the ultra-nationalist Constitution of 1990 following the first Rabuka coup in 1987 both positions had to be filled by ethnic Fijians, and that meant Fijian chiefs. Although not specified in the 1997 Constitution, the ethnicity and traditional status of the people filling these positions was understood.

The new Constitution in 2012 will have to determine three things about the president: how he is appointed, his ethnicity and status, and his powers within the Constitution.  There are at least two possible models. One provided by the United States where the President is elected by a very costly nation-wide election that means candidates must have the support of a political party, and where he or she has considerable powers, including the power to initiate legislation. The other model is provided by Commonwealth countries with a Governor-General.  These people are nominated by government, after consultation with the parliamentary opposition, for approval by the Queen whom they nominally represent. For most purposes G-G's are useful "neutral" figureheads uniting a country, but on one occasion in Australia (when in 1975 the Gough Whitlam government was unseated) and one in Fiji (when in 1977 Ratu George Cakobau denied Siddiq Koya electoral victory and returned power to Ratu Mara) they exercised their ultimate authority to reverse or change political events. This is what Ratu Iloilo did in ruling the Bainimarama government legitimate, which was first accepted, and and then on appeal refuted, in the High Court last year.

What are your opinions on:

1. The appointment of the President: elected, nominated by government, by parliament, by a council of electors, or some other method?
2. The ethnicity of the President: Fijian, different from the Vice-President, no conditions?
3. The powers of the President: none, limited to emergencies, can initiate and/or block legislation, ultimate authority to remove a government in clearly defined circumstances?
4. The Vice-President's appointment, ethnicity and authority?

Please number and/or label your comments: 1/appointment, 2/ethnicity, 3/power, 4/VP, especialy when you are giving four opinion on more than one question in the same comments.