In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

The Contemporary Pacific 12.1 (2000) 263-266



[Access article in PDF]

Book Review

Another Way: The Politics of Constitutional Reform in Post-Coup Fiji


Another Way: The Politics of Constitutional Reform in Post-Coup Fiji, by Brij V Lal. History of Development Studies 7. Canberra: National Centre for Development Studies, Asia Pacific Press, Asia Pacific School of Economics and Management, Australian National University, 1998. ISBN 07315-2381-4, ix + 223 pages, appendixes, glossary, map, selected contemporary biographies, selected contemporary statistics, bibliography, index. A$29.99.

Justifiably glowing evaluations of Brij V Lal's latest book, Another Way: The Politics of Constitutional Reform in Post-Coup Fiji, by some leading Pacific Island scholars are to be found on its back cover. Lal, a Pacific historian at Australian National University and a member of the Constitutional Review Commission, has produced a remarkable volume combining a very well written narrative of the events, personalities, and interests that have been prominent in the review of Fiji's decreed 1990 Constitution with the author's own incisive interpretations of the unfolding drama of post-coup Fiji.

The book consists of five chapters and four appendixes. In the first four chapters, the author provides his account of the politics of the review process, the work of the Constitutional Review Commission, reactions to the commission's report and recommendations, the deliberations of the Joint Parliamentary Select Committee (JPSC), and the unanimous adoption of the Constitutional Amendment Bill of 1997. The fifth chapter is an ensemble of ten unrelated pieces, including an extremely readable and humorous essay by Lal entitled Submissions, which provides an account of oral presentations by individuals and groups on the 1990 Constitution. Glimpses of the relationship among the three commissioners, Sir Paul Reeves, Lal, and Tomasi Vakatora, are provided as well as how, "with time" Lal and Vakatora's natural suspicion of each other, "[was] transformed into trust and trust into friendship."

In "Beginnings," the very first section of the book, the author recollects his movements on the fateful morning of the military coup, 14 May 1987. He provides a personal account of his own initial reaction of disbelief and the responses of his family members and close friends. He recounts the widespread condemnation of the military takeover, the pro-coup celebrations by Taukeists, and the slow return to constitutionality.

The first chapter, "Sowing the Seeds," touches briefly on the various explanations of the coups and the efforts to turn the country around to some form of constitutional rule. Insights are provided into the powerful vested interests in Fiji society and the dynamics of the politics of extremism, which influenced the constitutional committee appointed in 1987 and led by Sir John Falvey, the former attorney general. [End Page 263]

Lal gives a balanced account of the 1990 Constitution by describing at length the president's justification for its provisions, which embedded indigenous Fijian political paramountcy. This entrenchment was to protect the indigenous community from being reduced to the plight of marginalized indigenous people in Australia and New Zealand. He shows that the opposition to the 1990 Constitution centered on its very lopsided ethnic representation, reservation of senior public service positions along ethnic lines, gerrymandered electoral arrangements, bias against urban ethnic Fijians, and support for systematic discrimination against Indo-Fijians.

The second chapter, appropriately captioned The Whirlwind, is about the eventful period between mid-1992 and early 1994. It begins with the electoral campaigns and the leadership struggles within the two major ethnic categories, Sitiveni Rabuka versus Josevata Kamikamica and Jai Ram Reddy versus Mahendra Pal Chaudhary. Far from creating unified ethnic blocs, the 1990 Constitution gave rise to intense intra-ethnic divisions. Rabuka's Soqosoqo Vakavulewa ni Taukei (SVT) emerged triumphant with 30 of the 37 seats reserved for ethnic Fijians. The moderate multi-ethnic All National Congress failed to win any seat. Among Indo-Fijians, the National Federation Party (NFP) took 14 seats and the Fiji Labour Party (FLP) the remaining 13.

Unhappy about Rabuka's style of leadership, however, the SVT dissidents stuck during the vote on the 1994 budget, and the...

pdf