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The Prime Minister, Rt Hon Helen Clark, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Rt Hon Winston Peters, announced on 6 December 2006 a comprehensive range of measures to limit contacts between the two countries covering entry to New Zealand; defence and sporting links; and development assistance links of an inter-governmental character. These measures are aimed at the RFMF and its members and those associated with supporting unconstitutional action.
New Zealand has not imposed any restrictions on trade, investment, tourism or business relations. Unless required to do so by a mandatory resolution of the UN Security Council, New Zealand has always been reluctant to adopt economic and trade sanctions.
Minister Peters warned Commodore Bainimarama, orally and in writing, of the measure New Zealand would take if he mounted a coup.
New Zealand and Fiji are old friends, sharing links through history, culture, migration, business, education and sport as well as through engagement between the two governments across a wide spectrum of issues.
Both countries subscribe to Commonwealth and Forum statements of principles regarding good governance and to remedial processes laid down in those agreements when members deviate from the principles they have endorsed.
New Zealand has a record of assistance to governance in Fiji, including in recent times financial and expert support for the promotion and protection of human rights and for the conduct of Fiji’s general election. Our stance since the coup is simply standing up for same principles that motivated that assistance.
New Zealand has reasonable and legitimate concerns about the impact of the coup on regional stability, given Fiji’s central location in the region and its hosting of numerous regional organisations.
These concerns are not just New Zealand’s. A wide range of countries and organisations have decided upon measures to reflect their concern about the coup and its consequences.
New Zealand made a significant effort to avert the coup by convening a meeting in Wellington between Prime Minister Qarase and Commodore Bainimarama, having for some months consistently urged the Commodore and the Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF) to respect their constitutional roles. We believed that the meeting made substantial progress in resolving the impasse. The Fiji Government subsequently announced a number of concessions to address the RFMF’s demands. Regrettably, Commodore Bainimarama considered these insufficient and set a deadline for the government to meet his demands.
New Zealand has a range of very good sources of information, including but going well beyond its High Commission in Suva, and understands well what has been happening in Fiji. Even so, New Zealand is always keen to hear from others.
New Zealand closely followed the planning of the coup and the activities of its perpetrators, whose intentions and actions were clearly signalled by their own statements and demands. This information provided a good basis for assessing the likely course of events after the coup.
New Zealanders might equally ask why Fiji doesn’t understand New Zealand, which took similar measures for similar reasons in response to Fiji’s previous coups.
New Zealand supports democratic constitutional government but does not advocate any particular model of democracy. We know from our own experience that democracy evolves and that many workable variants are possible. Minister Peters discussed these issues in some detail in a speech at Orewa on 30 January. Whatever model of democracy is in place, the key is that it underpins the fundamental rights and freedoms of citizens.
Commodore Bainimarama and the Interim Government say they want to protect and improve Fiji’s democracy – so there would not appear to be a problem on either side about democracy as an objective for Fiji.
New Zealand believes that democracy improves by practising democracy, not by suspending it and removing properly elected governments. By doing this, the Bainimarama regime has effectively undermined the integrity of its intentions.
Fiji’s Constitution provides mechanisms by which its democratic systems could be legitimately amended. A coup was not necessary to achieve this.
New Zealand cannot support the use of illegal and unconstitutional means, including in this case the removal of a validly-elected government by threat of armed force, however good the ends are proclaimed to be.
Fiji’s citizens are not being consulted about these policies so the degree of their support for them is open to debate. To the extent that such policies were put to the electorate last year, they found limited support.
The practices adopted by the RFMF and Interim Government, allegedly to achieve these positive ends, involve violations of key principles of good governance (transparency, due process, electoral and judicial accountability), breaches of Fiji’s Constitution, and abuses of basic rights of citizens. The behaviour of the regime diverges significantly from its rhetoric. The RFMF, by its domestic misbehaviour since the coup, is tarnishing the reputation it has earned through its peace-keeping deployments.
Efforts so far to justify the coup after the fact have failed to produce convincing evidence of corruption. Much of what has been produced is tainted by improper process.
Our approach has been consistent with our response to the Thai coup and to previous coups in Fiji.
New Zealand imposed sanctions on Thailand following last year’s coup, and they remain in place. The measures are not identical to those applied to Fiji but have key features in common, notably restrictions on high level contacts and cessation of cooperation between defence forces.
New Zealand imposed sanctions against Fiji after the 1987 and 2000 coups. People who suggest otherwise have faulty memories. New Zealand still has travel bans in force against a number of persons involved in the 2000 coup and mutiny.
New Zealand is not punishing ordinary citizens. New Zealand’s measures have been designed to focus on the perpetrators and beneficiaries of the coup but even “smart sanctions” are a blunt instrument that sometimes have unintended effects.
New Zealand development assistance continues, with a new focus on delivery through non-governmental channels.
There are no New Zealand restrictions on tourism, trade and investment, all of which create and sustain jobs for citizens of Fiji.
The Forum Eminent Persons Group has recommended a series of steps to return Fiji’s government to democracy. When a credible roadmap to restore a lawful democratic regime is in place, including respect for human rights, NZ will consider adjustments to its measures.
The solution is in the hands of Commodore Bainimarama and the interim regime.
