Fiji Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe 'Frank' Bainimarama. Photo: Scoop

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Alex Perrottet of Pacific Media Watch

In a clear display of Melanesian unity leading up to the Pacific Islands Forum, 11 Pacific nations have gathered to attend the Engaging Fiji meeting in Nadi.

Similar to last year’s meeting at Natadola before the PIF meeting in Vanuatu, Fiji has not only garnered support for its aims but leaders appear to have  agreed on a united front before attending the wider Pacific meeting in Auckland next week.

Fiji’s status is likely to be a point of discussion for the region’s leaders in Auckland, however it remains suspended from the Forum with its only representatives being the rugby players who will receive the focus of attention when the Rugby World Cup kicks off at the end of the week. Read more »

Article – BusinessDesk

May 12 (BusinessDesk) – The outlook on Fiji’s sovereign credit rating remains ‘negative’, says Moody’s Investors Service, which cites the Pacific Island nation’s poor economic growth prospects and weak rule of law. Read more »

Ousted Australian prime minister, Kevin Rudd, was once heralded as the savior of the Australian Labor Party. The coup to oust him by his 'friends' was swift, ruthless, effective. (Photo by Selwyn Manning, courtesy of Scoop.co.nz.)

Pacific Scoop:
Opinion – By Thakur Ranjit Singh.

Australia’s bloodless ‘democratic’ coup: Lessons for Fiji Labour Party and other third world democracies.

One thing Australia’s politicians have proved – as descendants of the former British penal colony that Australia was – that they can be heartless and ruthless. But kudos to those involved in the Brutus Coup in Australia who swiftly stabbed their “Julius Caesar” to save “Rome”.

It is such a pity similar action could not be undertaken in Fiji where a timely change in leadership by a democratic coup within the Fiji Labour Party may have averted political uprising, consequent George Speight’s treasonous coup and subsequent chain of political instability plaguing the country since 2000. Read more »

Commodore, Prime Minister, and chief restrictor of media freedom, Voreqe Bainimarama.

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By PMC Newsdesk.

Amnesty International has taken a staunch position against Fiji’s military government, stating that a new law that came into effect on June 25 will further restrict Fiji’s fourth estate from doing its job.

In the report Amnesty International states the new law delivers another blow to media in Fiji, and reasons that “Despite the Government’s amendment of the draconian draft decree, journalists can still be imprisoned for being critical of the Government”. The Fiji Times has also been given an ultimatum to get rid of its owner Rupert Murdoch or be shut down. Read more »

Fiji's military regime leader and Prime Minister, Voreqe Bainimarama. (Photo by Selwyn Manning, courtesy of Scoop.)

Pacific Scoop:
Analysis – By Crosbie Walsh.

Pacific Scoop Editor’s Note: Emeritus professor of the University of the South Pacific, Crosbie Walsh, has written a special feature on Fiji, examining beyond the veneer of reportage in a three-part analysis piece.

Prof. Walsh’s work is thought provoking, probing, always controversial and consequently raises issues that stimulate a well overdue debate. This series was first published on his blog: Fiji The Way It Was, Is and Can Be. Read more »

Girmit (Indenture) in Fiji – 1879-1919.

Pacific Scoop:
Opinion – By Rajendra Prasad, in Fiji.

It was an horrific period of our history in Fiji. A pall of darkness has descended on that period but the echoes of the cries of victims of horrific violence continue to variously affect successive generations of our people.

Time has not been able to obliterate the memories because they are ghastly. That period of our history is saturated with the tears of the victims, our forebears, who called themselves Girmitiyas. Read more »

Pacific Scoop:

Opinion – By Crosbie Walsh.

The Coupfourpointfive blog has published the names and some personal details of the five assessors in the Assassination trial.  To what purpose, we can only guess but my guess is that it’s a form of intimidation. My understanding is that the the identity of jurors in a NZ trial are deliberately not made public for this very reason. The blog then went on to distort two important facts relating to the selection of the assessors and their implied bias. Read more »

Pacific Press Release – Pacific Media Watch

Opinion:
ON ABUSE OF POWER AND INFLUENCE IN A DEMOCRACY – NZ’S DOMINION POST

By Crosbie Walsh

HOROWHENUA (CW’s Fiji blog/Pacific Media Watch):  I’ve always thought  there’s something more than a little undemocratic and cowardly that  those writing editorials do not reveal their identity, especially in a
proudly democratic country like New Zealand. Read more »

Pacific Press Release – Pacific Media Watch

Dominion Post opinion:
DICTATORS MUST NOT HOLD SWAY IN THE PACIFIC

A Dominion Post editorial on New Zealand policy towards Fiji has been condemned by former University of the South Pacific professor Crosbie Walsh on his blog and also on Café Pacific. Walsh calls for greater transparency of newspaper editorial writers – who are they and what are their credentials? The full text of the editorial: Read more »

Fiji's regime leader Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama ... "fed up with indigenous nationalism and cronyism". Photo: CP

Pacific Scoop:
Opinion – By Sanjay Ramesh in Suva

A recent wave of articles – mostly from New Zealand and Australian media – has criticised the direction taken by the Fiji authorities following the abrogation of the 1997 Constitution in April 2009.

These articles should be seen as yet another example of “parachute journalism,” where journalists are sent to political trouble spots to compile informed analysis when they have little understanding of the socio-cultural context. Read more »