In the dictionary definition, democracy is government by the people in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system. In the phrase of Abraham Lincoln, democracy is a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Freedom and democracy are often used interchangeably, but the two are not synonymous. Democracy is indeed a set of ideas and principles about freedom, but it also consists of a set of practices and procedures that have been molded through a long, often tortuous history. In short, democracy is the institutionalization of freedom. For this reason, it is possible to identify the time-tested fundamentals of constitutional government, human rights, and equality before the law that any society must possess to be properly called democratic On the front page of the Regime newspaper the Fiji Sun, in an article by regime propagandist Jyoti Pratibha, the General Secretary of Fiji First Sayed—Khaiyum said this about Fiji First quote: Its more than a party—it’s a political movement’ unquote. Like Frank Bainimarama he blames all the unresolved ills of Fiji today like Health, water, roads etc [even after 8 years under their control] on all previous governments. The Bainimarama Government it seems is without fault. Beddoes said given the wild claims being made by Bai-Kai he decided to read up on what the 3rd version of Fiji First was all about and establish the ‘facts’ because people rarely read up on constitutions as they expect the leaders to be honest and transparent, so many Fiji First members may be totally unaware of what they have joined. Beddoes said the original Fiji First came into being after the 2000 coup. This was a spontaneous reaction to the coup and he [Mick Beddoes] was its Chairman. The group consisted of the various political parties and Trade Unions including the FTUC and NGO’s and we were all agitating for the release of Mr Chaudhry and his colleagues who were being held hostage in parliament. We disbanded after their release and did not register the name Beddoes said. The second version of Fiji First that he was aware of is the Fiji 1st registered by Mr Amit Singh as a party name to replace its original name of Heritage Party. Legal documents proving the registration of Fiji 1st have been widely publicized. This 3rd version of Fiji First is the Bai-Kai version. They stole their name, hijacked the country’s coat of arms as their logo and established what is basically a ‘copy cat’ party which offers nothing original. With that kind of a beginning, I assumed their constitution would also be a copy of a basic democratic political structure in the normal sense of the word. NOT SO. I have to say I honestly could not believe what I had read the first time I went through their constitution, I to read it 3 more times just to be sure I was not imagining things. The Fiji First constitution demonstrates absolutely that Bai-Kai are ‘control freaks’ and like their 2013 constitution they have entrenched their control in Fiji First in almost the same way they have controlled things in Fiji since 2006 and entrenched themselves in the 2013 constitution to hopefully continue after September. According to the Fiji First constitution ordinary members and appointed officials of Fiji First are basically ‘irrelevant’ they are only there to serve Bai-Kai. None of the officials of Fiji First are elected into positions by the members, they are all appointed and Bai-Kai do all the appointing. Even after being appointed, their every decision can be over turned, rejected or vetoed by Bai-Kai. Bai-Kai can even make policy changes and give it to the appointed committees who are bound to adopt as if they had made the policy. The Fiji First Constitution reads more like the structure of some secret cult, than a political party and it’s certainly not a movement. And here’s why:- When registering Fiji First, Frank Bainimarama became the 1st Founding Member, he then appointed Khaiyum as General Secretary [he became the 2nd founding member] and he appointed Dr Luveni as President [she became the 3rd Founding Member] There was no inaugural general meeting to democratically establish the party and elect Interim officials, or founding members as most democratic organization would do. Fiji First Founding members were not only self-appointed; they remain in place for life. [Much Uganda’s Idi Armin Dada] Fiji First is controlled by 3 main committees. 1. The Founding Members:- Although there are 3 founding members, Dr Luveni is basically ‘irrelevant’ as she is on record saying in a May 9th Fiji Sun report when responding to her ‘unexpected’ appointment by Frank Bainimarama as Fiji First President quote ‘we are always ready to accommodate whatever decision he makes’. So she will pretty much do as she’s told and that will leave just Bai-Kai to make all the decisions. Any hope of ordinary members of Fiji First rising up through the ranks in a democratic process to Leadership positions is negated by the fact that the 3 Founding Members are in their positions for life. [Sec 5.3 b) ii] The powers the Founding Members have includes:- • They are automatic members of the Leadership Committee • They have the exclusive rights to vote in or out members of the Central Executive Committee • They are entitled to be ‘appointed ‘ on to the Central Executive Committee 2. Leadership Committee The Leadership Committee comprises the Founding members from time to time. So the 3 Founding Members are members of the Leadership Committee. This is ‘automatic’, no voting or democratic process here and transparency goes right out the window. The powers of the Leadership Committee include: • Electing from its members the parliamentary Leader [ I think they mean appoint ] • The Parliamentary Leader will be the head of the Leadership Committee • Power to appoint 15 members of the Central Executive Committee [CEC] • The power to appoint and terminate new Founding members • Carry out any of the functions of the Central Executive Committee which shall be deemed to be an act or decision of the Central Executive Committee [Sec 5.3 vii 1.] • Veto, overturn or amend any decision of the Central Executive Committee • Direct the Central Executive Committee in writing to adopt and pass any resolution which shall be deemed to occur if the CEC does not do so • Amend the party constitution • Shall in consultation with the CEC have the final say in the selection of candidates So although the Leadership committee appoints the Central Executive Committee, they retain the absolute powers to veto, reject and overturn all their decisions and make policy for them as well. 3. Central Executive Committee This committee is basically charged with the responsibility of running the day to day operations of Fiji First and its functions are spelt out in Sec 8.2 e). However as you will see from the powers of the Founding Members and Leadership committees, all the decisions of the Central Executive Committee are subject to veto and being overturned. What is absent from the Fiji First constitution is the ‘active’ participation of the ordinary members from the branch levels upward to the top. The whole structure is controlled from the top down and Bai-Kai controls every aspect of the party and its operations. There is nothing in the Fiji First constitution that suggests it is a democratic organization, nor is there anything in the constitution that would suggest it is a group of people working together to advance their shared political, social, or artistic ideas as we would expect a ‘movement’ to do. The Fiji First structure and organization is set up so that Bai-Kai can dictate from the top down and with its members having absolutely no say what so ever. When you look at the structure, you realize that the organization of Fiji First is inconsistent with and often in conflict with all of the Attributes and Core Values expressed in their preamble from Sections 2.3 and 4. They do have some new and novel attributes that border on the more bizarre such as:- • Far sighted: They claim to possess psychic powers to SEE AHEAD and be able to guide Fijians along the best way forward. • Decisive: they claim as an asset, their ability to make bold decisions even without the complete information being available. They can make painful but necessary but correct decision for the long term. • Compassionate they say they are able to instinctively empathize with our people. WE CAN FEEL, their worries, concerns, as well as share in their hopes and dreams. Not sure where their compassion was when this poor citizen was beaten to death. And what of the pain of Mrs Rabaka, did they feel that too? And what were they feeling when they watched the video of the escapees getting beaten up? There is nothing in the organizational structure of Fiji First that upholds the rights, freedom and dignity of human beings or promotes and fosters common and equal citizenry, or is clean, incorruptible, above board, transparent that can be seen as leading with integrity and there is certainly no equal opportunity to progress and for a person’s contribution to be recognized and appreciated on the basis of merit The party structure and controls as laid out in their constitution show that it is a party for 2 people only, Bai-Kai and everyone else are irrelevant. I suspect that most Fiji First members have not read their parties constitution and therefore don’t know just how controlled and undemocratic it actually is. To accept appointment on one of the committees, one would need to be willing to be a ‘political corpse’ or a zombie, and allow Bai-Kai to overrule, change or reject all the decisions made by that committee. On the other hand, if the person being appointed to a committee is the recipient of a multi million contract from the regime, then forfeiting one’s own credibility and dignity to serve on a committee that has to do everything but has no power to change anything may be a small price to pay for some. There are many other things in the Fiji First constitution that are bizarre but 2 of these stand out: and these are:- Sec 10 h) when the Chairman is standing, no other member shall stand or speak at the same time. The other is the last item in the Fiji First constitution and it has to do with winding up the party and what to do with the balance of funds collected. If anyone doubts that my reference to ordinary members of Fiji First being ‘irrelevant’ perhaps this clause may help them concede that perhaps I could be right. Sec 11 i) If there remains after satisfaction of all its debts and liabilities any property whatsoever the remainder shall not be paid or distributed amongst members of Fiji First but shall be given or transferred to some company, association, society or other body having objectives similar or in part similar to the objectives of FIJI First to be determined by the Leadership Committee at or before the time of dissolution. So assuming there is $1 million left after all bills are paid, and members worked hard and contributed towards fund raising for the party. When the time comes to share what is left NO MEMBER will receive a cent and only BAI-KAI have the power to transfer the funds to some other body and they can even do this even before the party is dissolved. Democratic Movement indeed! By: Mick Beddoes
Posted on: Sun, 20 Jul 2014 07:50:41 +0000
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