Talk:Fiji and the United Nations

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Domestic impact[edit]

An anonymous, well-meaning editor added the following:

===Domestic Impact of Peacekeeping===
Veterans of the MFO staged coups d’état in 1987, 1999-2000, 2006, and 2009.<ref>Appelbaum, Diana Muir (27 August 2012), ''[http://www.jewishideasdaily.com/4867/features/how-the-sinai-peacekeeping-force-staged-a-military-coup-in-fiji/ How the Sinai Peacekeeping Force Staged a Military Coup in Fiji]'', retrieved 7 September 2012</ref>

I've removed it. I'm not sure that it's accurate to say that Fiji's coups (in 1987, 2000 and 2006; there was no coup in 2009) were a "domestic impact of peacekeeping". The coups would have taken place even without the Fiji military having taken part in peacekeeping operations; the military, which has its roots in the colonial era, would have existed all the same.
Also, the article which is used as a source has several errors, some of them very serious. It says:

  • "But in 1987 the Indo-Fijian majority elected an Indo-Fijian prime minister". This is incorrect. Timoci Bavadra was an indigenous Fijian. And it's extremely simplistic to say that he was elected by "the Indo-Fijian majority". His Labour Party platform also attracted many indigenous voters.
  • "But if the United Nations had not inspired the creation of a Fijian army, Fiji would never have had a military coup." Wrong. The creation of the RFMF was not "inspired" by the UN. It goes back to the colonial period. (You can see a brief history here.)
  • "Fiji has had two new constitutions since the 1987 coup, a 1990 version written by the group that led the military coup, and a 1997 constitution featuring a preferential voting system designed to produce a democratic and bi-national state." "Bi-national" is a very misleading way of putting it. Indo-Fijians (and other ethnic minorities) are nationals of Fiji.
  • "Having lost the election, ethnic Melanesians took to the streets overturning the automobiles and wrecking the businesses of Indo-Fijians. They installed Commodore Frank Bainimarama, a veteran of the Sinai MFO, at the head of a military government." Very wrong! Frank Bainimarama was not installed by the 2000 coup makers. The coup in 2000 was a civilian coup; Bainimarama was briefly handed power by the President (while the Prime Minister was a hostage of the civilian coup makers) to negotiate an end to the coup. In this he succeeded; the coup-makers were gaoled, and some their supporters subsequently tried to assassinate Bainimarama. Bainimarama remained fiercely antagonistic to the authors of that coup. Also, it is dangerously misleading to say that "ethnic Melanesians" had "lost the election"! Chaudhry's Labour Party was a multi-ethnic party.
  • "That military enforced Melanesian domination of Fijian politics with coups d’état in 1987, 1999-2000, 2006, and 2009." Very, very, very wrong! The military coup in 2006 deposed an indigenous nationalist government; that coup was carried out in the name of equal rights for all ethnic communities, and anti-racism! Also, there was no coup in 2009.
  • "The constitution is expected to conform to the demands of the present government, led by Commodore Bainimarama, who led the military coup of 2000 and came back to power in the military coup of 2007. His demands are expressed as a set of “fundamental” principles set forth in the People’s Charter for Change of 2008 and oppose any reinstitution of constitutionally structured power sharing between Fiji's two communities." Appallingly wrong on many counts! The author of that Jewish Ideas Daily article is hopelessly confused about the most basic facts of the recent history of Fiji. It would not be a helpful source to use for this Wikipedia article. Aridd (talk) 21:19, 16 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
In short, the source is not reliable for this subject. I did think that the site was questionable as a source for this (Jewish Ideas Daily doesn't really spell out "experts on Fijian diplomacy and history"), and now it is gone, and I second that removal.-- = ? 10:29, 17 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

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