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Honiara diplomatic row; The dirty depths of down under
Diplomatic row escalates over Honiara inquiry
Australia is one of the Solomon Islands’ biggest aid donors providing some $223 million in assistance over the past two years.
But differences over a commission of inquiry into the April riots which saw the burning of Chinatown in Honiara has pitted the top guns in Honiara and Canberra against each other.
The outcome has seen the expulsion of Patrick Cole, Australia’s high commissioner in Honiara, and a retaliatory travel ban on Solomon politicians to Australia.
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare in declaring Cole a persona non grata said he was doing it to preserve good relations with Canberra, accusing the diplomat of political interference.
Amongst these include charges of conspiring with the opposition to oust the current government, an allegation strongly denied by Canberra and Opposition Leader Fred Fono.
“Since taking up office I have had only one visit from the Australian high commissioner...we discussed development issues and the need for opposition to support government,” said Fono.
But Cole’s great sin according to insiders is his opposition to Taiwan funding the inquiry, set up by Sogavare to investigate the causes of the Honiara riots.
“If he stands to represent Australian policy, then I’m sorry we don’t accept the way he is behaving, in making statements for example rallying support against external assistance to the commission of inquiry, that is interfering in internal affairs of this country,” says the country’s Foreign Affairs Minister Patterson Oti.
Insiders say Cole had been telling Taiwan’s representative in Honiara that it was okay for Taipei to provide aid but not financial support for the inquiry.
Australia says it is concerned the inquiry will be used to override the judicial system and set free two politicians detained on charges of inciting the riot.
But critics say Canberra is more worried about what the inquiry will uncover when it starts, including the failures of the Regional Assistance mission in dealing with the April riots.
In Honiara, Sogavare’s cabinet is standing firm in support of the prime minister’s decision to declare Cole a persona non grata despite repercussions.
“Howard (John Howard, Australian prime minister) says we have to face the consequences of our actions and we will.
“The prime minister and I have agreed that we will not engage in any retaliatory measures. They warned us and we are prepared to face the consequences.” says Oti.
Australia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer has labelled the inquiry a waste of money. But Sogavare’s case has been strengthened by a landmark High Court decision which ruled the inquiry would not influence the criminal cases of two lawmakers in detention on inciting riot charges.
“I am satisfied there is no evidence on which to apprehend that the public inquiry by the commission will influence those witnesses likely to be called in committal proceedings, so as to amount to contempt of court,” High Court judge, Justice John Brown said in his ruling.
“There is no apparent threatened contempt. To presume to anticipate contempt by the manner of the inquiry by the commission is not open on the evidence before me.”
The ruling ended months of delay allowing the inquiry to get off the ground.
Then Attorney-General Primo Afeau had wanted the court to examine two particular terms of reference he said were likely to influence the criminal cases of detained lawmakers Charles Dausabea and Nelson Ne’e.
Both men, who are Sogavare’s supporters, are in detention charged with inciting the Honiara riots that ousted Snyder Rini as prime minister and placed Sogavare in power.
Despite the ruling against then attorney-general, Justice Brown said Afeau did the right thing by bringing the matter before the court and facing the wrath of the prime minister.
“The attorney-general has been correct to bring these proceedings. He should not be criticised for seeking to exercise his undoubted right to have this court adjudicate upon an issue which can only be decided by this court.”
Sogavare in turn sacked Afeau for insubordination and misconduct. He replaced him with a controversial Australian lawyer.
Two Australian lawyers
If Sogavare’s decisions of late have attracted controversy—more so has been his association with two Australian lawyers.
Australian citizens Julian Moti QC—Sogavare’s new attorney-general and Marcus Einfield QC—Sogavare’s choice to head the inquiry commission have been hitting media headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Moti, the owner of local law firm Pacific Lawyers, is an unpopular figure amongst the local legal fraternity.
He was former prime minister Sir Allan Kemakeza’s choice to be attorney-general—but the move was abandoned due to the furore it caused.
When it became clear that Moti was in the running for the country’s top legal post, the Solomon Islands Bar Association rallied against Moti, on the grounds he was not a suitable replacement.
“Where a Solomon Islands citizen is properly qualified and experienced for the post of Attorney-General, he or she should be appointed and non-citizens only considered where no other Solomon Islands citizens is so suitably qualified,” the bar association said.
The association even submitted a full list of reasons to the legal services commission on why Moti should not be the next attorney-general.
In his own defence, Moti played the race card accusing the bar association of being a bunch of white supremacists.
“I am not surprised by the vicious attack on myself by a small white minority who act as proxies for foreign interests. I will continue to criticise Australia’s derogatory image of Solomon Islanders as ‘naïve, primitive and easily-manipulated peoples.’
“I will continue to condemn the common perception of Australia’s re-defined role and responsibility in civilising the ‘fuzzy-wuzzy’ natives of Melanesia,” Moti said in an open letter to the media.
Einfeld, on the other hand, was facing the heat in his own country as he came under scrutiny by the Australian media over a completely unrelated matter.
He was being investigated by Australian police over allegations he gave a false court testimony in court to avoid a Sydney speeding ticket.
Einfeld denies any wrongdoing but the intense scrutiny by the Australian media placed the Australian’s integrity under the microscope in Honiara.
“Recent attempts to publicly undermine the credibility of Einfeld have also been instigated and unless legally proven will have no bearing on his appointment as the Chairman of the Inquiry,” Sogavare said as the media scrutiny into the two Australian lawyers reached fever pitch.
“My government regrets the anguish which both Honourable Justice Marcus Einfeld and Julian Moti QC are currently suffering as a result of their willingness to serve our country. We understand that both gentlemen are now being investigated by the Australian Federal Police in relation to matters that have no bearing on their professional attributes, capability and independence.”
In the end, Sogavare conceded—terminating Einfeld’s appointment and replacing him with Papua New Guinea’s former chief justice, Sir Arnold Amet.
Motion of no confidence
Some five months after taking office, Sogavare future at the helm will be tested when he faces a motion-of-no-confidence in Parliament’s October session.
The motion backed by Opposition Leader Fred Fono, will be a test of Sogavare’s support.
“He has been causing a lot of public embarrassment to the nation. The decision to expel (Cole) is not in the best interest of Solomon Islands.”
Cole’s expulsion, Moti’s appointment and a leaked cabinet document that showed Sogavare wanted the inquiry to halt legal proceedings against the two detained lawmakers will play hard on the conscience of the country’s 50 MPs when they cast their vote.
—By Evan Wasuka
The dirty depths of down under
New Zealand politics hit a new low last month when two leading political parties engaged in extended mudslinging both inside and outside Parliament. National Party leader Don Brash said on television that Prime Minister Helen Clark must “come out of the gutter” after she described him as “cancerous and corrupt”. The National Party has been tightening the screws on Labour for over a month over the Taito Phillip Field affair and the Auditor-General’s ruling that the party illegally used taxpayers money to fund parts of its election campaign. Labour refuses to agree with the ruling and has been considering introducing a Bill that will retrospectively deem such spending legal.
The muckraking began with both parties threatening to expose each other. The spectacle unfolded full scale when a Labour MP made a snide remark on Brash in Parliament, about an alleged affair with a businesswoman.
Labour had long accused National of being in bed with the Business Roundtable, a lobby group of New Zealand businesspersons engaged in trying to shape policy favouring business—the rumour made that allegation sound literal (the businesswoman is secretary of the Roundtable). The media front-paged the story and Brash went all but underground for a couple of days, admitting he needed to sort out his marriage.
There was strong speculation he might have to step down from the party’s leadership, but it looks like he will keep his job—at least for now. Meanwhile, a magazine published pictures of Clark’s husband appearing to kiss another man during last year’s elections with the innuendo that he is gay. Shortly after, a National Party affiliate website published a picture of Clark herself dressed as the Star Wars’ villain Darth Vader with a blurb saying, “Luke, I am your lesbian father.” Brash immediately ordered the website shut. At press time, the mudslinging continues unabated with both parties agreeing that politics has hit an embarrassing low.
Disappointment at entry of new player
A Vanuatu Supreme Court ruling allowing the entry of Pacific Data Solutions into the Vanuatu market has disappointed Telecom Vanuatu Limited (TVL). TVL monopolises telecommunication services in the country and is one-third government-owned. The company says it will appeal against the ruling. According to TVL, the ruling can be seen as a conflict of interest for the government because of its shareholding in the telecom company. Pacific Data Solutions lawyers, however, are reported to have secured the ruling on the grounds that it would not enter the telecom services market in Vanuatu.
Hotels in Pukapuka, Manihiki?
Wellington-based entrepreneur Tim Tepaki, plans to develop several small hotels in the northern Cook Islands. He has suggested a 20 to 30-room hotel on the islands in Pukapuka and Manihiki, which landowners are reported to have welcomed. The developer says that such development will help stem the serious depopulation in the area. He also plans to persuade Air Rarotonga to provide air links to the distant islands.
New King to sell interests
Tonga’s newly crowned King Siaosi Tupou V has announced his decision to sell his interests in the businesses he owns. Among these are the companies which control the island kingdom’s telecommunications and power. The jewel in the crown, the Shoreline Group, will be divested first for starters, reports say. Meanwhile, new Pacific entrant Digicel Pacific that took over Telecom New Zealand’s stake in Telecom Samoa to launch cellular services in Samoa is reported to have expressed interest in acquiring Tonfon, Tonga’s cellular provider owned by King Tupou V. Meanwhile, Tonga’s US$8.2 million loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in 2002, earmarked for the government’s economic and public sector reform programme has been nearly all spent on paying civil servants, Minister of Finance, Honourable Siosiua ‘Utoikamanu told Parliament. He said part of the loan was used to pay what government owed to the civil servants retirement fund and to finance voluntary redundancy packages given to 815 civil servants in June.
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