Laisa Taga
So the United Nations (UN) has spoken. Commodore Frank Bainimarama and the Fiji military have been warned. Behave or you could lose all those international peacekeeping roles.

An interesting development given the way the United Nations sometimes turns a blind eye to the peacekeeping roles of other regimes with far worse records than Fiji has ever had. Like Zimbabwe, for example.

Is this yet another example of how it’s easy to pick on a small dot on the world map? Is this another example of the double standards so often at play in international politics?

But it will be interesting to see Commander Bainimarama’s reaction to the standoff between him and the Qarase Government has escalated beyond the Pacific.

Apart from warnings by Secretary-General Kofi Annan that Fiji could lose its lucrative peacekeeping work, the Security Council is now also watching very closely the developments in the country. This is after it was asked to make a decision on Fiji’s situation.

Because of its concern for Fiji, it had a special sitting on Wednesday morning November 29 to discuss the Fiji issue and about mid-day a statement was issued—an unusual move by the Security Council.

Those who know the workings of the UN, and particularly the Security Council, know that it is quite difficult to get something on the agenda of the council. Someone high up must have pulled a few strings to ensure the Fiji issue was put there.

At that sitting members expressed concern about the challenges posed by the Fiji military commander to the Government of Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase.

And they called on the Fiji military to exercise restraint and avoid taking any action which would undermine the rule of law and run counter to the best interests of the people of Fiji

“We believe that a peaceful and lasting resolution of current political differences according to Fiji’s constitution is to the benefit of Fiji and the region.

“We have also encouraged the UN Secretary-General to continue to use his good offices to help resolve the dispute in an orderly, peaceful manner,” the council said.
 
IMPLICATIONS

But what does this all mean to Fiji? The council as a matter fact is run by 15 countries—5 of them are permanent members and they are really the big giants—United States, Russia, United Kingdom, France and China. The other 10 are non-permanent members.

The Security Council supposedly acts on behalf of all United Nations members. That means that the 199 or so countries are rallying behind the democratically-elected government of Qarase. And should the situation deteriorate, these countries could in theory impose sanctions on Fiji and cease technical co-operation. Observers say, if that happens, Fiji could be brought to its knees within a week.

Secondly, for Fiji diplomats at the United Nations (UN), this is probably not a good time to be there. Fiji’s reputation, usually highly regarded in the UN, has now taken a beating as a result of the standoff. They’re now hanging their heads in shame.

As Annan says, the prolongation of the crisis may damage Fiji’s international standing. This it has built carefully over the years, as an important contributor to UN peacekeeping operations and more recently as a member of the Peacebuilding Commission.

Thirdly, if the standoff continues to escalate, Fiji could see itself thrown out of the Peacebuilding Commission. Fiji is the only country from the Pacific, which is a member of the commission. It is there representing the Asia/Pacific region.

Fourthly, Fiji, as mentioned by UN secretary-general, could be kicked out of the UN peacekeeping operations. Annan told Inner City Press at the UN that if there’s a coup, the UN won’t accept peacekeeping troops from Fiji. So what will happen to Fiji’s many soldiers now serving on UN peacekeeping duties abroad?

Yes, there’s definitely double standard at play here. There’s no such speed of action and firmness from Annan and the Security Council when dealing with issues like North Korea and Myanmar. 

But that’s the reality of when you’re a small island state and it’s oh-so-easy for the bigger boys, and the Secretary-General, to move against you. It’s a reality all of Fiji has to live with. Let’s hope that good sense will ultimately prevail. In Fiji and at the United Nations.