GLOBAL FREEDOM INDEX’S RATING OF FIJI A BIG JOKE, FAILS TO REFLECT REALITY
Freedom House, the American organization behind this index, rates us and Papua New Guinea as ‘partly free’ when it comes to political rights and civil liberties.
This is an edited version of Nemani Delaibatiki’s My Say 4 The Record programme on FBC TV last night
United States research organisation Freedom House’s rating of Fiji as the least politically free country in the Pacific is a joke. Freedom House rates countries on their political rights and civil liberties.
Its 2018 Global Freedom Index rated 88 countries as “free,” 58 as “partly free” and 49 as “not free” in 2017, reported Radio New Zealand.
All but two countries in the Pacific Islands region were rated as being free. Fiji and Papua New Guinea, with aggregate scores of 59 and 63 out of 100 respectively, were rated as being
partly free.
Tuvalu had the highest rating of any Pacific island country with 94.
Of the metropolitan countries in the countries in the wider Pacific region, Australia and New Zealand scored 98, and Indonesia 64 (partly free). China with 14 was considered “not free”.
When Tonga scores higher (75) than Fiji something is not right. We have a Parliament (51 seats) that is totally representative of the people, a Constitution that gives everyone equal rights and freedom of choice and expression. In Tonga, a constitutional monarchy, full representative democracy is still work in progress. In the 2010 general election, a majority of the seats (17 out of 26) in the Tongan Parliament were elected by universal suffrage for the first time, with the remaining nine seats being reserved for members of Tonga’s nobility.
While freedom of speech and of the press is guaranteed by the Constitution, these rights are not always protected in practice. Politicians’ rights also face testing times.
On August 25, 2017, King Tupou VI dissolved the Assembly on the advice of its Speaker, Siale ataongo Tu ivakan , who claimed that Prime Minister Akilisi Pohiva was attempting to claim powers held by the King and Privy Council within Cabinet.[3] Mr Pohiva was returned as PM in the subsequent election.
What needs to be asked is how Freedom House obtained the information that formed the basis of its analysis and rating.
Did its researchers speak to people and organisations here who have perceptions that we are partly free?
If they did, did they attempt to verify the information. Because if they cross-checked it they would have discovered that we are not what they think we are. We are a free country where we uphold the rule of law, basic human rights and freedoms of individuals.
The previous Saturday, we saw trade unionists, politicians and their supporters march through Nadi and demonstrate their political expressions. But Freedom House’s report is typical of some overseas NGOs who obviously are out of touch with reality on the ground or are driven by certain political agendas.
There are people today, for reasons best known to them, who will refuse to accept that Fiji is now a progressive, modern nation state with a Constitution that embraces equality and other universal values and principles. We have a robust justice system where people can seek redress in a court of law and be given a fair go. Workers, employers, companies and the Government can vouch for the independence of our justice system. Go through the court records and you will see evidence of this.
There have been cases where court has ruled in the workers’s favour. In the case of NATIONAL UNION OF FACTORY AND COMMERCIAL WORKERS (APPLICANT) AND FRINCOS HIRE (FIJI) LIMITED (RESPONDENT) CASE NUMBER: ERCC NO. 11 OF 2013, the High Court had determined the issue of lockout and ordered that the employees be allowed to work and be paid the number of hours they were locked out.
On Friday (January 19), on the eve of his back-to-work order on the case of the dispute between Air Terminal Services and its striking workers, resident magistrate Andrew See, had made a ruling in favour of a worker. He ruled in the Employment Relations Tribunal that grievor, Renuka Narayan, represented by lawyer Damodaran Nair, was unjustifiably dismissed in his employment. He ordered the employer, Beachcomber Island Resort, should pay Mr Narayan $11,660 for compensation within 21 days.
On Saturday, Mr See brought relief to the workers and ATS management when he ended the impasse in their dispute. Both sides wanted that same outcome but were constrained by certain differences.
This is ample proof that the rule of law, the justice system, individual rights and group rights are alive and well protected here.
So what is Freedom House talking about? Nonsense.