A former Fiji academic and Deputy Prime Minister is predicting the collapse of Fiji's military regime as a result of the growing influence of internet activism that he said hampered the Government's attempt to control.
Auckland based Dr Tupeni Baba, speaking at a recent lecture at the University of Guam, in Hagatna, predicted the recent defection of Colonel Ratu Mara to Tonga signalled the beginning of "a major crack" in Fiji.
"Any discussion and expression of opinion in the local media is subjected to strict censorship and any protest - even a peaceful protest-is dealt with under emergency regulations.”
Dr Baba, who was one of two Deputy Prime Ministers to Mahendra Chaudhry, said local activists relied on the electronic media "to express their frustrations" with the regime which is facing disintegration due to defections of key loyalists.
In an attempt to suppress the flow of information within Fiji, Dr Baba said the Government tried to limit the hours of internet use.
"They can censor the traditional media but they cannot do that with the electronic media," said the founder of the Fiji Labour Party.
"The military is beginning to fall out. But this is going to create a problem for the commodore. How will he hold people together when people like me, my friends, and the academics all over the world are talking and commenting? We are the dangers to his system," he said.
The turmoil, Dr Baba added, would make it even more difficult for Fiji to keep its tourism-fueled economy afloat.
"There is an attempt [by the Ministry of Information] to make those tourists visiting the shore believe thateverything is well in Fiji and the turmoil they read about is lost in the smiles of the accommodating locals," Dr Baba said, noting the "information disconnect" in Fiji.
"They are painting a reality different from the one that the military dictator’s draw."
When the regime starts believing in its own propaganda, Dr Baba warned, "it becomes entrenched and it would be a struggle to restore democracy and the rule of law in Fiji."
Dr Baba, who is based in Auckland, served in three democratically elected governments that had been overthrown by the coups in the past 20 years, including the latest coup of Commodore Bainimarama of 2006.
Dr Baba said he would be staying in Guam "for a while" to join his wife, Unaisi Nabobo Baba, who has a three-year contract with the University of Guam as an associate professor of education.
– Marianas Business Journal