It's what they did to the ordinary people of Fiji that matters. He also expressed concern that no-one had been convicted for the crime one year down the line. The Fiji Village website reported about 100 youths representing peace and reconciliation movements gathered outside the Parliament building and tied ribbons to the fence to mark the anniversary. However, Radio Australia said there were no obvious signs of tension in the capital city Suva. Nevertheless, underlining the political tension, caretaker Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase hardly enhanced the government's democratic pretensions when he claimed recently that the country was not ready for Western-style rule.
Western democracy believes in individual freedom, individual rights, one man, one vote.
So it's quite different from our community way of life. Qarase also stirred up the racial melting pot when he asserted that only an indigenous Fijian should be prime minister, adding that he hopes to win the job on a permanent basis after the planned August elections. But his party will be one of 20 competing for the indigenous vote. The seeds of the coup were sown by inter-racial hatred against the island nation's powerful Indian community. The Indians were brought to Fiji as indentured labor by British colonists more than 100 years ago, and dominate the key industries of sugar and garment manufacturing, and make up 44 percent of the population.