From Randal Dick
Superintendent of Missions
The idyllic island nation of Fiji--a place where millions have gone to find peace and tranquility--has erupted in political violence, because of a May 19 coup.
Pastor Epeli
Kanaimawi and his wife, Sofi, have been asked to serve the people of Fiji to try to bring
peace again. Following are excerpts from the Kanaimawis' reports.
A civilian coup took place yesterday after a demonstration march. Seven armed men rushed to Parliament just as it was resuming debate for the day and took all parliamentarians hostage.
Sofi and I drove through the centre of Suva yesterday, and downtown Suva was in total ruin! After the demonstration, the Fijians ran riot and started destroying properties and burning down buildings.
Yesterday evening I was away with the prime minister's prayer group for an emergency meeting and did not return till late. The group discussed what advice to give to those in authority regarding the takeover. We considered Proverbs 20:28 ("Love and faithfulness keep a king safe; through love his throne is made secure") as well as other texts from chapters 28 and 29.
We decided that our advice to our leaders would be against military intervention, as that would mean killing innocent people. The hostages are safe and communicate with the outside world through the media. We will encourage that dialogues continue until the matter is resolved peacefully.
Five women parliamentarians are among the hostages, one of whom is the daughter of the president and minister for tourism. Discussions took place yesterday about a military attack, but we are happy that common sense prevailed.
George Speight's group is backed by a faction of the army. A swelling number of supporters (estimated at 1,500) have entered the Parliament compound. Thousands of Fijians sit outside the gates and act as human shields.
At the Great Council of Chiefs (GCC) meeting in April, the chiefs agreed that I chair a committee to look into the subject of Fijian unification. Before the GCC meeting ended this Thursday, the council again asked that I lead a delegation of members to convey the decisions of the council to George Speight and his group. This responsibility came as a surprise, as I am not a member of the GCC. I seek prayers of the brethren as our discussions provide the only key to ending the coup.
So far we have had two meetings with George and his group inside Parliament, and the results have been encouraging. On our way to Parliament yesterday afternoon, the atmosphere was tense. The police force and soldiers surrounded the Parliament complex after armed civilians were seen on eight occasions outside the complex. The army was brought in to ensure that weapons were not being smuggled to the coup supporters.
Rumours had spread inside Parliament buildings that the army had stopped my delegation. They did not realise that we were at a checkpoint waiting for other members to arrive.
Meanwhile George Speight with his armed guards and hundreds of supporters acting as human shields marched down the road to question the combined police and military forces as to why they were detaining us and blocking free access to his supporters.
Because of this incident, the coup group requested in a traditional Fijian ceremony that the meeting be postponed to this afternoon. We accepted that request as we needed time to prepare certain legal documents before we met.
The members are fine and not directly affected by the coup. They spent yesterday praying for a solution to the political problem in Fiji, and I am confident that a way forward will be found.
We are going in for another round of talks this afternoon but I am informed that there are plans to sabotage our efforts.
For the first time there were shootings yesterday, with two army officers and a British press reporter injured. This would not have happened had the army retreated on Friday afternoon. Once blood is shed, there will be retaliatory measures taken and we all pray that common sense will prevail.
The situation is still explosive, and each time we walk into the Parliament complex, surrounded by young people with guns, anything can happen.
The Kanaimawis have to be more cautious about their movements since he, in his role as chief negotiator, is essentially acting as the spokesman for the Great Council of Chiefs (GCC). He was advised that some of Speight's supporters might express their discontent toward him as a representative of the GCC.
Sofi said that it was stressful and the days were long, but she and Epeli were doing OK (although she sounded tired, naturally). I told her that everyone here was praying for their safety and for God's blessing on Epeli in this heavy responsibility that has been thrust upon him.
We are praying for God's intervention in the impasse to settle the hostage problems and for George Speight to lay down arms. We are also praying that the Fiji Military Forces (FMF) would hand over executive power to a civilian government through the Great Council of Chiefs (GCC).
We have had two illegal coups, one carried out May 19 by George Speight with the backing of the indigenous Fijians and the second on May 29 carried out by the army on the guise of providing the country with law and order.
The army commander, Frank Bainimarama, removed the president and abrogated the constitution. He is now head of state and does not want to hand over power to the GCC. He wants to form a military government and expects the GCC to rubber stamp it.
As chairman of the Special Purpose Committee of the GCC, I issued a statement last week to inform the commander and the country that it would be wrong for either the commander or George Speight to form a government and expect the GCC to endorse it.
Sofi had an interesting but rather scary experience yesterday afternoon as she was taking one of the women to a meeting at the Vice President's office. They stopped at the Parliament complex to pick up the woman's uncle, who was also to attend the meeting.
Instead of the uncle showing up, George Speight and two armed body guards got into the car, as they were also going to the same meeting. They had to go through military checkpoints on the way to the Vice President's office, and armed soldiers were on both sides of the road.
Yesterday morning I attended a meeting with the acting president. George Speight asked Sofi and me to please pick him up and his security for the meeting. We did that just as Sofi did the previous day and again ran the risk of being caught in the crossfire between his armed guards and the armed soldiers at the checkpoints. All went well, though.
The meeting at the acting president's office was attended by the army commander, George Speight and his legal advisers and a Methodist minister. I represented the Great Council of Chiefs with a secretary and our legal counsel. Being the first meeting convened by the acting president, it was exploratory and did not achieve much.
After the meeting George Speight and his bodyguard decided to return to the Parliament complex in the Methodist minister's car, as the group wanted go and see some relatives on the way. Their motorcade was attacked by soldiers at the last checkpoint, but George and his party escaped without injury.
The soldiers detained the second car and its passengers. This angered those in the Parliament complex and they came marching to the checkpoint to retrieve their group members. The soldiers knew that they had made a mistake and allowed George's party to go.
He rang me yesterday after the incident and again last night. I advised him not to retaliate. Fortunately I also have a direct line to his security officer and also counseled him against any violence.
The young armed people inside the camp demanded a full explanation from the army before yesterday's sunset, and the army sent them an apology. Had that not happened, they planned to attack the armed forces.
This attack on George Speight will delay further negotiations, and it appears that the release of the hostages may take some time because of the military's firm stand to form a military government. As long as they insist on this, the George Speight group will not release the hostages, and the stalemate will continue. Meanwhile the hostages are well looked after but the country suffers from trade embargoes, closure of hotels, no sugarcane harvest and mass layoffs.
George Speight agreed June 2 to release the women hostages but they refused to be released on the grounds that either all hostages are released or none at all. That was a brave stand on the part of the women but I question the wisdom of it as some have families and children back home to look after. As for Pentecost, we had services in Suva and Nadi last Sabbath but attendance was low because of difficulties in travel and other things.
Imagine yourself drafted into this situation, and you can understand
how much the Kanaimawis need our prayers. I'm sure they would appreciate cards of
encouragement as well. (You can write to them at 50 Muicolo Rd., Nltbs, Tamavua, Suva,
Fiji.) We will endeavor to keep you informed.
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