Mara’s ‘Pacific Way’ Legacy

Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara

The May 4th issue of the Fiji Times carried a letter from a Papua New Guinean citizen who lamented that the death of Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara's felt like "part of my life had left me."

Two days earlier in his eulogy, Sir Michael Somare, PNG's Prime Minister and one of Mara's closest friends, tearfully remembered when Mara was his guru, advising him on "many things in government."

There's a historical irony in this. In 1972 Mara objected strongly to PNG's admission into the South Pacific Forum on the grounds that only independent states should be admitted. PNG had to wait for another three years until independence for admission into the Forum. Somare was not very happy with Mara then, but that changed over the years as Mara's charisma and mana became Somare's source of inspiration at a time when PNG was still struggling to come to terms with the complexities of independent statehood. Such was the influence of the man.

The accolades which dominated the Fiji and Pacific media after his death, from ordinary citizens and world and regional leaders alike, had a number of common themes: Mara's passing was the end of an era for Fiji and the Pacific, Mara's qualities and achievements were irreplaceable, Fiji and the Pacific are poorer without the man.

Apart from being the "father of modern Fiji," he was also widely regarded as the father of the "Pacific Way." The term Pacific Way had, since 1972 when Mara first coined it, become a dominant theme in Pacific political and cultural discourse. Pacific politicians, academics, theologians, journalists, civil servants and people of various persuasions and social class still use the term with regionalist passion. To Mara the Pacific Way sought to create a common identity in a geographically and culturally diverse region. The Pacific Way of doing things referred to dialogue, consensus and mutual understanding. The politics of confrontation and contradiction, a common characteristic of western liberal democracy, was to be shunned in favor of collective consensual engagement.

On the regional stage, Mara was a major force behind the setting up of the South Pacific Forum (SPF) as an alternative to what was seen as the colonial character of the South Pacific Commission (SPC).

Beyond the region, Mara's ingenuity as a negotiator was a significant factor in securing major concessions for opening up of the European Union (EU) market to products from the African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group of countries. Most of the South Pacific countries benefited from the preferential access offered by the Lome Convention which facilitated the access agreement.

Mara as chairman of the ACP and chief negotiator won the admiration of both ACP and EU leaders. His academic proficiency (a Masters degree in modern history from Oxford), sound economic judgment (he read economics at the famed London School of Economics) and his political astuteness were tested to the limit and ultimately prevailed in an atmosphere of multi-lateral conspiracies and clashes between national and regional interests. The benefits of the Lome Convention, which has continued under the Cotonou Agreement, are still being enjoyed by many Pacific states. Originally the Cotonou Agreement was to have been signed in Suva (in which case it would have been called the Suva Agreement) but the 2000 coup thwarted that plan. It would have been a great tribute to the Mara legacy had the ACP-EU agreement he so tirelessly fought to bring to fruition been signed in Suva.

Mara was convinced that the EU-ACP arrangement was the lifeline of the Fiji and Pacific economies and had to be protected at all cost. This even meant refraining from criticizing the French for their nuclear testing in the Pacific. While there was widespread criticism of French testing throughout the region, Mara was cautious, fearing that if the French were angered, they could withdraw support for the preferential arrangement under the EU-ACP agreement. Although this fear was later proven to be baseless, it showed that Mara was determined not to allow political factors jeopardize the significant economic gains he had fought for.

The cold war scenario also impacted on Mara's foreign policy. In 1982 he lifted a ban on U.S. nuclear warships visiting Fiji, and in 1985 put a ban on Russian ships visiting Fiji ports. His government was heavily criticized by civil society organizations for favoring the Americans and some of them formed the Fiji Anti-nuclear Group (FANG) to protest against Fiji's nuclear ship visits as well as the French nuclear testing.

Although Mara is gone, debate on his Pacific Way concept will continue. Critics of the concept argue that the term Pacific Way as used by some leaders is too elitist and anti-democratic and tends to provide the ideological justification for the status quo. For instance those who question their leaders are regarded as "un-Pacific" and in some instances, as in Tonga, this becomes an excuse for suppression of free speech.

There are those who argue that the concept has been misused as an excuse for everything "negative" we do. If we are late or lazy we say that it is the Pacific Way of doing things. I doubt Mara had coined the term to justify lateness and laziness. But he probably would have welcomed the debate, the intellectual discourse and political creativity emanating from the concept.

At the time of Mara's death, I could not help but liken him to a tsunami, roaring with immeasurable intensity across the Pacific and eventually crashing and disappearing. However, while tsunamis leave in their wake destruction, Mara's passing has left a vacuum that will be virtually difficult to fill. Certainly not in my generation.

Dr. Steven Ratuva is a political sociologist currently based at the University of the South Pacific in Suva and a visiting fellow at the Australian National University.