Pacific Notes
Pacific Notes
Solomon Islands Political Pot-Stirring The election of a new Governor General and "defection" of the Opposition Leader has stirred the Solomon Islands political pot for the first time since the arrival of the Australian-led, regional intervention force just over a year ago. Solomon Islands Prime Minister Allan Kemakeza has enjoyed a relatively stable political scene since the arrival of the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI). But Government backbenchers began publicly airing their resentment in July when Sir Allen surprised them by appointing the then Opposition Leader John Garo as a Special Minister of State assisting the Prime Minister. Then just prior to his departure for a lengthy overseas trip to PNG and Samoa, Sir Allen sacked his Minister for Economic Planning, Nolan Leni for alleged disloyalty. Handing his dismissal letter to Leni, who had come to farewell him at the airport, Sir Allen stepped onto a plane and out of the political fray for a fortnight. Reports from Apia suggested that he intended to appoint the Solomon Islands' only expatriate Member of Parliament, Peter Boyers, who defected from the Opposition earlier this year, as the new Minister for Planning. But following the PM's departure, newly elected Governor General, Nathaniel Weana, indicated to the PM's office that he was not willing to sign the paper's decommissioning Leni. A former minister in the Kemakeza Government, Weana, had already publicly refused to swear-in the Regional Assistance Mission's new police chief as a deputy commissioner in the Royal Solomon Islands Police. The incident comes amid growing political upheaval in the Solomons as RAMSI steps up its efforts to investigate endemic corruption and pursue hard-hitting economic and public sector reforms. Solomon Islands Police Minister, Michael Maina, described the incident as "an embarrassment" and said he had expressed his disappointment to both the Governor General and the Prime Minister. "The Governor General has publicly said that he supports RAMSI, but he should not say that if he has a different agenda," Maina told Pacific Magazine. -Mary-Louise O'Callaghan Vanuatu July Election Creates More Uncertainty Former Vanuatu Prime Minister Edward Natapei of the Vanuaaku Pati (VP), called a snap election on July 6 to stave off an impending vote of no-confidence. But the election appears to have resulted in the virtual demise of the VP and greater uncertainty in the political situation than ever before. In the 1980s, the VP commanded a majority in the 52-seat parliament, but in the July election came in third, winning just eight seats. In fact the situation of the party that led Vanuatu to independence is far worse than those numbers indicate, with party stalwarts Sela Molisa and Joe Natuman jumping to Serge Vohor's taped-together coalition to give it a two vote majority (at 28 members) to form a government. When the Parliament finally convened in the last days of July, Vohor was elected PM with a patched together coalition of Vohor's Union of Moderate Parties, Deputy PM Maxime Carlot Korman's Vanuatu Republican Party, Foreign Minister Barak Sope's Melanesia Progressive Party, Finance Minister Moana Carcasses' Green Confederation, independents and the disaffected VP members. Vohor, Korman and Sope, who won election following a late 2002 presidential pardon that cut short a prison term for a forgery conviction, have all been prime ministers before. Vohor barely had time to move into his office before he was facing a threatened no confidence motion. The Daily Post reported that Minister for Ni-Vanuatu Businesses, Arnold Prasad from the Greens, resigned in early August. Both he and independent MP Thomas Nentu confirmed that they'd signed a motion of no confidence based on being promised the agriculture ministry. Vohor returned the volley with a threat of his own: "I can confirm that I am considering seeking a presidential order for a State Of Emergency to be activated if the organs of government are unable to be established due to the continuous concerns of a few leaders who still consider their personal interest over Vanuatu's wish to have a stable government." Opposition member Willy Jimmy, leader of the National United Party, which won 10 seats in Parliament, says Vohor's threat of a state of emergency was illegal because Vanuatu's situation did not meet the legal test for such a declaration. But with the Vanuatu Ombudsman in early August recommending that the Public Prosecutor launch legal action against Foreign Minister Sope for violating the country's Leadership Code, Vohor's multi-party coalition is clearly in for a rocky ride. -Giff Johnson Region Leaders Face Career-Ending Legal Battles T wo prominent Pacific politicians are facing legal action that could end their long political careers. In the Federated States of Micronesia, long-time national Congress speaker and now Senator Jack Fritz was found guilty of misuse of government funds by the FSM Supreme Court in July. In Vanuatu, the ombudsman has recommended that Foreign Minister Barak Sope be charged for leadership code violations by the Public Prosecutor. The FSM Supreme Court found Fritz guilty of four of 11 counts of misuse of government funds during his term as speaker. Fritz was given one year probation and for each of the four felony convictions and must pay a total of $4,000. Fritz, from the state of Chuuk, has already indicated that he intends to appeal the conviction. But if the FSM court's appellate division upholds the lower court's ruling, Fritz will be required to step down from office. He has been in the FSM Congress for 24 years. He was speaker for 16 years, before running in the 2003 election for Chuuk's single four-year seat. He lost the election to current Vice President Redley Killion of Chuuk, but then won reelection in the special vote held to replace Killion after he was elected from the Congress to the executive. Meanwhile, Sope is facing possible new legal problems over his conviction on two counts of forgery in July 2002. He was pardoned in November of that same year, a development that allowed him to run for office again in the July election. Sope was a founding member of the Vanua'aku Pati and had been in Parliament since independence to his conviction and imprisonment in 2002. He is a former prime minister and has been a minister in several governments. Sope has said that the Presidential pardon exonerated him. But Vanuatu ombudsman Hannington Alatoa said in a statement issued in early August that "the pardon does not remove the conviction…It does not have the retrospective effect of undoing what was done." The ombudsman's report recommends that the "Public Prosecutor must decide within three months of receiving this report whether there are sufficient grounds or evidence to support a prosecution under the Leadership Code," and urged the Public Prosecutor to initiate "prosecution against Mr. Sope under Section 27 of the Leadership Code Act for breach of the Leadership Code Act constituted by his conviction for forgery." -Giff Johnson Papua New Guinea Government Pressured To Abandon Sale The Papua New Guinea government is under increasing pressure to not sell 51 per cent of state-owned PNG Telikom Ltd to controversial Zimbabwe-based telecom Econet Wireless Limited. PNG Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare and his cabinet late July halted negotiations on the partial sale of Telikom to Econet and its South African partner Allied Technologies, after confidential government documents publicized by the PNG Opposition showed clashing views by the Telikom board, the Independent Public Business Corporation (IPBC) and Somare on the deal. The sale was announced with much fanfare by the PNG State Enterprises Minister Dr Puka Temu and the IPBC, the government agency tasked to sell state-owned companies. The deal would see the African company pay K150 million ($US44.5 million) for its 51 percent stake. K100 million of this would be paid to the IPBC and K50 million invested in Telikom to help fund future capital expenditure. The PNG public knew very little about Econet when Dr. Temu announced the deal in July. The only details were provided by Opposition MP Tim Neville who was critical of Econet's unsuccessful attempts to establish a third mobile phone network in New Zealand and the Somare government's push to sell despite Telikom making a net profit of K67 million last year. The documents publicized by the Opposition also pointed to Econet being embroiled in disputes in Kenya, Nigeria and Zimbabwe. But Econet CEO Strive Masiyiwa was unfazed by the criticisms, saying his company was excited by the opportunity to become part of PNG's telecommunications future. "We intend to improve and expand services which will enable Papua New Guinea to realize significant economic benefits including advances in health and education services in rural and remote locations," he said. A further controversy came with the hiring of Hong Kong-based Naputa Investment Inc on a US$1.45 million contract to conduct a detailed valuation of Telikom. Somare, seeing the seeds of discord the Telikom sale issue was creating among his MPs, had cabinet put a halt to the Telikom-Econet deal until they are satisfied all processes are followed in the lead up to the sale. -Alex Rheeney Fiji HIV/AIDS Drugs Arrive Twenty people living with HIV/AIDS began treatment from July 1 following arrival of the first batch of anti-retroviral drugs initiated by the government in consultation with the community groups. The program will cost F$36,000 for the 20, who will be supplied with medication for the next six months. Fiji has 156 reported AIDS cases; 14 were confirmed between January and May this year. -Matelita Ragogo Solomon Islands Aussie Report Issued A new Australian Foreign Affairs Department report, Solomon Islands: Rebuilding an Island Economy identifies public sector reform as crucial to economic and political recovery in the Solomon Islands. Foreign minister Alexander Downer said while launching the report, "Solomon Islands has more institutions intended to enforce accountability than many other Pacific States but corruption has still flourished." The report identifies the need to review land tenure arrangements to facilitate business, improved access to finance and expansion of the production base as key challenges. -Samantha Magick FSM Urusemul Warning FSM President Joseph J. Urusemal has expressed his concern and discontent with the "hardship" that the FSM will face with the phase out over the next five years of both the capacity building and private sector grant components under Free Association Compact II. After both Pohnpei and Kosrae failed to submit their transition plans to the U.S. Department of Interior in a timely manner, funds for the two sectors were withheld earlier this year, which led to a cash crisis on the islands. The FSM has since come to an agreement with the U.S. on a new deadline set for the states' transition plans, and for funds to be released. -Olivier Wortel Guam Reparations Sought The U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Resources held an oversight hearing on the recently-released Guam War Claims Commission's report on July 21, the 60th anniversary celebration of Guam's Liberation from the Japanese in World War II. The report recommended reparations based on injustices suffered by Guam's populace during the war. Reparations from Japan were waived by treaty. Guam citizens were disappointed when Department of Interior Deputy Assistant Secretary for Insular Affairs David Cohen, testified that the Bush administration was withholding its recommendation pending a more thorough evaluation of the report. While acknowledging the plight of Guam's people, Cohen pointed out that it was "by the fault of a foreign occupying power" and that "there are many worthy programs competing for limited federal dollars." -Frank Whitman Tonga Tonga Off List Tonga's poor political rights rating resulted in it being dropped from a list of the world's poorest countries that next near will be eligible for a new, multi-billion-dollar United States aid fund, according to the magazine Matagi Tonga. Tonga was on the initial candidate list in 2004 but low ratings in a political assessment and its income level helped to bump it off the list this year. Tonga may have a chance to get back on the list in 2006 when all countries with per capita incomes below US$2,975 will be eligible. But Tonga may need to address its poor indicator for political rights in order to win selection for access to the U.S. funding, Matagi Tonga reports. Vanuatu was the only successful Pacific Island country in the first group of 16 countries who may this year apply for multi-million dollar funding. -Giff Johnson CNMI Disaster Declaration President George Bush in July declared the Northern Marianas a disaster area paving the way for disaster-related funds to be made available a month after Typhoon Tingting caused major damage on the islands of Saipan, Tinian, and Rota. Governor Juan N. Babauta had submitted to the federal government a $2.53 million bill in disaster-related costs. -Frank Rosario |
