Former Fiji PM Says SDL Should Be Silenced

By Ryan L. Maness
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

SUVA, Fiji -- Sitiveni Rabuka, a former Fijian PM, has said that the SDL should not be allowed to make public statements because any such statement has the possibility of destabilizing the country. The SDL is no longer in power, he said, so they should not be allowed to continue to make public statements that are a risk to the nation's security.  Rabuka feared that because the SDL still controlled the popular sentiment of large sections of the population throughout the country, their freedom of speech could equate to a threat to national security; particularly so when considered against the SDL's obvious willingness to speak out against the interim government. 

He says that if the SDL is sufficiently dangerous for the interim government to cite them as one of their reasons for reinstating the Public Emergency Regulations, then further court actions should be taken to ensure that they do not make public statements once the regulations are lifted.  While he looked forward to the lifting of the PER later this week, he thinks that there might be a need to take further action against the SDL: "If we do not have the emergency regulations, you can still have a court injunction preventing certain people from making statements in the anticipation that those statements could destabilise the situation."  He feels that it would be preferable to  impose restrictions on the SDL than to  impose them upon the entire population. 

The SDL Party has responded strongly, saying that any attempt to silence them is against the bedrock principles of democracy.  "Peceli Kinivuwai, the SDL national director, said, "We cannot be silenced. In any country for democracy to thrive, and for the sake of good governance, for the sake of expression, we should all be allowed to talk. And we should all be allowed to voice our opinions freely."He went on to say that Rabuka's plan would be a violation of both human rights and Fiji's Constitution because freedom of speech is guaranteed. 

For more information, please see:

Radio New Zealand International -- Fiji's Rabuka queries move to silence SDL -- 28 September 2007

Radio New Zealand International -- Fiji's SDL party says gagging calls are incompatible with democracy -- 28 September 2007

Radio New Zealand International -- Former Fiji PM says free speaking by SDL could lead to instability -- 27 September 2007