Another year, another global crisis. And another set of terrible and disturbing public health and educational statistics. The new year is upon us, and there will be no escape from the relentless and unremitting negativity and uncertainty and there will be no recovery and no prosperity and no certainty until and unless there is a complete abrogation of the 2013 Constitution. That is the reality.
One thing is for sure. There’s no need to beat around the bush. And there is no need to run around making lofty New Year’s resolutions that you know you won’t keep and that are no sooner broken than they are made. It has always struck me as the height of foolishness.
What the world needs is more compassion and common sense and understanding and balance right now. What we need is a new outlook and a new attitude. The tradition of peace, love, humility, kindness, empathy, truth, and compassion need to be revived and developed more than ever, in a world fraught with fear and anxiety and with myriad disasters, natural and man made. There is a need to translate it to practice. Practice makes perfect after all, and there is a general consensus about the need to practice to become more effective and efficient and successful. Similarly, there is a need to seek consistency, accuracy, efficiency and performance reliability.
President elect Donald Trump is already flexing his political muscles on important domestic and foreign issues. He has already made clear that he has his own plans and designs for American territorial expansion, and that includes his own wish and desire to control and subjugate Greenland and Panama Canal. It’s not a joke this time around. He is too obvious about his own ambitions, and his “America First” philosophy, as the New York Times rightly notes, has an expansionist dimension. And that’s just for starters. Mr Trump hasn’t even taken office yet, and he’s already blaming Turkey for carrying out an “unfriendly takeover” of Syria. The infuriating, shameful, and cyclical blame game continues unabated, but there are obviously broader ethical and regional issues here beyond the political blame game.
Then there is China, which is hell-bent to take over Taiwan and is focused on hybrid warfare tactics. China’s claims over the South China Sea, do not correspond to the Law of the Sea, and a US-China conflict in the South China Sea would be a humanitarian tragedy and a global catastrophe. As if that were not bad enough, the Ukraine war is showing no signs of abating, but, on the contrary, is only showing signs of worsening and spreading. Neither side is wholly innocent, and no side is, in fact, innocent and guiltless. On the contrary, there is plenty of blame to go around on all sides, and the usual Washington and Moscow finger-pointing blame games are in full swing.
The Middle East is a boiling cauldron of bloodshed, violence, cultural antagonism, self-interest, arguments and bad feelings. Houthi attacks persist, and even intensify, to the point of fervour and excess and regional conflict, and global shipping companies say they’ll continue to avoid Red Sea.
The US war in the Middle East is not coming; it is already here. And the fall of Assad has not only sent shock waves well beyond Syria and the uncertain Middle Eastern political landscape, but it is a monumental, defining, unpredictable and disruptive geopolitical event that will reverberate far beyond Syria’s borders. Palestine’s mayhem continues unabated. An Israel-Lebanon War, too, continues unabated and fury-like.
And here at home, Fiji has had its fair share of political turmoil, and after almost two decades of political repression and propaganda and persecution and censorship and breaches of human rights, the economy is moribund and blighted and debilitated. Moreover, it seems that the Westminster system of governance is not suitable for today’s Fiji, and it culminated in 16 long years of brutal dictatorship under Bainimarama. We did not deserve this misery and this kind of tragedy. Consequently, it is now our obligation to clean up the system of governance, and to improve, upgrade and adapt it to new requirements and to the modern context.
We are indeed all fortunate to have a relatively benign coalition government under the leadership of Hon Sitiveni L Rabuka, although he has admitted that governing in a coalition is no easy task.
Let’s bring the new year in with a new type of governance, one that takes account of the realities of soil, water, air, climate, landscape, biodiversity, and other components and the needs, health, safety, and welfare of the citizenry at large.
I guess the ideal would be a government of national unity based on a new constitution. This burden and responsibility falls squarely on the shoulders of the Rabuka government, which also has a responsibility to ensure that adequate public funds are available and are utilised in the best manner possible. Moreover, we need to utilise our unique geographical location as the centre of the South Pacific to develop a sustainable and resilient food system in the region and a fixed amount of produce from the land when the northern hemisphere is out-of-season. We must utilise our abundant fresh water resources and we must also sharply curtail expenditures in less productive endeavours and in less productive areas.
New Year’s resolutions are meant to be broken, and we have no need for them to make our choices “meaningful,” achieve our goals, and realise our dreams. What we need instead is greater transparency and consistency and continuous rigour, and a new governance goal and a greater insistence on good and clean governance. That will enable us to reach security and peace and political stability, and will enable Fiji to be a shining example to the world and be a shining role model for the free world.
It’s in our hands to make this work, and to make this a reality. And to make Fiji the way the world should be. Let’s move into 2025 with a new attitude, a new approach, a new outlook, and a new system. God bless Fiji. Here’s to a happy, healthy, successful, and prosperous 2025!
