Doctors will easily tell us that the ability to safely swallow is important for healthy nutrition and hydration. Swallowing helps break food down into smaller pieces, making digestion easy.
Technically, it triggers the covering of epiglottis in the throat which prevents foods and liquids from entering the windpipe and lungs.
Swallowing is one of the easiest things to do. That is why we feel terribly uneasy when something is forced down our throats; we may choke, have shortness of breath and even vomit things out.
Forcing things down the throat can also be done without involving food and the throat. It also means a situation when someone is forced to accept or like an idea or belief, or when there is no listening, no compromise, no dialogue and zero consultation.
Good leadership means that leaders should stay away from forcing things down people’s throats. Good leaders display sensible reasoning and definitive action that results from the ability to listen people out.
Without diligently hearing someone out, one cannot expect to find effective solutions. If decisions are made without listening then they would most likely be superficial and ill-considered.
Likewise, a responsible government will listen to its people and value the reservoir of knowledge and experience that exist around it because listening to each other helps to create an environment of respect, peace and tolerance.
It also fosters friendships and mends ruined relationships. Time and time again, we hear of public ramblings about how decisions, made hastily and in bad faith, have resulted in wrong actions, public anger and civic uproar.
In his New Year’s message at the start of 2013, former PM Voreqe Bainimarama, announced Fiji’s flag change.
This decision was done unilaterally and did not involve the citizens of Fiji. Citizens only participated in the flag design competition, perhaps to rubberstamp government’s decision.
The flag change was to precede the first democratic elections since the coup of 2006 and symbolize the ushering in of the FijiFirst party’s new brand of democracy.
Mr Bainimarama said the flag change was to adopt a symbol that was more aligned with “our” national aspirations in the 21st century.
“We need to replace the symbols on our existing flag that are out of date and no longer relevant, including some anchored to our colonial past,” he said.
“The new flag should reflect Fiji’s position in the world today as a modern and truly independent nation state.”
But the flag, fondly referred to as noble banner blue, was widely loved and admired, and what followed the flag change campaign was a public outcry never experienced before. People rejected the change because it was forced down Fijians’ throats without proper consentgetting and consultation and as a result, the flag that was hoisted for the first time in October 10, 1970 continues to flutter in Fiji skies today.
The proposed Police Bill caused huge public outcry in March 2021. That was yet another example of how the lack of public dialogue could result in public uproar and distrust in public authorities.
The intention of government was relatively good – “to review the Police Act of 1965” but for a piece of law that was to be far-reaching, especially when it proposed to give a wide scope of powers to the police and affected with people’s right to privacy, the public should have been more actively and widely consulted.
Then there was the Bill 17 of July, 2021, which was criticised by a huge crosssection of the Fiji public.
Again, its problem was – people were not consulted. Over the past 16 years, the Fiji public had become used to seeing this lack of consultation at play. There are numerous examples of how laws were passed without regard for proper and genuine public participation.
They have all created a dent in the image of the last government. This week, Attorney-General Siromi Turaga apologised to journalists and the media for the harassment, abuse and choice of actions by the previous administrators.
He has indicated there would be wide consultation before the Media Industry Development Act 2010 gets reviewed. MIDA too was rammed down people’s throats and a two-hour meeting with industry representatives was used to rubberstamp government’s decision.
Every now and then, we hear debates around the use of the word “Fijian” to refer to all the people of Fiji. This is the result of another change that was made unilaterally, and after Fijian, as a word, had been used since the 1800s to refer to Fiji’s indigenous people.
Under the 1997 constitution the words “Fiji Islander” was used to refer to all the people of Fiji. In fact, we could be called anything, from Fijistani to Vitians, but the underlying key is ensuring there is “consultation” and citizens are given the right to discuss and decide what they want to be called.
Then there’s the never ending talk of the Great Council of Chiefs, a Britishinvented organisation that had been the apex of Fijian leadership and had been in existence since the 1800s. Again, this was removed unilaterally without consultation.
Many of the changes to policies and laws that we are experiencing or will experience in coming weeks and months are the direct outcome of the unilateral, non-consultative and authoritarian decision-making of the past.
The current government must ensure that it veers away from this style of doing things and embrace conversation, genuine open discussion and dialogue on issues, policies and laws that are far-reaching and widely affect the population.
There are signs that PM Sitiveni Rabuka believes in consultation and this is a step in the right direction. In any form, forcing things down our throats, which was prevalent in the past 16 years, should be rejected!
