Yellow Ribbon Campaign (Fiji) - The National Alliance Party

The National Alliance Party

National Alliance Party founder and former Great Council of Chiefs Chairman Ratu Epeli Ganilau said that the notion that politically motivated crimes could be justified was "insulting to the intelligence of ordinary people," and that it represented a naive and uncaring attitude toward the hurt suffered by many during the 2000 coup. "The intention to bring a closure to investigations and litigation regarding the 2000 coup would be a severe interference of politics into the work of law enforcement in this country," Ganilau said. On 18 May, he added that he saw "nothing reconciliatory about the bill," which he believed to be aimed at legalizing the Muanikau Accord, which had been proposed by George Speight in 2000. "To use the word reconciliation is a gross violation of the rights of everyone in this nation," he said.

On 16 June, Ganilau accused Prime Minister Qarase of contradicting himself, saying that his denial of a general amnesty in the Fiji Times (on 15 June) conflicted with comments that he had made in New Zealand the weak before. This would, he considered, undermine the Prime Minister's credibility. He also said that there was a widespread belief in Fiji that the legislation was designed to provide for the freeing of coup perpetrators, a belief by the Tui Vaturova, Ratu Ilisoni Rokotuibua who said early in June that it would allow members of the Counter Revolutionary Warfare Unit, who have been jailed for mutiny, to be released. Having built up such expectations, Ganilau said, the government had better be prepared for a strong backlash if they are not fulfilled. He criticized Qarase for expecting the people, as ordinary mortals, to do as only God could do by legislating forgiveness and freeing people from the consequences of their actions.

On 23 June, Ganilau condemned what he said was the Prime Minister's "monumental deception" in asking church leaders to support the legislation without honestly explaining its contents to them. He was reacting to revelations from Roman Catholic Archbishop Petero Mataca and other church leaders that at a meeting with the Prime Minister on 2 May, they had been told of the reconciliation and compensation provisions of the legislation, but not about its amnesty provisions. "It does not say much about the credibility of the Prime Minister for him to be saying publicly that the Christian churches support the bill after these deliberate acts of deception." Ganilau said. He called on churches to join with other religions to put together an alternative blueprint to the government's reconciliation proposals.

The National Alliance Party's submission to Parliament on 27 June warned that if the legislation is passed, the first victim could be the government, as the army could use its legitimization of treason as a legal weapon to oust the government.

Ganilau reiterated his stand on 3 July that the legislation was motivated not by the goal reconciliation, but by ulterior motives, namely the freeing of lawbreakers. He called on the Prime Minister and the Attorney-General to come clean about the government's real reasons for promoting the legislation. The bill could not achieve its purported goal of reconciliation, he added, because it made no provision for offenders and victims to meet and ask forgiveness. He called on the government to remember that the 2000 coup happened because the perpetrators of the early 1987 coups had been granted immunity from prosecution.

On 18 July, Ganilau said he did not believe amendments promised by the government were to be taken seriously. He made the dismissive comment after the government said it would amend the legislation to protect the independence of the police and the judiciary. He said the government had a "dismal" record on keeping its promises, and believed this latest commitment would be no different. "As it is, their record of political commitments have been dismal because they had not been genuine in nation building from the beginning and this includes the introduction of this Bill itself," Ganilau said. He also called on the government not to try to deceive the Great Council of Chiefs, which is due to meet to discuss the bill in the third week of July.

Reacting to the decision of the chiefs to support the bill on 27 July, Ganilau said that he would have expected the chiefs to have taken more time to consider and debate the matter, but that their decision would make no difference in the end because it was Parliament that would decide on the bill.

On 2 August, Ganilau said that Prime Minister Qarase was wrong to defend the decision of the provincial councils to endorse the legislation, saying that they had based their decision solely on information presented by the government, and had not been given the chance to hear alternative views.

Ganilau reiterated his opposition to the legislation on 7 October, along with his support of the right of the Military to speak out against government policies that it considered not conducive to national security. He considered that the country could not afford to give amnesty to people who had wronged others. "In good times the military will not interfere in politics," he said, but added that the Military had a legitimate interest in opposing the Unity Bill because it could threaten national stability. "Maybe it is going to be a cause of instability in future when we continue to provide amnesty for those who have done wrong and our society won’t tolerate that," Ganilau said.