Democracy's Meltdown in Fiji

Fiji's President Ratu Josefa Iloilo has taken many steps away from democracy in past days, as he abolished the state's constitution, sacked all judges on the judiciary committee, and appointed himself head of state. He also re-appointed Commodore Frank Bainimarama as interim Prime Minister only days after his Ministership, undertaken in 2006 after a military coup, was ruled unconstitutional by the Judiciary Committee's Court of Appeals.

Bainimarama has also appointed a censor for all of the state's media outlets, and reports that foreign media have been locked out of the country have also been coming out of the island nation. Section 16 of the new language adopted by the president reads that "any broadcaster or publisher must submit all material to the Secretary for Information before publication."

In 2006, after Bainimarama's coup, the military forced Fiji's leading daily newspaper and sole TV station to close after the military attempted to censor their news. Saturday, the Fiji Times, the nation's largest newspaper which has been in print since 1869, was forced to run its edition with huge blank spots after articles relating to the incidents were censored by the government's censor appointed by the Secretary of Information.

Several articles also ran that praised the new government as a "fresh start", probably forcibly printed, as the editor of the paper, Netani Rika, has seemingly been left with no choice. Two managing directors of the newspaper have been deported from Fiji in the past year.

Leaders from around the world, including US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as well as Australian politicians, have slammed Iloila and Bainimarama for the coups and for the censorship of journalists. Pro-journalism activist groups have also greatly criticised the actions, calling them a push against journalist's rights that they say should be universal: freedom of speech and freedom of the press.

It should be interesting to see how this story develops and whether international pressure will be placed on the island nation, something it seemingly could not withstand. Otherwise, Iloila and Bainimarama are set to have five more years of power, and, without a constitution, power to do whatever they wish. And it is unlikely to stop with the censorship of journalists.