Coups happen because people accepted it and rewarded the usurpers – Jalal

International human rights lawyer, Imrana Jalal says coups happen because people accepted it and based on that acceptance, there is a coup cycle phenomena where usurpers are rewarded and made Prime Ministers and important people in the government.

Jalal made these comments via zoom during a panel discussion on ‘State of Democracy’ organized by the NGO Coalition for Human Rights to take stock of the country’s achievements, challenges and discuss on ways forward for Fiji to mark 50 years of Independence.

Jalal says had they opposed the military then, without guns, we would not be in a situation we are in today where usurpers are rewarded and if they are rewarded then it is definitely bound to happen again and history has proven that to be true.

Jalal who is a co-founder of the Fiji Women’s Rights Movement says she cannot see a permanent solution for stability for the rule of law for democracy, unless the size of the military is decreased as it is disproportionate when compared to the GDP and the size of the population.

She says being in the military has become a job where it provides a secure source of income and people also earn through peacekeeping and there is a need to solve this critical economic issue as well.

The international human rights lawyer says that the police force can have a small armed unit.

Responding to a question by a viewer online that given that the top three political parties have usurpers as members and who can Fijians that do not support any usurpers and coups should vote for in the upcoming elections, Jalal says she would still vote and will try to vote for the party that has the least usurpers in them.

She says we have to acknowledge the fact that politicians, in the same way as normal people, evolve and change and so to not vote will be a huge mistake.

She says people should vote for the party that most closely resembles their values and the things that they care about and vote out anybody who does not represent your values.

Meanwhile, prominent lawyer and former Supervisor of Elections, Jon Apted says the ultimate measure of a constitution is whether it provides a peaceful transfer of power and says he doubts whether the current constitution will allow it.

He says each of our constitutions, whether it was the 1970 or the 1997 constitution, has failed as it still ended with coups.

Apted says the current system does not seem to cater for the future because the current constitution is built for this government and the personalities involved and must be considered that things will eventually change and people will retire and as time moves on, people will die.