Frank Bainimarama
|
|
Frankbainimarama.jpg
Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama, popularly known as Frank Bainimarama, (born 27 April 1954), is the Commander of the Fijian Military Forces, who organized a counter-coup in 2000 to neutralize the putsch led by George Speight. He served as Head of the Interim Military Government from 29 May to 13 July, 2000, when he handed power over to the newly-appointed President Ratu Josefa Iloilo. He was instrumental in the rise to power of the government of the present Prime Minister, Laisenia Qarase, but in recent times his intense criticism of the government's policy of showing leniency towards persons implicated in the coup has strained his relations with the regime, and has led some politicians to accuse him of meddling in politics.
| Contents |
Career
Bainimarama's career with the Navy spans three decades. He has received a number of honours for his service. He has been made an Officer Brother in the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, and has received the Meritorious Service Decoration, the Peacekeeping Medal for United Nations peacekeepers, the General Service Medal, the Fiji Republic Medal, and the 25 Anniversary Medal.
Pre-coup
Following his education at Marist Brothers High School, Bainimarama enlisted with the Fiji Navy on 26 July 1975 and rose smoothly through the ranks, becoming an Able Seaman in August 1976, a Midshipman in December that year, and an Ensign on 1 November 1977.
After completing the Midshipman Supplementary Course in Australia, he was appointed Navigation officer of the HMFS Kiro in August 1978. At the end of that year, he was promoted to Sub-Lieutenant. In January 1979, Bainimarama embarked on the Chilean naval training ship, the Buque Escuela Esmeralda, which spent six months circumnavigating South America. On his return to Fiji in August, Bainimarama was appointed Executive Officer of the HMFS Kiro.
After a brief Navigation Course on the HMAS Watson in March 1982, Bainimarama underwent Search and Rescue training at the United States Coast Guard Centre in New York. On his return to Fiji, he was appointed commander of the HMFS Kikau, his first command post. He went on to command the HMFS Kula, and spent four months in 1984 in the markings of the Exclusive Economic Zones of Tonga, Tuvalu, and Kiribati. After being promoted to Lieutenant Commander in February 1986, he departed for the Sinai where he served for eighteen months with the United Nations peacekeeping forces.
Bainimarama returned to Fiji in September 1987. He took charge of the delivery of two naval ships, the Levuka and Lautoka, from Louisiana in the United States. He became a Commanding Officer in April 1988, and a Commander of the Fijian Navy on 4 October that year. He was to hold this post for the next nine years.
Bainimarama underwent further training at the Malaysian Armed Forces Staff College in 1991 and at the Australian Warfare College in Newcastle, where he studied Maritime Surveillance Training. This was followed by Disaster Management training at the Asian Institute of Technology in 1993, and Exclusive Economic Zone Management training at Dalhousie University, Canada, in 1994. He was promoted to the rank of Captain in October of that year, and went on to attend the Australian Going Services Staff College (JSSC). He attended the Integrated Logistics Support Overview course of the Australian Defence Co-operation Program on 23 September 1996, and the Chief of Army Conferences in Singapore in 1998 and 1999, as well as the Chief of Defence Conference in Hawaii.
Bainimarama was appointed Acting Chief of Staff on 10 November 1997, and was confirmed in this post on 18 April 1998. On 1 March 1999, he as promoted to the rank of Commodore and was named Commander of the Armed Forces, to replace Brigadier-General Ratu Epeli Ganilau, who resigned to pursue a political career. It was in his capacity as Commander of the Armed Forces that Bainimarama assumed power on 29 May 2000.
Post-coup
Bainimarama attended a Leadership and Change Management course with the Public Service Training and Development program in February 2002, and a Policy Planning Analysis and Management course at the University of the South Pacific in Suva the following month. He went on to attend the Defence and Strategic Studies Annual Conference at the Australian Defence College Centre in Canberra on 2 August, and the Program for Senior Executives in National and International Security at Harvard University in the United States from 18 to 30 August. In November that year, he was promoted to Rear Admiral, but this promotion was reverted to Commodore on 1 February 2003.
On 4 September 2003, Bainimarama attended the Pacific Armies Management Seminar XXVII in Seoul, South Korea, and went on to attend the PKO Capacity Building Seminar in the Philippine capital of Manila.
Despite his deteriorating relationship with the government, Bainimarama was reappointed Commander of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces on 5 February 2004. That month, he attended the Pacific Area Special Operations Conference. This was followed by the Seminar Executive Course at the Asia Pacific Centre for Strategic Studies in Hawaii in April. In May and June, he attended the South East Asia Security Symposium. In September, he attended both the PAMS XXVII in the Indian capital of New Delhi, and the 7th Chief of Defence Conference in Tokyo, Japan.
The Fiji coup of 2000
Believing that the then-President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara was not dealing effectively with the situation, he apparently forced Mara to resign on May 29 2000, in what some politicians have since called "a coup within a coup," and formed an Interim Military Government which negotiated an accord under which the rebels would release all hostages, including the deposed Prime Minister, Mahendra Chaudhry, and would surrender without penalty. The government later reneged on the last part of the agreement and arrested Speight on 27 July 2000, with Bainimarama saying that he had signed that part of the accord "under duress."
Political controversies
Bainimarama, who has kept a high profile since the coup, was often embroiled in controversy throughout 2004 and into 2005. He repeatedly entered the political arena to criticize government policy - especially its policy of lenience, as he saw it, towards persons responsible for the coup. Politicians countered with charges of inappropriate interference in political affairs, and some accused him of hypocrisy, saying that he himself had a case to answer for his role Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara's resignation from the presidency.
Fiji Week controversy
In 2004, President Ratu Josefa Iloilo turned down a government request for a Commission of Inquiry to try Bainimarama over allegations from five senior officers that he had approached them about organizing a coup d'état. Iloilo said that he was satisfied Bainimarama's assurances that the military had no intention of overthrowing the government.
On 25 October 2004, Bainimara entered the political fray to criticize the organizing of Fiji Week, a week of religious services and cultural ceremonies that had been held from the 4th through the 11th of October. He said he found it "baffling" that individuals implicated in the 2000 coup took part in the ceremonies to apologize and ask forgiveness for their actions, only to turn up in court later and plead innocent. He said that according to Fijian culture, an apology was tantamount to a public admission of guilt, and that the "not guilty" pleas later entered by the same people in court raised justifiable questions about whether their apologies were sincere.
Bainimarama strongly criticized Senator Ratu George Cakobau for saying that citizens unhappy with the government-organized apology and reconciliation ceremonies should leave Fiji. Bainimarama declared that Fiji belonged to all of its citizens, and that no one should feel intimidated by politicians who spit out racist remarks, adding that the Senator would be shocked to find that many of those who refused the apology were ethnic Fijians. He said that democracy and the rule of law were the rule of the day in the 21st Century, and that the military would uphold it.
His comments drew criticism from government politicians who accused him of meddling in politics, but he would not be silienced. He upped the ante in December 2004 by condemning the early release of Vice-President Ratu Jope Seniloli, who had served less than four months of his four-year treason sentence, for his role in the 2000 coup. Reiterating comments made by other senior officers earlier in the week before, Bainimarama said that Seniloli's release had threatened national security, which the military was determined to protect. He said that he would give more details later in the week as to how national security had been undermined by the release of the Vice-President (who immediately resigned from office).
In a separate statement, Bainimarama endorsed calls by Ratu Epeli Ganilau, the former Chairman of the Great Council of Chiefs, for a non-Fijian to be appointed to fill the vacancy caused by Seniloli's resignation. "I support the idea for someone with excellent leadership skills to take up the post regardless of race," he said, accusing those who opposed the idea of a non-Fijian's appointment of trying to instigate racial instability for their own selfish gain.
Opposition to releasing political prisoners
In a further statement on 8 December, 2004, Bainimarama issued a further warning to the government that the military "would put pressure on anyone" who tampered with national security, and condemned the inclusion in the government of persons implicated in the 2000 coup, saying that their presence justified his earlier criticism of the Fiji Week reconciliation ceremonies. "That's why we've always said the reconciliation process was a farce," Bainimarama said. "The 2001 Elections brought back all of George Speight's group except him." He went on to issue a veiled threat to the political establishment: "If we don't act, this country is going to go to the dogs and no investor will want to come here." He reiterated the threat on 4 January 2005, when he likened the military to a tiger sitting in the corner. "You have to give it (the tiger) room," he said. "If you don't give it room, it will bite you," he told The Review, a prominent newspaper. His remarks were taken as a clear signal that he would not be silenced. In the same interview, he condemned what he saw as the Qarase government's policy of letting people implicated in the 2000 coup get off "scott free," warning that it will lead to "a criminal generation" as children will be raised "without recognition of the law." This will lead, he said, to a security threat. He said that political interference in police investigations into the coup, together with the government's lenience towards its perpetrators, was making a mockery of the judicial system. "If we don't put our foot down, they will release every man and his dog," he said on 6 January 2005.
On 17 April 2005, Bainimarama harshly attacked the government's decision to release on parole Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu and Senator Ratu Josefa Dimuri, who had served only eleven days of their eight-month prison sentences for their role in the 2000 coup. Bainimarama said he was "frustrated, disturbed, and disappointed" at a decision which he said "made a mockery of the military, police, and the judiciary." Bainimarama's latest outburst provoked an immediate angry reaction from Home Affairs Minister Josefa Vosanibola, who warned that Bainimarama would be disciplined if he spoke to the media again without consulting him. The row escalated, with Bainimarama saying on 19 April that he would not be silenced. Army spokesman Captain Neumi Leweni also issued his own statement supporting Bainimarama's criticism of government policy.
On 20 April, Vosanibola said that he would not be "intimidated" by Bainimarama's comments to the media, and reiterated his threat to take unspecified disciplinary actions against him if he did not cease making public statements without consulting him.
Opposition to the proposed Reconciliation and Unity Commission
On 13 May 2005, Bainimarama added his voice to that of numerous politicians by speaking out against the government's proposal to establish a Reconciliation and Unity Commission, with the power to grant compensation to victims of the 2000 coup, and amnesty to perpetrators of it. Calling it "Reconciliation bull," Bainimarama said that he and the military would oppose the legislation, which detractors say is a sham to grant amnesty to supporters of the present government who played roles in the coup. His attack on the legislation, which continued unremittingly throughout May and into June, further strained his already tense relationship with the government.
On 29 May 2005, the Conservative Alliance (CAMV), the junior partner in Fiji's coalition government, called on Bainimarama and Police Commissioner Andrew Hughes to resign for "making a mockery of (Fiji's) judicial systems," and Home Affairs Minister Vosanibola labelled Bainimarama "arrogant," saying that he was the only military commander in the commonwealth with the effrontery to interfere in political affairs. Bainimarama retorted on 1 June that having undergone three coups in eighteen years, Fiji could not be compared to other commonwealth countries.
Tensions escalated after 4 June, when Bainimarama publicly accused Prime Minister Qarase of having snubbed a military parade the previous day, in honour of Fijian soldiers returning from peacekeeping missions in East Timor. The following day, he reiterated his opposition to the proposed reconciliation commission, and said that if the government continued to "bulldoze" it through Parliament, he would be forced to "open up." He did not elaborate on what he meant by that. On 9 June, Vosanibola reiterated his previous threats to discipline Bainimarama if he fails to act in accordance with government policy and submit any complaints through the correct channels.
On 20 June, the Fiji Times reported that "a reliable source" close to the government had accused President Ratu Josefa Iloilo, as the Military Commander-in-Chief, of refusing repeated requests from Vosanibola to institute disciplinary measures against Bainimarama. The source cited Section 96 of the Constitution, which requires the President to act on the advice of the appropriate Cabinet Minister, in this case the Home Affairs Minister, and accused him of refusing to do so. This, he said, was making the Minister look foolish and incompetent. On 21 June, his predecessors as Military commander, Sitiveni Rabuka (who supports the government's proposed reconciliation commission) and Epeli Ganilau (who opposes it) both called on the government to settle its quarrel with Bainimarama and stop "passing the buck" to the President. Both men, despite their differences, defended Bainimarama's right to speak out, because maintaining stability is the responsibility of the Military.
Counter criticisms
Bainimarama's detractors have accused him of hypocrisy for vehemently opposing what he sees as the government's policy of leniency towards perpetrators of the 2000 coup, when there are unanswered questions about his own role in it.
On 25 April 2004, then-Opposition Leader Mick Beddoes called on the army to answer for its failure to protect President Mara while the country was in crisis. He called this "a fundamental failure" on the part of the army.
On 5 January 2005, Jioji Kotobalavu, a spokesman for Prime Minister Qarase, reminded the public that Bainimarama himself was currently under investigation for his role in the apparently forced resignation of President Mara. On 6 January, Bainimarama defended his role in Mara's resignation, declaring that the President had resigned voluntarily. His version of what happened, however, appeared to contradict Mara's understanding of it (http://www.fijihosting.com/pcgov/docs_o/mara_interview_29april.htm), expressed in his last interview before he died. On 10 January, however, Adi Ateca Ganilau, Mara's daughter, appeared to support Bainimarama's claims, saying that her father had resigned and had refused reinstatement because he was upset by the abrogation of the Constitution. "He did not agree with the abrogation of the Constitution. That was probably why he refused to return to office. It was not that the military pressured him to move out," Ganilau said. She called for a thorough investigation into the abrogation of the Constitution, and for those who were legal advisers at the time to be answerable for their actions.
On 14 April 2005, Court martial president Colonel Ilaisa Kacisolomone called on Bainimarama to name those who had advised him to abrogate the constitution, saying that it was his duty to the nation to reveal all that he knew. Bainimarama refused, saying that was a matter for the police to investigate.
Another accusation was made on 15 April by Lieutenant-Colonel Filipo Tarakinikini, who alleged in an affidavit against Bainimarama, President Iloilo, and Attorney-General Qoriniasi Bale that Bainimarama had prior knowledge of the coup.
On 2 May 2005, Police Commissioner Andrew Hughes announced that Bainimarama had volunteered to make a statement about his own role in Mara's resignation. To lay any charges, Hughes had earlier said, it would have to be proven that Bainimarama actually forced the President to resign.
Personal life
Bainimarama hails from the village of Kiuva in the Kaba Peninsula, Tailevu Province. He is the brother of Ratu Meli Bainimarama and Ratu Timoci Bainimarama, both senior civil servants. He is married to Maria Makitalena, with whom he has six children. He is a sports enthusiast, with a particular passion for rugby and athletics, and takes a keen interest in military history and current affairs. He is also a staunch church-goer.
External link
- Fiji Military website/commander's page (http://www.rfmf.mil.fj/Comd_rfmf/comd_rfmf.htm)