Talks between Fiji's military and rebels have led to an extension of the deadline set for the rebels to leave a barracks they have occupied. The military spokesman Major Howard Politini has described the negotiations as "proceeding well". While these are hopeful signs in a situation which threatens to plunge the Fijian archipelago into civil war, a great deal more needs to be done to bring stability and democracy to the archipelago. The arrest of the rebel leader Mr George Speight and his imprisonment with several of his commanders on an uninhabited island has helped defuse the situation in the capital Suva but tension remains elsewhere. In the Labasa region on Fiji's second largest island Vanua Levu, there have been reports of further kidnappings of Indo-Fijian families.
The essentially racist agenda of Mr Speight and his followers gives cause for serious concern. A failed businessman of mixed British and Fijian origins his behaviour is reminiscent of racist bullies in the past. Mr Speight, despite his mixed origins, sees himself as the embodiment of the indigenous people. Dr Hendrik Verwoerd, the chief architect of apartheid, set himself up as the main advocate of Afrikaner nationalism although an immigrant from the Netherlands. Adolf Hitler, an Austrian outsider, fanned the flames of extreme nationalism in Germany.
Mr Speight's attitudes include a contempt for democracy. It does not worry him in the slightest that he has no mandate from the Fijian people for the thuggery in which he and his followers have been involved. In the circumstances, the army has taken the correct course in arresting him and placing him in isolation from the rest of the community. Its installation of an interim government which was unrepresentative of the country's ethnic mix does not, however, bode well for the future. A single junior ministry has been given to the Indo-Fijian community which makes up 44 per cent of the population.
In order to apply pressure for the return of democratic institutions, members of the international community, notably Australia, New Zealand, Britain and the United States, have imposed sanctions on Fiji. In addition, the current unrest has all but destroyed the country's valuable tourist industry. Harsh economic facts will soon impact on Fijians of all racial groups and it is to be hoped that this will lead to serious and urgent efforts to resolve the country's problems. The return of a multi-racial constitution is the major priority but efforts will also have to be made to help satisfy the demand for land ownership amongst the indigenous community.
Recent events have shown that the mistrust between the two main communities is so deep seated that short-term patching up of differences cannot bring stability. Guarantees of the minority community's safety and its political equality are needed. So too are efforts to rectify the social and financial inequality which have tempted many Fijians to offer some level of support to Mr Speight and his henchmen.