Epeli Ganilau

Ratu Epeli Ganilau (born 10 October 1951) is a Fijian soldier and statesman, who currently heads the National Alliance Party of Fiji. His career has previously encompassed such roles as Commander of the Fiji Military Forces and Chairman of the Bose Levu Vakaturaga (Great Council of Chiefs).

Domestic policies

Ganilau has a reputation as an outspoken but moderate chief and politician, who opposes what he sees as divisive and inflammatory policies and statements of political leaders.

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Reconciliation, Tolerance, and Unity Bill

Ganilau has spoken against the plans of the Qarase government to establish a Reconciliation and Unity Commission, with the power to grant amnesty to perpetrators of the 2000 coup and compensation to its victims. Ganilau first aired his opposition to the bill on 4 May 2005, saying that it was an unwarranted interference in the judicial process and represented a naïve and uncaring attitude to people who had suffered as a result of the coup. On 18 May he went further, saying that he saw "nothing reconciliatory about the bill" and that "To use the word reconciliation is a gross violation of the rights of everyone in this nation."

Related Topics:
Reconciliation and Unity Commission - 2000 - 4 May - 2005 - 18 May

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On 16 June, Ganilau continued his attack on the legislation. He said that there was a widespread belief in Fiji that it was designed to provide for the freeing of coup perpetrators, a belief supported 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.

Related Topics:
16 June - Tui Vaturova - Ratu Ilisoni Rokotuibua - Mutiny

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On 23 June, Ganilau accused the Prime Minister of having committed a "monumental deception" by 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.

Related Topics:
23 June - Roman Catholic - Archbishop - Petero Mataca - 2 May

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Law and order, moral values

Speaking at the Crime Prevention/Reconciliation Sports Day in Flagstaff on 4 June 2005, Ganilau called on the older generation to instill basic moral values in their children. "Increasing lawlessness and criminal activity can be interpreted as discourteous behaviour and lack of respect for other people and their property. So what we need to do if we want to salvage the situation is to go back to the basics," he said. The same day, he strongly criticized the country's leadership, saying that they were taking Fiji in the wrong direction, "spreading their gospel of fear and hate and not doing anything to help the ordinary people put bread on their table for their families." He warned against retaliation, however: "I believe we must not fight fire with fire, we will be burnt." The only way extremist elements could be stopped from destroying the nation, he said, was to deny them the opportunity to control the destiny of the nation by "holding the country ranson." He also called on people to respect one another, saying that it was the on way for lasting unity and reconciliation.

Related Topics:
Flagstaff - 4 June - 2005

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Ethnic relations

Ganilau was a guest speaker at the Lautoka conference of the Fiji Labour Party, with which his own party is considering forming a coalition to contest the general election scheduled for 2006, on 30 July 2005. Calling for changes in the attitudes of indigenous Fijians to allow everyone born in Fiji to be classified as "Fijian," he said that the country could not afford to remain fragmented and polarized on racial lines, and that racially based measures enacted by the present government were shortening the fuse on a time bomb. "Government seems unaware that the more race-based measures it tries to put in place the faster that time bomb burns to detonation point," Ganilau said. He said that until Fiji Islanders got out of their ethnic boxes and embraced multiculturalism, Fiji's future as a nation would not be secure. He expressed disbelief that after a century and a quarter of sharing the land, the level of cultural interaction between the major racial groups was so low.

Related Topics:
Lautoka - Fiji Labour Party - Coalition - General election - 2006 - 30 July - 2005 - Indigenous Fijians - Fiji Islanders - Multiculturalism

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Speaking at the launch in Rakiraki of his own party's campaign for the 2006 election on 6 August 2005, Ganilau said that the future of the nation's children would not be secure unless the people freed themselves from what he called "the comfort zone of our race." He said it was important to break down the imaginary ethnic wall separating the people. "We should not allow ourselves, individually or our ethnic communities to become easy tools for politics of race that will continue to segregate us mentally and emotionally," he said. He strongly criticized recent moves to form an ethnic Fijian electoral block, saying that would be divisive and would never lead to national unity. He accused "unscrupulous politicians" of promoting racially divided visions for Fiji.

Related Topics:
Rakiraki - 2006 - 6 August - 2005 - An ethnic Fijian electoral block

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He continued his attack on racially divisive politics with a number of speeches and interviews in the last week of August. He condemned Senator Apisai Tora for saying that indigenous Fijians would not accept a non-indigenous Prime Minister, and charged the government with fostering ethnic tensions in order to distract the public from its own "non-performance". He also accused the government of handling its relations with Opposition parties in a "crude and amateurish way" which prevented any cross-party agreement on land reform, necessary for obtaining the two-thirds parliamentary majority for amending the Constitution. This would create a mess for the next government to clean up after the 2006 election, Ganilau said on 27 August.

Related Topics:
Senator - Apisai Tora - Land reform - Constitution - 2006 - Election - 27 August

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Chiefs and the political order

On 4 September, Ganilau strongly criticized Prime Minister Qarase for comments made at the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association in Nadi on 29 August. Qarase had said that while Fiji "accepted" western-style democracy, it was an alien concept and certain aspects of it clashed with Fijian traditions, in which chiefs were at the apex by virtue of their birth and rank. Ganilau ridiculed Qarase's speech, saying that Fiji's political and judicial institutions were firmly rooted in western democracy and that the Fijian people should not be "misled" by the Prime Minister's claims that democracy was alien to the country. "Mr Qarase should answer whether he wants the western system of governance which allows him to be Prime Minister, or the Fijian tradition which requires the chiefs to rule by virtue of their birthright and rank. Otherwise, he is just being hypocritical to save face," Ganilau said.

Related Topics:
4 September - Commonwealth Parliamentary Association - Nadi - 29 August - Fijian traditions - Chiefs

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Ganilau spoke out on 16 September to dismiss claims that most of Fiji's problems were being caused by the "disrespect" of Indo-Fijians and other non-indigenous communities towards the country's chiefs. Making a parliamentary submission on controversial Unity Bill, Masi Kaumaitotoya had declared that the jailing of chiefs on coup-related offenses was a clear sign of disrespect, and that indigenous Fijians were being taken advantage of by others. In response, Ganilau said as the former Chairman of the Great Council of Chiefs that he believed that the chiefs were well-respected by all communities. He also called on his fellow-chiefs to play a greater role in promoting national unity by serving all citizens in their district or confederacy, regardless of race. Chiefs who had participated in the 2000 coup should not get preferential treatment, he added.

Related Topics:
16 September - Parliamentary - Masi Kaumaitotoya - 2000

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