coup d’état

/ku deι'ta/ n. 1 a sudden and decisive action in politics, especially one resulting in the overthrow of a government. A coup d’état differs from a revolution in being carried out by a small group of people who replace only the leading figures.

There has not been a coup in Fiji. I am safe. Everyone here seems to be going about their normal business, and — while there has been a lot of talk and rumour — nothing very unusual has really happened. I’m not a very political person at all … I may have mentioned that before. Still, I thought I’d write a little about what’s been happening here, and give you my perspective or opinion on it. As you read this, bear in mind there’s been a lot of speculation, guesswork, exaggeration, and so who knows what else going on.

Our level of travel advice for Suva progressed from one out of five (“be alert to your own security”) to level four out of five (“reconsider your need to travel”) within a week. As I write this — 1:30pm on Saturday 4th November 2006 — that is the current level of advice we have received. The security advice is not at the “highest possible” level. That would be level five out of five, “do not travel”. Check out the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs website for the latest official advice, or if you don’t believe me!

Some people back home have expressed concern for me, and suggested that maybe I should come back to Sydney. For the moment though, we haven’t been told we need to evacuate, and so I’ll just keep going about my business until I get any other official news to the contrary. At various times during the week, we heard that some schools were closed, but there wasn’t really any proof of that. In fact, what with the two Australian warships sitting in international waters just off Fiji, ready and waiting to evacuate us if need be, the staff at school are using my very presence there as a guide to how serious things are! If I suddenly don’t turn up to work, then they’ll know something’s happened, and maybe then they should close the school! My flat mate, Wes, said the fact that the Australian government had even sent the warships didn’t reflect well on their opinion of the Fijian leaders’ ability to handle the situation …

People said if anything was going to happen, then it would have happened last Thursday or Friday. Call me selfish if you like, but my immediate reaction was, “They can’t have a coup on Thursday! I’ve already bought my ticket to the movies!” (I saw Jaan E Mann, a Bollywood film, with a couple of friends). There were a few road blocks scattered around the place yesterday to coincide with the announcement of the annual budget, but I’ve been told that they’re usually set up every year at budget time. Now, people are saying that if there’s going to be a coup, it will be when Commander Frank Bainimarama arrives back in Fiji from the Middle East. This conflicts with some things I’ve read that say he is already here.

I’ve seen and heard a lot of news from Australia about what’s happening in Fiji, but in general the feeling is that the Australian media has really blown the whole thing out of proportion. The latest news we’ve had from our advisors here is that the Australian media is playing things up, the Fijian media is playing things down, and so the truth probably lies somewhere in between. “Just stay alert,” they tell us. I had a forwarded e-mail from our travel insurance people this morning which was three days late (it was warning us about the load of ammunition which was forcefully taken from the loading docks at Suva wharf by the military). However they did give us some reasonable advice about what to do if we do find ourselves in the middle of a coup: Cease all domestic travel and stay indoors!

In other, non-political news, my friend Copland and his wife Theresa have just found out they are going to have a baby. Copland is blogging his experiences, too, so have a look at The Copland’s Baby.

I have booked my flight home. I’ll be arriving back in Sydney on the 16th of December. I’m looking forward to seeing my friends and family again (I can’t wait to catch up with everyone!) … but it will be very sad to leave the friends I’ve made here.

That’ll do for now. Rest assured: for the moment I’m safe. I’ll give you the same advice I’m using here. That is, don’t believe everything you read in the newspapers or hear on the TV/radio, or the gossip people spread. I’m staying “alert but not alarmed”, and if anything happens, I’ll let you know!

Cheers,
Andy