Information You Can Use: A Bi-monthly Service for the UN and Civil Society
Volume 2, Issue 2, March - April 2005
FIJI: PM Wants Political NGO’s De-Registered
Source: Pacific
Magazine
March 14, 2005
Laws which apply to Fiji's Non-Government Organizations will be amended because some of them have taken on the role of political critics, says the Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase.
Clearly troubled by the opposition his government faces from some of the vocal NGOs, Qarase has even suggested they be registered as political parties.
"We are currently looking at the laws which apply to NGOs and how these might be amended," he told a corporate summit in the weekend.
"We are pleased to co-operate with them and provide funding to assist when we can.
"A very small minority however, have taken on the role of political critics and adopted an anti-government stance. Perhaps they should be registered as political parties."
Qarase said there is an unprecedented growth in NGOs in the country, with one estimate putting the number at over 300 and rising.
He has also questioned the mandate of the NGOs.
"It is not clear how representative they are in terms of membership or what mandate they have," he says. "Similarly, they are not very transparent and their standards of accountability are uncertain. Little is known of their public reporting standards or their codes of conduct of governance."
Qarase said some of the NGOs retain their status on the civil society register so they could access donor funds.
"So the best option for them is to go for the best of both worlds by retaining their existing status and access the aid funds it brings; while they continue through the political path.
"I wonder whether those who finance these organizations are fully aware of their partisan and biased attitudes. I have expressed my concerns to one of the major donor agencies, explaining that aid programs raise issues of sovereignty, protocol, diplomatic relations and national integrity.
The Fiji PM also recalled a combined meeting of a group of NGOs to be addressed by the Attorney General had to be cancelled recently become some did not wish to attend.
The AG had been invited to address the meeting about the form the proposed laws might take.
"We are entitled to wonder whether the boycott was politically inspired by the anti-government elements," he says.
Nonetheless, the PM admits that a large number of NGOs do valuable
work, particularly through practical programs to ease poverty and promote
development and community service in its various aspects. – Fijilive/Pacnews