Fiji: come for the exotic island beauty, stay for the coups d'etat

[weaktwos]

So Fiji just had it's fourth coup in 2 decades. A coup every 5 years on average.

What the hell?

And I can tell that the Australian Prime Minister was a little taken aback, because he let this quote get published:

Australian Prime Minister John Howard said the coup was a "tragic setback for democracy in Fiji".

Yeah, no shit. I'm sure 6 out of 6 political science wonks maintain that coups are hazardous to a democracy's health.

So, it's time to cull out the military of meglomaniacs, Fiji.

Comments

Redundant tautologies

[torsoheap.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I do believe that a lack of democracy is a setback for democracy.

[imlac.livejournal.com]

I don't know much about Figian politics, but frankly I think it's a rush to judgment to assume that a coup is necessarily a bad thing. Turkey has a military that deposes radical Islamic fundamentalists when they start to get too much power, even when democratically elected. If a military is genuinely serving the interests and constitution of a country then a coup can be a good thing.

[weaktwos.livejournal.com]

Well, I think it's probably a bad thing when various nations are threatening to withhold funding, etc.

I don't like the idea that the military will be the steward of religious moderation...