The Rabuka government was seen, at least from the perspective of the workers and ordinary members of the public as against their interest and concerns. The economy remained relatively static and erratic with no real signs of growth. It reduced the costs of doing business; reviewed labour laws, proposed to abolish the wage guideline and to peg wages according to productivity, and to reduce company taxes (Chand 2001:168-169)

When the Labour-led Coalition government came to power in May 1999, they had a 'people centered' approach to development. They brought hope to many people. In late 1999, the Labour-led Coalition announced its 2000 national budget. There were huge allocations made to social service sector; notably education, social welfare, poverty alleviation, healthcare and micro-enterprise initiatives for those who want to start their own business. It also proposed and implemented the removal of Value Added Tax on some basic food items, reduced housing rates, electricity and water rates. These were huge gains for many ordinary people, low-income earners and the poor in particular. They reversed the privatization of the Airports Fiji Ltd, though they did not fully implement the reversal policy.

However, there were mixed reactions from the private sector. On the one hand, the small local businesses were generally pleased with the policy framework for improving their business performances, based in the incentives and concessions made in the 2000 national budget. On the other hand, big local and international corporations were generally not pleased. The Labour-led Coalition proposed to review the tax system to allow for the introduction of capital gains tax and increased company tax, to review certain companies' monopolies on the power and communications sectors, and to introduce a national wage based on both productivity and cost of living adjustment.

These were major budgetary policies that underpinned its 2000 national budget. However, they became controversial and highly debated at the national level soon after the government announced its 2000 budget. These budgetary policies were indicative of the vast differences of views on how the economy should be run or regulated. In general, the private sector favoured the more free trade market policies, while the then government favoured some regulation on issues of 'free trade' and 'pen market'. The review of the rice quota for import/export was an example of the threat to the private sector. It sets the trend on the Labour-led Coalition government's future economic policies and work relationships with the private sector. In other words, one could expect a lot more government participation in economic and trade matters unlike the previous SVT government.

But whatever the merits of government's intention or the benefits of its reversal policy, the exercise became racially controversial which added to the already growing suspicion among the indigenous Fijians of government's sincerity on its election promises to act on their concerns. The media organizations, Fiji TV One and the Fiji Times Limited in particular played a crucial role in fuelling suspicion between the government and the indigenous people. The reversal of some of the privatisation deals meant that those who had lost their jobs had the possibility of regaining them. However, this became a racial issue at the level of the unions where there were claims that the reinstatement process was racially biased and did not follow proper procedures.

The Labour-led Coalition government also set up a Commission on Inquiry to look into the tendering process of the privatisation deals and to investigate corruption practices within the civil service, tax evasion practices of prominent indigenous Fijian and Indo-Fijian business persons, the tendering process for the Mahogany and Y2K deals where it was alleged that thousand of dollars changed hands between big companies and prominent indigenous Fijians. The Commission was also responsible for putting together a code of ethics for the Judiciary and the office of the President. Their inclusion in the proposed code of ethics had strong reactions from the indigenous Fijians and members of the legal fraternity and the Judiciary.

This reversal trend and the setting up of a Commission of Inquiry rang alarm bells in the private sector circles and among the indigenous people as some prominent indigenous Fijians and Indo-Fijians business persons were reported linked with and who were presumed to be involved in the appropriate conduct of the tendering processes. While commentators debated the feasibility of these trends, politically, they became racially explosive issues. Moreover, because of the common belief among indigenous Fijians that high Chiefs cannot be put under the scrutiny of the public, it was considered highly inappropriate for the Labour-led Coalition government to include the office of the President in the proposed code of ethics. Over the ensuing months, these issues became very racially controversial. These economic factors, while not the only ones, led to the coup in May 2000, which saw the toppling of the Labour-led Coalition government from power.

References:

• Chand, G., (2000): Labour market Deregulation in Fiji, in Confronting Fiji Futures,
• Akram-Lodhi (ed.) Australia: Asia Pacific Press, Australia National University.
• Hau'ofa, E. (1987): The New South Pacific Society: Integration and Independence in
• Class and Culture in the South Pacific ed. A. Hopper.
• Sepchri, A., and Akram-Lodhi, A.H. (2000): Fiji's economy: the challenge of the future, in Confronting Fiji Futures: Akram-Lodhi (ed.) Australia: Asia Pacific Press, Australia National University

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