Editorial: Rather too many coups for comfort

Suddenly the South Pacific is not the tranquil enclave it is supposed to be. First Fiji, now the Solomons, demonstrate how shallow the roots of constitutional behaviour lie in these countries and how comparatively easily authority can be overthrown by those who resort to arms. In both countries the insurrections have flared from a similar tinder-box of tensions – tribal, racial, economic and political – arising from migrations long ago.

The Solomons are suffering for the migration of people from one island, Malaita, to another, Guadalcanal. It was the development of Guadalcanal by the American military in the Second World War that attracted migration from more populous Malaita nearby. But it was not until two years ago that trouble came to world attention. An armed Guadalcanal group embarked on some ethnic cleansing, driving Malaitans out of the countryside to Honiara and, in many cases, back to their island.

Now Malaitans seem to be hitting back. They have formed a militia and, with sympathisers in the Honiara police, they seized the Prime Minister. He, though Malaitan himself, has not been sufficiently vigorous in their cause, evidently. Their very attempt to topple him could be enough to trigger retaliation from the Guadalcanal group and tip the Solomons into civil war.

At least this time Australia and New Zealand have been monitoring events closely enough to do their utmost in Honiara to avert the crisis. If their diplomatic effort is unsuccessful, events could require more forceful intervention from other nations in the region. But even if the situation in the Solomons is pacified for the moment, Monday's unrest leaves a chill in this part of the world.

Two coups in quick succession are disturbing enough and they serve as reminders of the many sources of instability now simmering in the south-west Pacific. Near the Solomons, the island of Bougainville remains reluctantly tied to Papua New Guinea. Next door to PNG, the people of Irian Jaya are anxious to secede from Indonesia as East Timor did last year. It can only be a matter of time before the next challenge to French rule in New Caledonia.

This is not the ocean of peace that some people fondly contemplate from this country, especially when they dismiss arguments for maintaining military capabilities. The same people were quick to urge a military intervention in East Timor when Indonesian militia waged terror and destruction after the vote to secede. The United Nations has shown it can sanction interference in national sovereignty when ethnic cleansing or genocide threatens. If countries in the vicinity of an atrocity cannot answer the call, others may be reluctant to step in.

Fiji and the Solomons may be a long way short of the strife that would cry out for humanitarian intervention, but the undermining of constitutional behaviour in both countries put them on that slippery slope. Once respect for civilised order and authority is broken it is hard to restore. Sitiveni Rabuka is the creator of George Speight, just as the example of Speight, some observers suspect, prompted the Malaitan Eagle Force to raise its sights from road blocks and the like to carry out a coup.

The double blow to peace and security in the region is a reminder that democracy, civil rights, and the rule of law need constant nurturing and sometimes resolute defence.