Epeli Ganilau
44 quotes
Biography
Brigadier-General Ratu Epeli Ganilau, MC, MSD, was a Fijian military officer and politician. His career previously encompassed such roles as Commander of the Fiji Military Forces and Chairman of the Bose Levu Vakaturaga .
"Race is a fact of life and is not a problem unless people make it out to be so. (2003)"
"The process of electing members of Parliament to represent the people is at the heart of western democracy. Fiji courts are also part of an independent judicial system which is firmly rooted in western democracy. The basic civil lesson that our children learn in school is that democracy is a government of the people, by the people, for the people … Mr Qarase should answer whether he wants the western system of governance which allows him to be prime minister or the Fijian tradition which requires the chiefs to rule by virtue of their birthright and rank. Otherwise, he is just being hypocritical to save face. (4 September 2005, reacting to a speech made by Qarase at the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association on 29 August, claiming that democracy was alien to Fiji)."
"We are here today, not so much as to launch a political party but more so and more importantly we are here today to project a vision that will inspire hope."
"For too long, we have allowed fear to dictate our politics and suspicions, to shape how we perceive other communities."
"If we learn how to love others, really, truly love them, not for who we want them to be, but rather for who they are – for the perfect souls that God has created – then we have learnt one of the greatest lessons of life."
"I would like to make the point that we cannot undo the past but we can learn from it, and we cannot predict the future but we can shape and build it."
"Now is not the time to be simply paying lip-service, it is time to stand up and be counted, to stand together and not to be swayed or moved from our path towards true unity, and the peace and security that we aspire to achieve."
"To create a Fiji where people of different ethnicities, religions and cultures can live and work together for the good of all, can differ without rancour, govern without violence and accept responsibility as reasonable people intent on serving the best interest of all."
"When we leave out people on the grounds of ethnicity we limit our options. As such, we become poorer because we are not making optimum use of our human resources, thereby depriving us of the returns and full benefit of our capabilities."
"There are those people who are acting irresponsibly … and spreading their gospel of fear and hate and not doing anything to help the ordinary people put bread on their table for their families."
"I believe we must not fight fire with fire, we will be burnt. The only way in which we can stop these extremist elements from destroying the nation is by ensuring that they are not given an opportunity to be in a position of controlling the destiny of the nation."
"This is what the National Alliance stands for: To respect all people, regardless of ethnicity, gender and religion, to uphold godly principles and moral values and to respect the rule of law."
"It does not say much about the credibility of the Prime Minister for him to be saying publicly that the Christian churches support the bill after these deliberate acts of deception. (In response to Mataca's claim that Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase had misled a delegation of church leaders as to the true contents of the government's Reconciliation and Unity Bill, which Mataca and Ganilau both oppose)."
"For too long we have kept ourselves in our ethnic boxes and continue to see ourselves as either indigenous Fijians, Indo-Fijians, Europeans, part-Europeans, Chinese, Pacific Islanders, or others. For as long as that wall remains we will continue to view one another with suspicion and distrust. This is the fear that is fueled by political manouvering to keep us divided while for some to remain in power."
"Government seems unaware that the more race-based measures it tries to put in place the faster that time bomb burns to detonation point."
"I would like to offer for the unity of our people, the adoption of multiracialism as the core ideal in searching for a clear way ahead. We need to get out of our comfort zones, our ethnic boxes and truly embrace multiracialism."
"For our people to have lived together for one and a quarter century it is difficult to believe that at a personal level so little cultural transfers have taken place."
"We need to marshal and direct our energy toward building this nation into a peaceful, prosperous and proud bequest to our children."
"As a country, we have not started to see how much we can achieve as a nation and we will not have any idea of our strength if we continue to deny ourselves the opportunity to come together as one people. We have not been able to pool the resources and talent of our people and exploit them for our common good. It will continue to evade us if we continue to stress our ethnicity and group differences."
"As a people, we have not been able to chart a clear map toward a common destiny. We will not be able to do this if our leaders continue to promote sectional and separate development."
"We pay lip service to multiracialism but we fail to put it into practice because we continue to see most things and ourselves from our own ethnic perspective. So long as the personal attitude persists, we will not see us one people of Fiji and our future will not be secure."
"What I would like to see is a greater degree of interaction that will lead to a much better cross-cultural understanding than what we have in Fiji today."
"We should not allow ourselves, individually or our ethnic communities to become easy tools for politics of race that will continue to segregate us mentally and emotionally."
"Touted as a legislation that will promote unity, it has done exactly the opposite. It has divided this country, apparently and sadly along racial lines. (on the government's controversial Reconciliation, Tolerance, and Unity Bill, which Ganilau opposes)."
"The danger … is that unscrupulous politicians have continued to preach their racially divided visions for Fiji."