The party claims the buy out was a deliberate move to control the Daily Post's editorial policy in the run up to the election. The paper, particularly its controversial political columnist Mesake Koroi, had stirred the wrath of the Government in recent months
FAP leader Adi Kuini Speed said: "It shows how paranoid this Government is in silencing its critics and what lengths it will go to to win this election."
Taking over the Daily Post breaches "the spirit and letter of section 30 of the 1997 Constitution which guarantees freedom of the media and freedom of expression," says the FAP.
The Government has been angered in recent months by some trenchant articles in the Post, particularly by its political columnist Mesake Koroi, provoking an extraordinary fullpage Government advertisement, at public expense, attacking the "false allegations" in Koroi's popular weekly Opinion column.
A recent clash over a television interview with a rival politician, along with last month's refusal to allow "blacklisted" New Zealand journalist David Lomas into the country, have done nothing to allay concerns about the Government's commitment to a free media.
The barring of Lomas was dismissed as a bureaucratic bungle by Assistant Information Minister Ratu Josefa Dimuri, who called for a review of the so-called blacklist. But critics remain unconvinced.
Jokapeci Koroi, president of the opposition Fiji Labour Party, asked: "What has happened to the freedom of the press which this Government supposedly respects? Or is it that this Government is still in the modus operandi that existed immediately after the coup?"
However, a prime time television interview with Brigadier Ratu Epeli Ganilau, who is now contesting the elections, caused a much bigger fuss.
Following the hour-long interview, the Prime Minister's office demanded an "explanation" from Fiji Television.
Attorney-General Ratu Etuate Tavai warned FijiTV to follow policies laid down in its broadcasting licence, saying the broadcaster should have sought approval from the Minister of Communication, Ratu Inoke Kubuabola, before broadcasting the interview.
But FijiTV's chief executive Peter Wilson, a New Zealander, issued a public statement to reassure shareholders and viewers, saying the broadcast was "the normal business of television news and current affairs" and did not breach the licence terms.
"That is not true," retorted Tavai. "They had to withdraw the 60 Minutes programme to give Ratu Epeli this special treatment."
In fact, Ganilau's interview was the prelude to a new FijiTV weekly current affairs programme, Close-up, featuring wide-ranging interviews with politicians and public figures.
At the time of the controversy, the Fiji Government had yet to lay down a policy on campaign broadcasts for election on May 8-15 - the first to be covered by television in Fiji.
Ganilau, because of his high chiefly status, connections and popularity, is widely regarded as a serious political threat to Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, a commoner. He is contesting the election for the indigenous Christian party Veitokani ni Lewenivanua Vakarisito (VLV) while the Government is led by Rabuka's Soqosoqo ni Vakavulewa ni Taukei (SVT).
However, the Government has strongly defended the shareholding in the Post. Finance Minister Jim Ah Koy, architect of the country's privatisation, vowed to improve the poor facilities and working conditions of the newspaper company and to raise standards.
He gave assurances that there would be no interference in editorial policy and that staff would not become civil servants.
"We have a foreign-owned newspaper and now we're going to have a locally-owned one," Ah Koy said. The rival main circulation newspaper, Fiji Times, is owned by media magnate Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation group.
According to Ah Koy, the Government had made a deal with the Post's minority shareholders, the Colonial insurance company and the Unit Trust financial organisation, each holding about 23 per cent, that when all the changes were in place, it would float shares on Fijišs Stock Exchange so that every citizen of Fiji could own the newspaper.
The Government paid F$525,000 for 44 per cent of the newspaper's shares., a price widely regarded as being inflated.
The Post responded to the buy out cautiously, barely reporting the news and not commenting editorially.
Editor Jale Moala, one of the most experienced journalists, wha has turned the paper into a competitive publication, played down the public reaction.
"I'm happy about the deal because it really doesn't make any difference," he said.
However, the Fiji Times and the self-regulating Fiji Media Council strongly condemned the Government move.
The Fiji Times called the buy out a "costly blunder" while the the Media Council described the move as a "serious threat to media independence".
"On the eve of the elections, the Government's move will be viewed with cynicism. The timing is suspicious, the intention dubious. It seems suicidal for a government to make such a move at a sensitive stage in the nation's political development."
The Fiji Government owns Islands Networks Corporation Ltd, the state broadcaster formerly known as the Fiji Broadcasting Commission.
It also has statutory powers to direct the country's only television station, FijiTV, to broadcast certain programmes. This power has rarely been used, although in 1998 the station was forced to broadcast the Hongkong Sevens rugby tournament free-to-air instead of on its pay Sky channel.
Daryl Tarte, Fiji Media Council chairman, appealed for the Government to sell its Post shares as soon as possible.
"We do not consider that a newspaper with government as its single largest shareholder can be independent. Government also owns the radio station Island Networks, and has the power to give directions to Fiji Television. This move to buy the Post gives Government an unacceptable level of influence over the Fiji media," Tarte said.
An international media freedom body based in Paris, Reporters Sans Frontieres, called for the Government to negotiate an editorial charter with the newspapers' journalists, guaranteeing a free press.
Independent columnist Sir Vijay Singh remarked: "A debt-laden Government's sudden decision to purchase substantial ownership of the barely solvent Daily Post for $500,000 is a riddle beyond an average person's understanding."
The national umbrella labour organisation, Fiji Trades Union Congress, claimed the buy out exposed the lack of clear privatisation policies.
While the Government on one hand advocated making public service leaner by disposing of public utilities, it was buying up an ailing newspaper to impose an unnecessary burden on the nation's taxpayers.
The Post was founded as a weekly after the coups by colourful local publisher Taniela Bolea.
It was later turned into a daily, filling a gap left by the lively New Zealand and Hongkong-owned Fiji Sun which closed rather than open under post-coup self-censorship. It has a circulation of about 17,000.
David Robie is a co-convenor of Pacific Media Watch and coordinator of the University of the South Pacific's journalism programme.
