UNITED STATES DUMPS STOOGE FRANK BAINIMARAMA
In 2016, the former United States Ambassador to Fiji, JUDITH CEFKIN (above), was at a gathering at the Natadola Hotel when she received a call from Washington. After the call, she walked to a high-ranking official from the Fiji Ministry of Foreign Affairs and confided to him that Washington wanted FIJI to take over the COP23 presidency. The official told her she should relay the request to Frank Bainimarama and Aiyaz Khaiyum who were also at the Natadola gathering. She did in his presence but Bainimarama was not only stunned but frightened to accept the daunting task. After further discussions and the assurance that Fiji would not suffer any financial burden, Bainimarama accepted the offer. However, the EU Ambassador to Fiji informed the Foreign Office official that the United States was choosing a weak and insignificant Fiji because it did not want its arch rival IRAN, the hot favourite, to win the COP23 presidency. The rest is history. Now, the Biden Administration has dumped Bainimarama. He is one of a long line of stooges who have been cut loose from the climate mooring, drowning in his own belief in invincibility. His Minister Responsible for Climate Change is fighting his own medical battle in a Singapore hospital
 |  SLEEPING ON THE JOB?: |
*There are many who claim the snub is Aiyaz Khaiyum's fault, for he closed down Fiji's Embassy in Washington - the seat of power. But even if we had an Embassy in Washington, Fiji has to have an Ambassador who can perform, put forward a case and be persuasive.
*What is SATENDRA PRASAD doing in the United States?
*Prasad is the super Ambassador for Fiji. He is Ambassador to the UN and Cuba, Ambassador-Designate to the US, Canada and Mexico, and the International Seabed Authority in Jamaica. He is a former World Bank consultant.
*One would have thought he would have contacts in the Biden administration. This should have been his FIRST PRIORITY to ensure Bainimarama was invited with his COP23 credentials. As we have pointed out, these Biden invitations did not happen overnight. The summit had been announced in January 2021.
*But Fijian taxpayers should breathe a sigh of relief, for it looks like the Bainimaramas junket days are over the Climate Change gravy train.
What else could earn him $3,000 a day for his long absences from Fiji?
*His favourite airline was Emirates A380s. He preferred it because of the plush bathroom and shower on the Emirates A380. And, those shoppings in Dubai - for shoes and sneakers - to match his GOLD ROLEX. As one former CEO of a reputable company in Fiji noted, 'I'll never forget Frank coming to a lovo wearing a Gold ROLEX'. COUPS PAY IN FIJI
