Blog Archives

LAND OWNERS AND UNITY FIJI LEADER: 'In our meeting at one of the mahogany growing areas, we were told that the FFP Government and the TLTB had renewed the LEASES of their LAND without their CONSENT.'

31/5/2022

“In our meeting at one of the mahogany growing areas, we were told that the Government and the
TLTB had renewed the leases of their land without their consent,” says Savenaca Narube, the Leader of Unity Fiji.

Narube adds, “We have been told this story on numerous occasions around Fiji. The landowners are
losing control of their land.”

The Leader of Unity Fiji continues, “Landowners confirmed to us that the lease on their land for mahogany started with five cents per acre per year. This is an insult to the landowners. The lease is well below the market value of their assets. This exploitation, which is pervasive in Fiji, has contributed to the perpetual poverty that the landowners have been suffering for a very long time.”

“Landowners give their land for development in the hope that they will make a reasonable return on their assets. But they have been badly let down. And to add salt to injury, the leases have been extended without their approval,” says the former Governor.

“The landowners told us that the mahogany trees took 30 years to mature. While waiting for the trees to mature, landowners cannot survive on the lease payments. When the trees mature, other companies are contracted to harvest them. Landowners are only paid the stumpage which is grossly insufficient for their 30 year wait,” explains Narube.

“I also heard for the first time the serious environmental damages that the mahogany trees cause to streams. The mahogany leaves clog up the streams, turns the water black, and kills the fish and plant life which are important sources of food for the villagers. This necessitated a reassessment of the appropriateness of the trees to Fiji. This has not bee done before leases were renewed.”

“The wealth from the mahogany forests is harvested by millers and exporters while the landowners
remain in poverty.”

Narube says, “We were informed that the governance of the industry is heavily politicised. The Prime Minister and the Attorney General are personally involved at the Council level. This is unheard of. The purposes of their involvement are unclear. From what we have seen, they are there for political purposes only and not for the interest of landowners.”

Narube concludes, “The story emerging from the mahogany forests is a tragic reflection of what is happening across the country. The resource owners are not receiving anywhere near the market return of their assets. In interfering in the governance of the industry and in doing nothing to rectify the matter, this Government is leading and abetting this exploitation. Our natural resources are our future. But sadly, and for too long, we lack the leadership and the vision to realise our dreams.”

COUPIST's Chinese Whisperer 语者 and Pàntú 叛徒 TRAITOR: Rabuka whispers into BIMAN Prasad's ears to express alarm about the growing Chinese influence in Fiji. It was Rabuka who embraced CHINA after 1987

28/5/2022

“The role of China with respect to any aspects to security and the deeper and meaningful engagement would raise questions about our own fundamental principles and values of democracy, human rights and media freedom.”
Fijileaks to NFP's Pàntú:
Your people (Indo-Fijians) lived under Chinese style dictatorship, under the racist 1990 Constitution from 1992 to 1999 (where they were disenfranchised, and constitutionally barred to be Fiji's Prime Minister, President, and were excluded from top Civil Service positions).
Rabuka's SVT, like the Chinese Communist Party, ruled Fiji, with gross infringement of human rights, trade union rights, religious freedom (Sunday ban, no Diwali* or Eid etc).
No media freedom (except when Fiji Times* journalists were prepared
to Kama Sutra the SVT leader) for exclusive news stories.
What planet are you, Ponga* Professor, living on, Mr Indo-Fijian Pàntú?

No wonder the VOTERS threw Rabuka-Reddy into the rubbish heap

Fijileaks: We must fear Rabuka's growing influence and control of NFP and Prasad and NOT the Chinese. It is rich coming from an Indo-Fijian who has already surrendered our birthright to lead Fiji (he wants to be Rabuka's Deputy Prime Minister only). We have no doubt that PAP leader Rabuka 'Chinese Whispered' into Pàntú's ears to raise the alarm. Rabuka cannot speak out, for he was after the 1987 coups who opened Fiji up to the Chinese. (PS: We have no problem with the Chinese, for three of our Editor's sisters-in-law are Chinese, two Fiji-born whose ancestors have been in the country for over a century, and one is from mainland China). Since Prasad has entered into a coalition with PAP and is prepared to be a second-class 'politician' under Rabuka's PAP, he should.
SHUT UP or B****R off from the election contest.
In the memory of our Indian indentured labourer ancestors and the
Indo-Fijian women who were raped, beaten up, tortured, and their Indian womanhood violated by Coupist Rabuka and his marauding racist thugs, we must consign this Ponga Professor into the rubbish dump, along with his i-Taukei Fijian candidates, who have bought his coalition pact
A Vote for NFP is a VOTE for Coupist Rabuka as Prime Minister

National Federation Party Leader, Professor Biman Prasad says the visit by Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong is timely because he’s concerned about China’s growing influence in Fiji and the region.

Speaking to Sky News Australia, Prasad says he hopes they will address this issue and reset Fiji’s relationship with Australia.

Professor Prasad claims China is slowly making in-roads in Fiji and it will inevitably affect relations with our development partners.

“You know it’s time that Australia and New Zealand re-look at whether the principles or the way they’ve been dealing with governments, like what we have in Fiji and perhaps those in the Solomon Islands is fundamentally pushing Pacific Island countries away from them.”

He further claims China’s relationship with Fiji could have development partners question Fiji’s values.

“The role of China with respect to any aspects to security and the deeper and meaningful engagement would raise questions about our own fundamental principles and values of democracy, human rights and media freedom.”

However, Australia’s Foreign Minister, Penny Wong is adamant its long-standing bond with Fiji and other Pacific Island countries will not be shaken.

“That our commitment to you is this, that we will work with you to make our Pacific family even stronger, we will listen and we will hear you, your ideas about how we can face our shared challenges and achieve our shared aspirations together.”

Wong has made it clear that her visit to Fiji four days after being sworn into government is a reflection of her commitment to strengthening ties and partnerships with Fiji and the Pacific.

China’s Embassy in Fiji says it will hold a media briefing after China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s state visit where this issue will be addressed.

TENDERING Evidence To The Contrary: Khaiyum denounces disbarred lawyer Haroon Ali Shah's allegations regarding abuse of tender process as LIES. But Fiji Courts and Auditor-General's Reports contradict his lies

26/5/2022

Haroon Ali Shah

“That’s a lie. I understand that the chair of the tender committee made a statement but it’s also a breach of the law. You cannot make those kind of allegations without any facts. Unfortunately, this one particular recording we received was in a remote rural area. Some people may not necessarily have access to information so there are people standing up there and campaigning and essentially telling lies.”
Aiyaz Khaiyum responding to Haroon Ali Shah

TENDERING CONTRARY EVIDENCE From Fijileaks Archives

Fijileaks: In April 2022, the former FFP Health Minister Dr Neil Sharma appeared on the Australian based Sashi Singh's Talking Point.
He was crying his heart out regarding the treatment he received at the hands of Aiyaz Khaiyum and that Ministers are “held on a tight leash”, afraid to openly make open-ended statements in public. Singh didn't raise the Fijileaks* 'Health Scam' issue with Sharma that had made headlines on the ABC and FBC news, including Radio New Zealand International. As expected, the print media in Fiji did not touch the story. Since our founding in 2012, not a single story from us has been followed up by the Fiji Sun and the Prasad-Rabuka-Motibhai Fiji Times. After our exposure, Sharma was presented with two options: RESIGN or be marched to FICAC. He chose the first option.
His case involved the Gross Abuse of Government's Tender Process
From Fijileaks Archive:

"Dr. Neil Sharma’s action to collude and release confidential information to an unsuccessful bidder Mr. Vashu Devan is unwarranted, unprofessional, unethical and corrupt conduct. The dissemination of confidential evaluated tender document which had price analysis from all the bidders to an unsuccessful bidder and later award tender to the same company is corruption at its highest helm."

Dr Neil Sharma admits he revealed the tender bids to Vashu Devan which warrants criminal prosecution by FICAC but Khaiyum fears trial will expose how he vetted and approved Indo-Fijians as FFP candidates who now turn out to have 'skeletons' in their bags!

"Our preliminary investigations has found that Dr. Neil Sharma, Mr. Vashu Devan and Mr. Arveen Chandra have misled the Acting Prime Minister/ Prime Minister (Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum) and engaged in corrupt conduct in relation to their manipulation of tender process in order to ensure that the tender is awarded to Mr. Vashu Devan’s Company" -
FICAC FINDINGS, Jan-March 2012

Fijileaks: We have run scores of stories on abuse of the Tender Process

Attorney General and Minister responsible for Elections Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum says every single dollar collected by a candidate or a political party must be accounted for however the National Federation Party says Sayed-Khaiyum has no right to talk about strict compliance to election fundraising laws by political parties and candidates because he is the General Secretary of FijiFirst.

Sayed-Khaiyum says it was brought to their attention where people who have been announced as provisional candidates are going out doing fundraising.

Sayed-Khaiyum says some people are saying this is okay however this is not and businesses are also not supposed to contribute to political parties.

In a statement, NFP President Pio Tikoduadua says Sayed-Khaiyum blatantly ignores the fact that as General Secretary of FijiFirst, he is responsible to ensure his party and candidates strictly comply with all laws.

Tikoduadua says Sayed-Khaiyum is behaving like the laws only apply to the Opposition and not FijiFirst.

He says the Attorney General may be the Minister responsible for Elections but he cannot enforce the laws.

Tikoduadua says they know how FijiFirst accumulated millions of dollars in donations leading up to the 2018 elections and their hand-picked fundraisers are in overdrive.

The NFP President says Sayed-Khaiyum lacks the credibility and political morality to tell others how to be accountable and transparent.

Sayed-Khaiyum also says certain political parties are announcing on Facebook about doing some things but they are not saying where they will get their funding from.

He says this is a breach of the Financial Management Act.

Sayed-Khaiyum adds says they have received recordings of some people campaigning and telling lies that Government is not calling for tenders.

He says this is a breach of the law and people cannot make such allegations without having facts.

Sayed-Khaiyum says they are looking at the legal avenues available to have some corrective measures put in place.

Penny Must Drop: Australia's new Foreign Minister PENNY WONG must demand FFP government fork out its contribution of $70m to USP. If NOT, Australia will withhold its Budgetary Assistance. FEAK off - main culprit

25/5/2022

Fijileaks: We are aware that Fiji paying up the millions it is withholding will only embolden and benefit the thoroughly compromised Prasad-Rabuka USP academics (NOT all), but for students and the future of the regional university, the new Foreign Minister, PENNY WONG must demand payment.
* Vice-Chancellor Professor Pal Ahluwalia, who was deported from Fiji, has been cleared of any wrongdoings. The last one, Project Striker by KPMG, said that there was nothing that he had done wrong. Let Fiji embrace China if it wants to become another Sri Lanka in the
South Pacific

Fijileaks: As members, and major donors to USP and the Forum, Australia and NZ should insist that Fiji must, in the interest of good governance and transparency, pay up or else withhold their direct budgetary assistance to the FFG until it pays up its dues.

The Morrison Government sadly was too preoccupied with the Chinese threat within the region that it had allowed the FFP government to bully and blackmail the other members of the USP Council who were clearly in the majority and who were all acting in good faith and in the regional interest.

Penny MUST Drop, Wong. Let us hope that someone finally understands the financial plight of USP after not understanding it for a long time

We understand the former Prime Minister Morrison was also too preoccupied in trying to woo Frank Bainimarama and Aiyaz Khaiyum away from the Chinese which allowed Solomon Island's PM Sogovare to slip away from his radar.

So much for the Vuvale Accord. Aiyaz Khaiyum's conduct in the USP Council was totally unacceptable and very anti Vuvale spirit.

Australia and New Zealand should assist the USP Council to set up a dispute mechanism to address such abuse and not allow it to fester.

We hope when Wong meets Fiji's Foreign Minister Bainimarama she will compare their travelling allowances. In Bainimarama's case, he pockets $3,000 per day, on top of his salary and other perks as the Prime Minister.

The Malaysian-born Australian Foreign Minister PENNY WONG has come a long way in her political career. She held Malaysian citizenship until 2001.

Thankfully, she was NOT Foreign Minister of Fiji in 1987, for SITIVENI RABUKA would have overthrown her in his racially motivated COUP. In 1987, he deposed and locked up KRISHNA DATT as Bavadra's Foreign Minister, claiming Datt was a Libyan and Soviet Union stooge in Fiji

SYDNEY -- A day after being sworn in as Australia's first foreign-born foreign minister, Penny Wong was thrown straight into the diplomatic fray on Tuesday as she accompanied new Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to the Quad summit in Tokyo.

Wong brings a lot of experience to the role, having previously served as climate and finance minister and as shadow foreign minister since 2016. She will need these chops to help a prime minister with little diplomatic experience navigate the spillover from the Ukraine war and an acrimonious relationship with China.

Wong was born in 1968 in the Malaysian part of Borneo to an Australian-born mother and Chinese Malaysian father. After her parents split up, she moved with her mother and younger brother to Adelaide in South Australia at the age of 8.

Growing up in 1970s Australia as the country was opening up to more non-European migrants, especially refugees from Vietnam, Wong experienced racial discrimination and bullying. She often faced verbal attacks and saw anti-Asian slogans painted outside their home
.
A strong sense of injustice drove her to outperform her classmates in academic subjects and on the sports field. She managed to get a scholarship to Scotch College in Adelaide, one of the most prestigious schools in the country.

Wong first sought a career in medicine, but after spending a year at hospitals in Brazil on a volunteer exchange program she realized she was not cut out for dealing with death and blood. She switched her major from medicine to law and arts at the University of Adelaide, and graduated with honors in 1992.

After working for a trade union and the local government, she was elected to the Senate for the Australian Labor Party in 2001. In her maiden speech in parliament the following year, she criticized Prime Minister John Howard's use of race as a political issue.

"I seek a nation that is truly one nation, one in which all Australians can share, regardless of race," Wong said.
Wong is also the country's first openly gay female national politician and was instrumental in legalizing same-sex marriage in Australia in 2017. She broke down in tears when the result of the referendum on marriage equality was announced.

She lives with her partner, Sophie Allouache, and the couple are raising two daughters, Alexandra and Hannah.In 2007, Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd appointed Wong as minister for climate change and water, making her the first Australian cabinet member to be born in Asia. She went to Bali, Indonesia, to ratify the Kyoto Protocol on Australia's behalf.

She was appointed as finance minister in 2010, going on to serve as Labor's Senate leader when the conservative Liberal-National coalition took power in 2013.

Since 2016, she had been the shadow foreign affairs minister. She used her role to attack the government of Prime Minister Scott Morrison over his handling of key diplomatic relationships.

A Roy Morgan survey of 1,409 Australians in March found that Wong was the most trusted politician in Australia. The same poll showed that Morrison was the least trusted.

Neil Thomas, an analyst at Eurasia Group, said Wong would bring "a new dynamism" to the role of foreign minister. As a political force in her party, "Wong's gravitas would help boost the role of diplomacy in Australia's China policy."

Wong has a close friendship with Albanese, who is likely to lean heavily on her for foreign policy.
Richard McGregor, a senior fellow at the Lowy Institute, said China would likely seek to make life difficult for Wong.

"The Chinese government will no doubt try to test her in some fashion. And she will have to respond," McGregor said. "But I think she's not inclined to take a soft roll."

During the election campaign, China signed a security pact with the Solomon Islands, which is historically close to Canberra, and Wong hinted that her Labor government will retain Australia's tough stance against Beijing.

"We understand the reality of China's assertiveness and aggression. We understand that our region has been reshaped," Wong told reporters on April 23. "We understand that the key to ensuring Australia's security is securing our region. And that means a foreign policy that is more active and more vigorous in our region."

SRI LANKA WAS DANCING TO THE CHINESE BEAR:
"Look: the Muslims are here, the Hindus are here, the Catholics are here. All the same blood. This is the real Sri Lanka."

TRIBAL MEAL DEAL FOR RABUKA IN SYDNEY: Food for Thought. 2006 Coup prepared many from Kubuna, Burebasaga and Tovata for greener pastures in Australia, and now they can AFFORD $200 Black Tie DINNER

25/5/2022

WARNING: Anyone turning up in the traditional i-Taukei attire will be chased out of the dinner hall. It is a strictly Black Tie Event

RABUKA’S JUSTIFICATION OF THE 1987 COUP AN INSULT: A-G
* Attorney-General and Minister for Economy Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum says Sitiveni Rabuka’s justification of the 1987 Coup is an insult to Fijians of Indian descent who were terrorised and forced to flee Fiji.
Mr Rabuka in an interview with Fijivillage claimed that the 1987 Coup had prepared people of Indo-Fijian descent for greener pastures.
The Fiji Sun also approached National Federation Party (NFP) Leader Biman Prasad in Parliament yesterday for his thoughts on the comments made by Mr Rabuka. However, Mr Prasad replied:
“I do not talk to the Fiji Sun. Simple.”
Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said Mr Rabuka’s justification was a grave insult to those affected by the coup.
“And the fact that you have somebody like the leader of NFP just sitting by and grinning and not saying a word is a further insult to that,” he said.

GREENER PASTURES: Sure of defeat in the forthcoming election, he has already surrendered the Indo-Fijian birthright to be elected Prime Minister of Fiji. He has run away for 'greener political pasture' with his white dhoti. He is now in political bed with Sitiveni Rabuka - the man who planned his racist and violent coup so that it coincided on 14 MAY, 108 years to the day first of the thousands of Indian coolies arrived in Fiji. His racist mob went on to beat, torture, kidnap and RAPE Indo-Fijian women. The THUG is still hiding behind IMMUNITY he gave himself in the 1990 Constitution.

An Indian coolie labourer who arrived in 1911
"When we arrived in Fiji, we were herded into a punt like pigs and taken to Nukulau where we stayed for a fortnight. We were given rice that was full of worms and kept and fed like animals. Later, we were separated into groups for various employers to choose who they wanted. We got to Navua and were given a three-legged pot, a large spoon, a bucket and a billycan, and some rice. We then went to Nakaulevu where we saw the lines.'

GOOD MORNING, AND GOOD NIGHT, FIJI: Why is the Opposition SILENT over the continued employment of VISHNU MOHAN, Chairman of PSC, who is operating virtually from Canada since he migrated there from Fiji?

24/5/2022

Because of the Opposition’s deafening silence over the highly irregular nature of Mohan's appointment (which means that the Minister of Public Service can abuse this process for his political and personal benefit), will this be taken as a precedent for future appointments to Government Independent Commissions and independent Statutory Boards and Commissions should the FFP win the 2022 elections?
It makes us wonder if the Opposition Parties have the right calibre of Research Officers in their Secretariats. They can regularly remind their leaders of these breaches of the basic standards, requirements, and principles of good governance in a democratic society and public service. Why are 'Adam and Steve' from PAP-NFP silent?
We also find it quite strange and inexplicable that when it comes to questioning and challenging the illegal re-appointment of the Supervisor of Elections, the Opposition Parties seem sharply divided because only the FLP and UFP leaders are vigorously pursuing it through the Courts. At the same time, NFP, PAP, and Sodelpa are conspicuous with their deafening silence.
We find this quite disturbing. Is this a reflection of a lack of understanding of our democratic process, i.e. the proper roles and functions of our democratic institutions?

SAME SEX MARRIAGE: PAP and NFP very quick to flash their 'Adam and Steve' Political Marriage Certificate with Prasad ready to PLAY second fiddle to Rabuka as Deputy PM but both evasive on same SEX Marriage

23/5/2022

GIRMIT HOLIDAY: Both 'Adam and Steve' shout they will give us 'Girmit Day' on 14 May. We say NEVER must we have Girmit Holiday, for it will be eternally linked to the racist's 14 May 1987 COUP.
Yes, will they approve of same-sex marriage if and when they come to power? At the Korovutu meeting, both declared that they would remove restrictions that ban trade union leaders from participating in national politics.
We had always championed trade union rights, but after reading
DANIEL URAI informing Fijians to only VOTE for PAP/NAG coalition in the coming elections, we say:
Keep these political rascals LOCKED OUT OF POLITICS
Why should Unity Fiji promise to scrap the trade union decree in their manifesto if the reward from Urai is his call to vote for
Coupist Sitiveni Rabuka and his sidekick Biman Prasad
Once again, the recently politically married couple 'Adam and Steve' must tell us of their position on the same-sex-marriage in Fiji.
We know Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama's position:
'God created Adam and Eve, NOT Adam and Steve'

Fiji never fails to disappoint us. We may recall the Opposite Sex Scandal

SUVA (Pacific Media Watch): A Fiji court hearing a paternity suit against former Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka filed by controversial senior Fiji Times journalist Margaret Wise has been closed to journalists, report local news media.

According to the Fiji Times of 26 January 2002, the Magistrates Court hearing of the case on January 25 was closed in a move described by a court source as "not regular practice".

The paper said Magistrate Amani Rokotinaviti could not be reached for comment and questions faxed to the Solicitor-General's Office were not answered.

The police court orderly told the paper he had closed the doors on the instructions of the court clerk.

The court was to determine whether 1987 coup leader Rabuka fathered journalist Margaret Wise's 18-month-old son, the Fiji Times reported.

The lawsuit was filed by Wise after Rabuka allegedly failed to honour a settlement
.
In the first of three court hearings, Rabuka said a DNA test was in his favour.

In the following hearing, Rabuka said he could not understand the findings, but was willing to pay a weekly maintenance of F$50.

The Fiji Sun reported that Wise had rejected this and wanted Rabuka to admit paternity before a financial settlement was discussed.

The case has been adjourned until February 11.

* PMW reports: Wise has been at the centre of controversial allegations over so-called "skirt journalism", most recently in an open letter to the Sun on January 7 by New Labour Unity Party general secretary Tomasi Tokalauvere.

The late RUSSELL HUNTER to our Fijileaks Editor, Tues 27 May 2008:
'It is not well known etc etc. Margaret was sacked (by me) for indiscipline'

Excerpt from Michael Field's book, Swimming With Sharks, reviewed by:

"I expected Field to be more critical about media ethics and “skirt journalism” by journalists who obtained stories by sleeping with a former prime minister. [Michael] Field named two journalists, Wainikiti Waqa and Margaret Wise, who had affairs with SVT prime minister Sitiveni Rabuka, who staged Fiji’s first two coups in 1987...Field also notes that: “Rabuka fathered a boy with Wise and then denied it was his.” A DNA paternity test indeed found Rabuka was the father of Wise’s child: “The court found he was the father and he was ordered to pay F$30 a week.” As a veteran journalist on whom some developing world journalists in the Pacific, especially my former Daily Post ones, have looked for guidance, Field remained silent on the morality and propriety of the leading multinational media company in Fiji [The Fiji Times] allowing such a conflict of interest – not only to exist, but flourish."

Sleeping with journalists

Media ethics – or the lack of them – in Fiji has been in the news since allegations surfaced in 1999 of improper dealings by media in general and the Australian-owned Fiji Times in particular, the newspaper recently given three months by the regime to sell off 90 percent of its shareholding to local interests.

Since then debates have been rife about the balance and “agenda” of The Fiji Times, particularly raised by former prime minister Mahendra Chaudhry when in office between 1999 and when he was deposed in the George Speight attempted coup in May 2000.

I expected Field to be more critical about media ethics and “skirt journalism” by journalists who obtained stories by sleeping with a former prime minister.

Field named two journalists, Wainikiti Waqa and Margaret Wise, who had affairs with SVT prime minister Sitiveni Rabuka, who staged Fiji’s first two coups in 1987.

On this issue, Ratu Inoke Kubuabola, then cabinet minister and now Bainimarama’s Foreign Affairs Minister, called for Rabuka to resign. Field writes: “Rabuka replied that he would go, provided whoever succeeded him could prove that he had not also committed adultery.”

Field also notes that: “Rabuka fathered a boy with Wise and then denied it was his.”

A DNA paternity test indeed found Rabuka was the father of Wise’s child: “The court found he was the father and he was ordered to pay F$30 a week.”

As a veteran journalist on whom some developing world journalists in the Pacific, especially my former Daily Post ones, have looked for guidance, Field remained silent on the morality and propriety of the leading multinational media company in Fiji allowing such a conflict of interest – not only to exist, but flourish.

Field did not say anything about The Fiji Times allowing the same Margaret Wise play such a key role in penning articles, opinions and stories on Chaudhry’s People’s Coalition government, the accuracy and balance of which had been questioned and challenged by Chaudhry and his government on many occasions.

Would that have been tolerated in other democracies, including Field’s New Zealand? Would Fairfax allow such a journalistic sin to flourish?

Fijileaks: Our Founding Editor-in-Chief has always stood
up for the LGBT community in Fiji. The Daily Post, 2005:

A PNG POST COURIER Reporter: 'Chinese Embassy are exploiting and corrupting our media. I have evidence. Money has spoken and there is now no independence and integrity in PNG media.' Is same in Fiji media?

23/5/2022

"I have witnessed many journalists at the Post Courier and The National accept large sums of Kina, new phones, laptops, and luxury trips to China, all off the books and in secret. The Chinese are willing to go to any length to corrupt us and buy our loyalty, more and more with success." A Post Courier Reporter

By A POST COURIER REPORTER

The Chinese Embassy are exploiting and corrupting our media institutions. I have evidence. Money has spoken and there is now no independence and integrity in PNG media. My complaints have been ignored for too long. I can no longer hide these dirty secrets from our people and jeopardise my family future and our country’s future.

The rumours are true. Editors, managers and journalists at the Post Courier and The National are accepting payments from the Chinese Embassy in return for favourable stories and control of publishing. The exploitation and bribes allow China to advance their own egotistical agenda at the expense of PNG’s sovereignty and its people. I have witnessed many journalists at the Post Courier and The National accept large sums of Kina, new phones, laptops, and luxury trips to China, all off the books and in secret. The Chinese are willing to go to any length to corrupt us and buy our loyalty, more and more with success.

This corruption goes much further than capitalising on the greed and selfishness of these journalists. Once the Chinese Embassy have you hooked on money, they treat you like the puppet you are. Controlling you through threatening and intimidating emails and text messages to apologise, change or hide stories that criticise China or do not advance their political agenda. There is a very good reason why we publish no stories about sensitive Chinese issues. On many occasions, I and others have been threatened by the Chinese Embassy to not write about stories that they want hidden.

I have seen stories about Chinese companies, Chinese political leaders and Taiwanese independence being heavily edited or removed by the Chinese Embassy in Port Moresby.Sun Jia, the supposed ‘Director of Political Affairs’, Diao Yixiao and others at the Embassy censor and corrupt our journalistic independence and integrity. In my years of journalism, I have never heard of diplomatic staff from another nation trying to bribe and threaten local media. Diplomatic staff usually act with integrity and respect to best represent their nation but this is not what I am seeing.

Buying and threatening editors, managers and journalists to publish or hide stories does not seem to be the best way to represent China to our country. Or is this what the current Chinese leader and their Embassy representatives call diplomacy and respect? Quality journalism at the Post Courier and The National has not existed for a long time. We are often accused of not investigating stories properly. At the Post Courier, journalists have come under scrutiny for plagiarism many times and have even been publically humiliated by The Guardian.

I used to be proud of my career as a Journalist but now I am embarrassed. How can I have professional dignity when staff at the Post Courier and The National are accepting bribes and allowing themselves to be controlled by Sun, Diao and others at the Chinese Embassy? This is a breach of both our country’s sovereignty and the Media Council of PNG General Code of Ethics for the News Media.

https://media-council-of-papua-new-guinea.webnode.com/code/

In order to maintain public trust, freedom of speech and credibility of the news media, journalists are required to remain within the following guidelines derived from international standards.

The code clearly state;

“Disclose any conflicts of interest that affect or could be perceived to affect the accuracy, fairness or independence of your report. Never use your journalistic position for personal gain”

“Do not accept any benefit or gratuity that might be seen as personal gain in conflict with fair and unbiased news coverage at the time or in the future. When it is given it should revealed in the story
content”

“Do not plagiarize”

It is clear that staff at the Post Courier and The National are not abiding by these ethics. They are allowing Sun, Diao and the Chinese Embassy to buy their loyalty and profit at the expense of PNG’s independence. They are no longer real journalists but mouth pieces of the Chinese government.

I will not sit quietly and allow my country to suffer because of the greed and selfishness of others.
I cannot act without integrity – being a journalist is an honour and I will not stand by and allow this corruption to go unnoticed.

I will not continue knowing my family and future generations will not be able to rely on the institutions that are created to inform and protect them. I will not allow PNG journalism to be corrupted and controlled by the Chinese embassy. Sun Jia, Diao Yixiao and the Chinese Embassy. Stop corrupting, controlling and threatening us. Managers, editors and journalists at the Post Courier and The National, uphold your journalistic integrity and independence.

The Government of PNG must investigate this and protect our media industry. The people demand and deserve it. The suppression of truth is harming us and our nation. If you then do not change, we will know. And we will expose you. We know much more.

GET OUT OF ELECTION RACE: NFP leader BIMAN PRASAD must leave the political arena with his political flock. How can THIS MAN state PAP-NAG 'Girmit Pact' will see, not HIM, but Sitiveni Rabuka as Prime Minister

21/5/2022

The New Australian Prime Minister: No one will describe him as nothing but the Australian Prime Minister, even though Anthony Albanese, 59, was born in March 1963 in Darlinghurst, an eastern suburb of Sydney, to an Irish-Australian mother and an Italian father

"History is a gallery of pictures in which there are few originals and many copies."
Alexis de Tocqueville, French political scientist and historian
PRASAD is taking the NFP into the election campaign like a castrated political bull in a China Shop, wanting his 'girmit partner' Rabuka to become Prime Minister, the very man who wished Indo-Fijians left Fiji in their thousands so he could replace them with Chinese labourers

* People’s Alliance Party (PAP) and the National Federation Party (NAG) have agreed that Sitiveni Rabuka will be appointed prime minister if they win the 2022 General Election. Mr Rabuka told supporters in Lautoka yesterday that following discussions between their members, both parties agreed that he would take on the role of PM

IF SO, NFP's POLITICAL EUNUCH SHOULD GET OUT OF POLL RACE
Fijileaks to Indo-Fijians: Wake Up, and Smell the Treachery. Your ancestors failed to smell it in 1879, but this 'Political Hijra' must NOT be allowed to sign away our birthright to become Prime Minister in Fiji. Either he knows he stands no chance in narak* (hell), or he is willing to go along and inflict the biggest pap in our 143-year history by publicly declaring that he has signed a GIRMIT for Racist-Coupist to become PM.
Basically, both of them can take their 'GIRMIT HOLIDAY' pledge and shove it up where the Fijian Sun NEVER SHINES.
Bloody TRAITOR, or he is already in cahoots with Rabuka for an indigenous uprising in the event Aiyaz Khaiyum becomes PM. A Repeat of 1999-2000 when his predecessor JAI RAM REDDY declared that Fiji was NOT ready for an Indo-Fijian PM after Mahendra Chaudhry was deposed on 19 May 2000

RACE CARD: CHAUDHRY Fights CORNER to Become PRIME MINISTER. 'A Tale of Greedy Political Hares Chasing after the GALLOPING HOUND'
By VICTOR LAL, Daily Post, 2000, Part Three
Our current Founding Editor-in-Chief had blamed the flawed and mandatory power-sharing concept in the
Rabuka-Reddy 1997 Constitution partly for 2000 Coup. In any event, that Constitution was designed for Rabuka to become PM and Reddy as his Deputy but the voters in 1999 consigned them to rubbish heap

.ONE of the most distressing spectacles in the run up to the appointment of the new Prime Minister of Fiji was the introduction of the race card by the Fijian Association Party (FAP) and some elements from the Party of National Unity (PANU). Here were two parties in coalition with the FLP, and yet when it came to the big prize they began to demand that a Fijian should be appointed the Prime Minister of Fiji.

They demanded the top post for a Fijian not on merit and electoral numbers but based on the crude politics of race and fear. What is more surprising, is that it was Adi Kuini Bavadra's FAP, which was the most vocal in pushing for a Fijian prime minister on the spurious argument that it represented the Fijian electorate in Parliament. It was a surprising demand on her part because Adi KuIni should have known better than any other Fijian politician, based on her own personal experiences of the 1987 coups, that her own late and former husband, Dr Timoci Bavadra, had been overthrown from power despite being a Fijian, and was married to a paramount Fijian high chief. Adi Kuini hails from the chiefly clan of Navosa and is also a niece of the great Fijian leader Ratu Sir Lala Sukuna.

Chaudhry, Wily Old Fox had Outfoxed the Political Bears - He fights his corner to be PM

The race for the prime ministership was like a tale of running with the hare and hunting the hound. But Chaudhry, the wily old political fox, had outfoxed the political bears. Labour’s overwhelming victory had put Chaudhry at the political helm. Once the official election results were announced, the Labour Parliamentary caucus elected him as the party’s nominee for prime minister. Soon afterwards, he was appointed Prime Minister by the President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara. The Fijian Coalition partners claimed that they were neither consulted nor informed, and reacted angrily claiming Chaudhry’s appointment a breach of an implicit agreement to have an ethnic Fijian as prime minister. The FAP had decided that they would only join the FLP if party leader Adi Kuini was made Prime Minister. They said they would not join unless their stipulation was met.

Viliame Saulekaleka said instead of waiting to discuss the issue with them, they were shocked that the FLP had gone ahead in getting Chaudhry sworn-in. It was believed that PANU was also considering opting out of the coalition. PANU would have wanted their leader Apisai Tora to be PM had he won his seat. But Chaudhry was forthright in his desire to become PM: ‘It is the Labour Party which has the majority in this election and that’s what democracy is all about, and the people have given their mandate, and that mandate must be respected’, he said. Chaudhry was the obvious party choice for the position, although there were other contenders, including Tupeni Baba. Chaudhry also had the tacit support of his political adversary, the defeated NFP leader Jai Ram Reddy, who told the press: ‘One thing is very clear-the people’s mandate must be carried forward. And the people have overwhelmingly voted for the Fiji Labour Party. And the leader of the Fiji Labour Party, I think, is entitled to being the Prime Minister. And I sympathise with that point of view so that’s the correct thing to do. And their support is not marginal, its quite overwhelming. And as he (Chaudhry) put it, I think, the verdict of the people is crystal clear. So I’m hoping that he will be the Prime Minister.’ (Reddy changed his tune later after the coup saying Fiji was NOT ready for an Indo-Fijian Prime Minister)

Adi Kuini Bavadra Speed missing from Chaudhry's Swearing-in Ceremony as Prime Minister

Chaudhry was sworn-in as the new and first Indo-Fijian Prime Minister of Fiji. The swearing-in ceremony was delayed because officials had to look for the Hindu holy book, the Gita. This small but significant piece of religious item of historical importance, just goes to show that the Government House had never been prepared for such an eventuality, for it was the Bible that had been used since the first elections in post-independence Fiji to swore-in prime ministers of Fijian origin. One noticeable absentee at the swearing-in-ceremony was Adi Kuini Vuikaba Speed. Her non-attendance, for whatever reason, was later to be taken as a snub and a detrimental move for her party by the FLP. Adi Kuini asked President Ratu Mara to revoke the decision and appoint her as head of government because she was the leader of the largest ‘Fijian’ party in the winning coalition. Poseci Bune, the VLV leader, reportedly began canvassing the possibility of heading a broad coalition of Fijian parties in opposition. Tora threatened to pull out of the coalition altogether. The Fijian nationalists proposed to march against the government. Ratu Mara however rejected a request from the FAP to install their leader, Adi Kuini as the new PM.

Ratu Mara rebuffs Adi Kuini's letter for her to be appointed Prime Minister based on Race and Party Identity

The letter was delivered to Ratu Mara by FAP official and Bau chief, Ratu Viliame Dreunimisimisi. Mara rejected the letter, saying he had already installed Chaudhry as the leader of the Coalition, and asked them to work with the Coalition. Mara did Chaudhry no favour: he did what the Constitution required him to do as President of Fiji: to appoint as prime minister the member of the House of Representatives who in his opinion commanded majority support. In turn, Chaudhry offered Adi Kuini the post of Deputy Prime Minister. He had outmanoeuvred her. She had two choices: to accept the second top post in the government or sit on the Opposition benches with her former opponents from the SVT. Labour also threatened to invite VLV into Cabinet. After hours of deliberations with party colleagues, Adi Kuni accepted the second deputy prime minister position in the new Cabinet.

She quoted Mara’s advice: ‘It was basically appealing to us as leaders to consider the importance of co-operation rather than be at loggerheads with the new government.’ But coalition partner, PANU, expressed its disappointment with Chaudhry’s invitation to the VLP. PANU officials said they did not appreciate the fact that Chaudhry asked another party before even approaching them, their coalition partner. PANU however also accepted Chaudhry’s offer to join the government. Its parliamentary leader-Meli Bogileka-said they had accepted Chaudhry’s offer of two Cabinet seats to them: ‘The Prime Minister has offered us two ministeries positions. And I would like to thank Prime Minister for that being so generous because PANU-if you look at our constitution-there are only four elected members of parliament there. We are not entitled as far as the constitution is concerned. We’re supposed to have the number eight as you well know. So he has given us in realisation of PANU coming from the province of Ba-where more than 60 per cent of ALTA is based-the concentration of the population of our brother and sister Indians-who are mainly cane farmers-and that’s where the economy of the country lies-in the western division.’

Tora seems to have belatedly given his blessing. ‘He said your decision is totally yours and he has given us his blessings. He says whatever your decisions are-those are your decisions-and I leave it at that. I don’t like to intervene or interfere and he said so you have my blessings’, Bogileka said. Chaudhry also extended an invitation to the VLP and SVT to join Labour in forming government. ‘I hope they respond soon. Labour has the numbers to form government on its own but I would like them very much to join us so that we can have a government representative of all the people in Fiji. I have a duty to provide a stable government as soon as possible.’ Chaudhry was confident that the two parties would take up the offer: ‘There is not much difference between us except for (Sakeasi) Butadroka.’ On calls by some VLV members for Fiji to be made a Christian state and for a re-imposition of the Sunday ban, Chaudhry said VLP leader Bune had made it clear that there will be no Sunday ban and neither will Fiji be declared a Christian state.

Chaudhry makes Cabinet broad church but dismisses Rabuka's demand to make him Deputy PM

Chaudhry also invited the two Independent General MPs (Leo Smith and Bill Aull) and the lone Rotuman MP Marieta Rigamoto to be part of his Coalition. Chaudhry was suddenly under a siege situation as minority parties made impossible demands for places in his new Cabinet. In fact, Chaudhry had to delay naming his Cabinet because of demands made on him, especially from the SVT which was soundly thrashed at the polls. STV leader Rabuka wrote to Chaudhry saying his minority group will join a multi-party Cabinet if it is given four Cabinet portfolios, including the position of the Deputy Prime Minister for himself, the Ministry of Works portfolio for Ratu Inoke Kubuabola, and Ministry of Finance portfolio for Jim Ah Koy. Rabuka also demanded seats in the Senate and in the boards of state-owned enterprises. The results of the general election had given Chaudhry such an overwhelming majority to lead the country in the 21st century. But the Constitution had required of him to make an offer to the SVT. It was possible, some argued, that some of the demands being made, especially from the SVT, were being designed to put Chaudhry in a situation where he was damned if he said ‘yes’, and damned if he said ‘no’.

Rabuka's demands for Cabinet positions were cunning ploy to remain on Opposition bench

What is surprising is that the SVT caucus, according to Rabuka’s biographer John Sharpham, had agreed shortly after the election results were announced, to remain on the Opposition benches, and not be a part of the multi-party government. Rabuka later claimed that, ‘We had accepted the Prime Minister’s invitation to be part of the multi-party Cabinet on the condition that I become the Deputy Prime Minister. Our collective decision was that because we structured the new Constitution, we should join the multi-party Cabinet of Chaudhry’s government. Our collective decision is that because we were party to the Constitution, we structured the Constitution in our belief that it was good for the country, good for us to have a multi-party Cabinet and to uphold those we decided to be part of the new Government’.

The terms put forward to Chaudhry included that Rabuka be also made the Minister for Fijian Affairs. As we have already noted, Chaudhry found these demands unacceptable, specially from a party which was not only soundly thrashed at the polls, emerging with only eight seats, but the fact that it was not even part of the People's Coalition in the first instance. 'I invited them and they wanted to dictate to me their terms which I just can not entertain’.

Fijians dominate Chaudhry Cabinet: He bent backwards, angering Indo-Fijians, to form Government

While Chaudhry seemed like he was under a lot of pressure, political observers insisted he was in too strong a position to be bullied. Unfortunately, while Chaudhry refused to be bullied, he however, bent over backwards to appease the Fijian community at large, and in the process drawing the wrath of his own community in the appointment of his Cabinet. He had to appeal to his Indo-Fijian members of his Government to accept his desire to share power with Fiji’s other communities. Chaudhry picked a Fijian dominated Cabinet as he moved to bring the two major races together. He had made a great political sacrifice after 11 Fijians were sworn into the 17-member Cabinet. Many thought the Cabinet was going to be dominated by Indo-Fijians. There was widespread rumours that Ratu Mara had a hand in shaping his Cabinet. ‘I must admit that His Excellency played a very major role in the naming of my Cabinet and he did it in his usual way’, Chaudhry said. Asked why his cabinet weighed heavily in favour of Fijians, Chaudhry said: ‘Why not?’.

Chaudhry blunders in appointing Adi Kuini as Fijian Affairs Minister, to face Rabuka as GGC Chairman, for after all he also demanded that he be made Minister for Fijian Affairs to enter Cabinet

Chaudhry’s strategic move was seen by political observers as sensitive to the sensitiveness of the Fijians. He was trying to fulfil the multi-racial, multicultural and multi-party spirit of the 1997 Constitution of Fiji. Chaudhry left the post of the crucial Ministry of Home Affairs vacant until further consultation with his FLP partners. He however intimated that the post will go to a FAP MP and not to the VLP as speculated. It was rumoured that the post would go to the defeated VLP candidate and one of its founders, Ratu Epeli Ganilau. While Chaudhry seemed to have won the first round of the battle, Rabuka resigned from his embattled leadership of the SVT, and went on to become the chairman of the Great Council of Chiefs. Chaudhry allocated Adi Kuini the powerful but sensitive Fijian Affairs portfolio which made her chairperson of the Great Council of Chiefs, from where she was expelled by the Rabuka Government because of her leadership of the FAP.

From hindsight, it was a strategic mistake, for now Adi Kuini suddenly found herself having to deal with Rabuka as the leader of the powerful body when she and her party expected a senior Fijian chief to fill the revered role. Moreover, Rabuka had wanted her Fijian Affairs post as part of the condition to enter Chaudhry’s government. As he exited from the political scene, Rabuka again blamed the Indo-Fijians for rejecting his party’s philosophy of multi-racialism. There was no call to the indigenous Fijians to shed their own insular and inward looking nationalism, and to reciprocate by accepting the People's Coalition’s version of multi-racialism. We have already pointed out elsewhere why the charges against the Indo-Fijians are false. What had caused SVT’s defeat, according to Rabuka, was ‘the personal weaknesses of the candidates, the personal weaknesses of those that were sitting in the last [Rabuka] government, failing to visit their Constituency regularly, the unpopularity of some of the Government policies, the weaknessesin our party machinery and structure’, and of course, ‘my coalition with the National Federation Party (NFP) was one of the causes of the SVT downfall’. It was not THE cause of SVT’s downfall.

The Mara family and STV’s downfall? Mara to Rabuka: 'My conscience is clear.'

What role did the Mara family play in the SVT and Rabuka’s downfall was another topic of speculation, for the family was very closely aligned to the VLP? Rabuka himself raised the issue with Mara, who told him ‘my conscience is clear’. Rabuka recounts to The Review: ‘I don’t know whether that is true...whether they [the Mara family] were instrumental in the formation of that party [VLP] or whether they supported it for...can’t be ideological reasons because ideologically they were not different from the SVT. In fact, when I handed in my resignation, I asked the President whether he was involved. I asked him whether he was actively involved in the VLP. All he said to me was ‘my conscience is clear’ which is very non-committal. I asked him whether he was actively involved in the VLP and I related to him the Saul/David situation in the Bible where Saul was anointed King. While he was still reigning as king, Samuel the prophet anointed David to be his successor. Then David went and killed Goliath and was brought into the palace and lived with Saul as an entertainer. On three occasions Saul tried to kill David and David’s followers said ‘kill him’. He had so many opportunities to kill Saul but David said ‘The Lord forbid that I should lift up my hand against the Lord’s anointed’. I related that to the President and said: ‘Sir, even if you are, I believe that you were called to that position and I was called to this position and I will not lift my hand or raise my hand against you because I believe that you were anointed. All he said to me was ‘my conscience is clear’.’

Before the 1992 general election, Rabuka stood for the presidency of the SVT, beating Mara’s wife, Adi Lady Lala Mara to the post. Was that where things went from bad to worse in his relationship with the Maras. Rabuka replied as follows: ‘It shouldn’t have been because my selection was done the proper way. Hers was only thought of at the meeting. Yes! My candidacy was lobbied for by Cakaudrove. We went to Bua and Macuata and asked Lau for support and some other provinces. At the meeting, someone realised what was going to happen (that Rabuka was going to win) and Tomasi Vakatora stood up and nominated Adi Lala.’

Rabuka on Rabuka: Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu and Kubuabola asked me to step down as SVT leader

In the same interview, he gave an insight into his own departure from the leadership of the SVT: ‘Two members of Parliament from Cakaudrove-Kubuabola and Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu-asked me to step down as Leader of the Opposition and party leader. I told them if they had the support of other members of the SVT, the UGP and the Independent members, I would step down. They said they would talk to them. Five minutes later David Pickering called me and asked me if I had agreed to step down. I asked why and he said Ratu Inoke asked him in the morning-we had met at 12 o’clock-whether he would support him for the leadership. This is despite Ratu Inoke saying to me that he would seek support after talking to me. That is a very devious way of doing it. I don’t mind now that I know, but I just want them to be very clear about what they’re doing because if their plot backfires on them, they can only blame themselves.’

When asked whether it was a wise move by the SVT to ask him to step down, Rabuka replied as follows: ‘At that time racial feelings within SVT were very strong. People thought that my conciliatory stance and my leadership of a racially-based party in an inter-racial search for harmonious coexistence in Fiji was incongruous. They felt that a more nationalistic leader should be asked to take over the reigns. I don’t know how those people who came up with that idea are feeling now...whether Kubuabola or Ratu Epeli Mataini who are now Leader of the Opposition and SVT president respectively are doing what those people wanted.’ Rabuka then ventured to comment on other Fijians, notably people like Ratu Tu’uakitau Cokanauto, who was harbouring leadership ambitions and saying Fijians should be invited.

Rabuka told The Review: ‘I think the very simple-minded will probably believe him. The serious thinkers won’t. They will see through that very thin veil. Fijians lost the government because they were not united. We had the first when the Fijian Association (FAP) ceded from the SVT in 1993. Now members of the FAP, particularly those who were behind that split are calling for unity. You see the hypocrisy of these people like Cokanauto and other people now calling for unity. They were the ones who started the break.’

Fijian infighting embroils Chaudhry, again, and overthrow of Adi Kuini as FAP Party Leader

In fact, the petty rivalry and factionalism that saw the split of the SVT in 1993, was once again to resurface with greater ferocity between the FAP MPs in Chaudhry’s People's Coalition Government. This time the principal actors were Ratu Tu’uakitau (Tuki) and Adi Kuini over leadership and Senate nominations. Chaudhry’s troubles began when Adi Kuini did not name Rewa chief and former President of the Telecom Employees Association, Ratu Timoci Silatolu, in the Cabinet. He went on to establish a Foundation for Indigenous Fijian People. The main objective was to reportedly ensure that indigenous rights were safe guarded, so that nothing that would be done by the Chaudhry Government or any other interest group would affect the interests of the indigenous people. Silatolu became its chairman.

The SVT's Kubuabola said he personally supported the principles of the foundation. Silatolu later went on to overthrow Chaudhry from power. He was named by George Speight as his Interim Prime Minister, and is currently with him on Nukulau Island awaiting treason charges.The infighting between the different factions of the FAP intensified when Adi Kuini left for Australia for medical treatment. Ratu Tuki tried to bring out an injunction to stop Dr Isimlei Cokanasiga, a Cabinet minister in Chaudhry’s government, from leading the FAP. The High Court refused to issue an injunction. Cokanasiga claimed he was nominated acting leader by Adi Kuini. The Fijian Association Party crisis had deepened with unconfirmed reports claiming that the executives who ousted their leader, Adi Kuini, were planning on also removing their general secretary, Josaia Gucake. It was understood the executives were also not happy with Gucake. A party insider told the press that the decision was taken at the executives meeting. It was alleged that Gucake would be replaced by senior journalist, Jo Nata.

Like Silatolu, Nata also crossed over to join Speight’s storm troopers in the overthrow of Chaudhry. Nata became the press spokesman of Speight and one of its most anti-Indo-Fijian critics (Nata was this writer's classmate at Ratu Kadavulevu School and workmate at the old Fiji, closed down by Rabuka in 1987) inside the parliamentary complex during the 56 day siege. He is currently awaiting treason trial on Nukulau Island. Meanwhile, Adi Kuini threatened to take legal action against the FAP executives. She claimed that the meeting of the executives to have her replaced by Ratu Tuki and change the Senate nominees were illegal and unconstitutional. Ratu Mara however rejected FAP’s lists, calling upon the Leader of the Opposition Kubuabola to submit only five and not 10 names. Instead of submitting eight names to the President Mara for endorsement, as stipulated in the Constitution, Kubuabola sent a list containing 13 names. Three of those names were his own nominees which Mara accepted. The remaining ten, however, came from two factions involved in a bitter power struggle for control of the FAP. The first list of five names was submitted by Adi Kuini Speed to Kubuabola on Monday, September 6, in compliance with the Supreme Court ruling.

A second list of five names however, was submitted to Kubuabola by Ratu Tuki, who was elected new FAP leader at an emergency national executive council meeting of the party on Saturday, which forcefully ousted Adi Kuini as party leader. However, instead of sending only five names, Kubuabola decided to send both lists-resulting in the President throwing it back at him for non-compliance. Meanwhile, Adi Kuini filed papers in court seeking a judicial review on the controversial meeting which overthrew her as party leader. In that meeting, Ratu Tuki was voted FAP leader, ousting Adi Kuini allegedly with the votes of the executive's majority, which included five parliamentarians. Ratu Tuki claimed that meeting was perfectly legal and Adi Kuini was no longer party leader.

FAP rift damages Chaudhry

The Daily Post, in its editorial comment, captured the impact the infighting was having on Chaudhry’s leadership and the image of the People's Coalition Government among grassroots Fijians throughout the country. The paper wrote as follows: ‘The division and leadership struggle within a political party is nothing new in Fiji politics and certainly won't be the last we hear of. It is part of the game politicians play in their quest for power and dominance, even though in the process they confuse the ordinary people who cannot understand the intricacies of the party system. As the biggest Fijian party in the Government, the Fijian Association Party supporters would be devastated to see their leaders already divided only four months after the general elections. Party leader Adi Kuini Speed, a high chief of the Navosa district, suddenly finds herself being dethroned by a group of disgruntled party members who are not happy with her list of Senate nominees. The breakaway group has elected its own party leader and officials and picked its own list of Senators The last thing the party members want is anything to jeopardise their numbers in the House of Representatives and the strong power-sharing position they currently enjoy in the People's Coalition Government.’

The Post noted that, ‘The Government too has rightly expressed its disappointment with the rift. It should be angry because this does nothing to strengthen the People's Coalition which is fighting to address many national problems, the most menacing of which is the land leases under the Agricultural Landlord and Tenants Act. Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry has worked hard to solidify the Coalition, beginning with the composition of his Cabinet. He recognises the importance of the FAP in his Government by appointing its party leader, Adi Kuini, as one of his two deputies. Not only that, his confidence in her leadership quality and political influence prompted him to allocate the important and sensitive Fijian Affairs Ministry to her’.

The spectre of PANU spoiling the party was also of grave concern. The Post continued: ‘Apart from the FAP division, the Government also faces the threat by another of its Coalition partners, the Party of National Unity which meets this week to withdraw its two Cabinet ministers. Mr Chaudhry does not want this adverse development at this point in the life of his Government. The power struggle within the Fijian political parties has also been deemed by some as a reflection the political quandary some indigenous Fijians find themselves in today. There is a general feeling of instability and insecurity among those who still cannot accept a non-Fijian leading the nation. They choose to be blind to the results of the elections and the requirements of the new Constitution. And this is not healthy for democracy and the political development of this nation.’

Was it a Coup?

Ratu Tuki said the main reason behind the change in leadership was the lack of consultation within the party. ‘If its a multi-party Cabinet, one of the unwritten rules is greater consultation in parties on national issues and especially in addressing the more sensitive issues. Consultation is first and foremost under the existing system of multi-party government, and we just wish to continue with that and that is what we wish to promote under our new leadership because it has been frustrating elected members due to a lack of consultation and one cannot act unilaterally when it comes to party interests," said Ratu Tuki. Was it a coup? The Post’s acting editor and political columnist Mesake Koroi neatly summed up the infighting. He wrote as follows: ‘The talk around the tanoa at the weekend is that it was. Others have described it as just another crisis. The central figure in the power struggle, Adi Kuini Vuikaba Speed, prefers to call it a storm in a tea cup. That is how she is treating the events of Saturday morning in which she was unceremoniously removed as Leader of the Fijian Association Party. "As far as I am concerned, I am still the Party Leader and very much in control of the activities of the party," Adi Kuini said yesterday. "The majority of the party executives are with me, including all FA parliamentarians who are in Cabinet. I still enjoy the majority support within the party." Yesterday she met party executives to decide what is to be done. While Adi Kuini downplays Saturday's events, she cannot ignore the danger which threatens her party now. They say that where there is smoke there is fire. She must act decisively now to maintain party unity and solidarity for the sake of the country. She must not allow the split within the party go any further. When the FAP dissident group, led by Party President Ratu Viliame Dreunimisimisi, took over the party operation on Saturday, it became obvious that it was not just a simple take-over bid. Whether the FAP dissident group were aware of it, their action of forcefully removing Adi Kuini from party leadership was the beginning of a well-planned move to destabilise Mahendra Chaudhry's government.’ Mesake Koroi said that was not an isolated event but part of a bigger plan to derail the Chaudhry Government. ‘

The main cause of this leadership struggle can be found on page 13 of the September issue of The Review where it is said that Ratu Tu'uakitau Cokanauto is to be made the compromise Prime Minister of Fiji, leading a grand Fijian coalition government with Ratu Inoke Kububola and Poseci Bune becoming Deputy Prime Ministers. If Ratu Tuki can depose Adi Kuini as leader and take the FAP out of the coalition government, the next step is for the Party of National Unity (PANU) to withdraw from the People's Coalition. The plan is for the grand Fijian coalition parties to woo across two Fijian members of the Fiji Labour Party (FLP). Under the present Constitution, this wooing across of two FLP members may not be possible because any MP who crosses the floor, loses his seat in Parliament. Ratu Inoke and the chiefs of Cakaudrove are now using the ALTA issue as the leverage to force the new government to its knees’.

Like Silatolu, Nata, and others, Ratu Tuki was also reported to have backed Speight’s coup against Chaudhry. He was reported by the newspapers to be among several People's Coalition Government backbenchers that had given their support to Speight’s short-lived Interim Administration that was to be led by Silatolu. Ratu Tuki, other FAP MPs and former Minister for Health Leo Smith, were escorted out of Parliament where they were locked up with other Fijian MPs and ushered into a meeting with coup leader Speight. In a press conference Speight announced their support. Ratu Tuki is currently in Qarase’s Interim Government alongside PANU’s Apisai Tora. In a most recent press statement Ratu Tuki said he no longer supported Chaudhry’s leadership because the former Prime Minister was directly responsible for the events of 19 May. The Bau chief said the members of the People's Coalition should be realistic and move away from the call for a Government of National Unity.

He said now was the time for political parties to move away from the Coalition and ‘ask themselves how much they contributed to the situation we are now in’. Ratu Tuki said individual politicians and members of the Coalition espousing the return of the 1997 Constitution and promoting the Gates Judgement should first seek mandate of their people. He said those calling for the set up of a GNU had the opportunity to do the same before 19 May. ‘So, why know? Too many times we have played issues for our own political gain and political survival. We should not talk multi-racialism as a political front to gain yardage’, he said. Ratu Tuki went on to single out Chaudhry for special criticism: ‘Chaudhry has been identified as one of the people directly or indirectly [who] caused the problem. He never addressed the concerns raised by various expressions of dissatisfaction-they may have been small and isolated but they were part of the same unrest that became part of May 19. People should be realistic. They call us unelected but what are the consequences-it could become a firebomb. It could allow people to resurrect what they could not complete on May 19. The army put the Interim [government] in as a body that could carry out the governance of the country and give security at a time when the country was at the verge of anarchy.’

Chameleon Apisai Tora resurfaces from the political shadows. Tora wants to become Prime Minister, saying he is Fijian

Interestingly, Chaudhry had never been a member of Speight’s anarchists, nor endorsed or condoned their actions, which brought murder and mayhem to the streets of Fiji. He was its unwarranted victim. As expected, Tora, the political chameleon of Fiji politics, had suddenly re-emerged from the shadows. He not only revived the fearsome and, at times, violent Taukei Movement, but went on to become the Minister for ALTA in the Qarase regime.

On 22 August 1999, Tora said that he did not want an Indo-Fijian prime minister. ‘I'm bounded by the majority rule and they want a Fijian prime minister’, he said. Tora said that he had dissociated himself from Chaudhry and he would stand by that. Tora said that Chaudhry had broken promises and would continue to do that while in power. He said he was disappointed with what had happened and that was the reason he would not align himself to the prime minister of the day. He said that when they formed the coalition they had discussed many things but unfortunately Chaudhry took things into his own hands when his party won the election with a good majority. ‘They used us and they rode on our backs to win the majority seats and once they got in they forgot all about our coalition agreements.’ Tora said that the FLP and the prime minister should bear in mind that they were not fooling the Fijians but themselves.

In September, however, Tora himself was faced with the possibility of being ousted as general secretary of PANU. Like the rivalry inside the FAP, Chaudhry was once again saddled with another political infighting inside his Coalition, this time it was PANU. Tora, as general secretary of PANU, also reacted to claims that he was working against the Chaudhry government and siding with the SVT. ‘Because of divisions in the Fijian community, we have lost the elections. I think it's in our interest if we want to make sure that our rights, our privileges, our resources are protected. What I am doing is part and parcel of my job as secretary of a very important political party to unite Fijians,’ he said. The possibility of PANU pulling out of the Coalition again intruded into the running of the government.

One seasoned political commentator, writing elsewhere, has this to say about Tora’s entry into the 1999 elections: ‘Tora first broached a coalition with the SVT, and wanted a seat sharing arrangement which would recognise his influence in the west. He was rebuffed by western Fijian members of the SVT, especially Isimeli Bose and Ratu Etuate Tavai. Tora, they felt, was a spent force, his reputation for integrity and probity tainted by his impressive record of political bed-hopping. Moreover, the seat-sharing formula sought by Tora would have ended SVT’s reign in western Viti Levu, a prospect no serious party could countenance. Tora then turned to labour, which responded favourably. It was a coalition of convenience. Labour gave Tora wider platform upon which, relying on his cunning, he no doubt hoped to enlarge with his own agenda. Tora promised Labour western Fijian support and assistance in resolving the issue of the expiring leases. Tora held or seemed to hold powerful cards.’

The commentator continued: ‘Tora’s own seat was contested by Labour, whose candidate beat him. Out manoeuvred, Tora refused to attend any of the Peoples Coalition rallies. Towards the end of the campaign, he became a vocal critic of the Labour Party, chiding Labour president Jokapeci Koroi for not forgiving Rabuka for his past actions and accusing Chaudhry of treachery. Tora refused to give preferences to his coalition partner, the Fijian Association Party, which had fielded candidates against his own. But by then, he mattered little. For once, the Machiavellian politician had been marginalized.’ Ironically, it was not for too long. Tora would re-emerge to set the stage for Chaudhry’s final exit from power.

Rebels don't scare me, says Chaudhry

Chaudhry said he was not bothered by moves to topple the government. Chaudhry, who had returned from abroad, said that he was aware of these actions initiated by ‘a group of defeated elements’. ‘Government is aware of such a move, but let me assure the public that we're the least bothered,’ he said. Chaudhry said his government was elected into office by the people. And he did not see why the defeated politicians of this country were going around asking for people's support to oust the government. He urged the group to come forward with positive recommendations for the betterment of the country. Chaudhry said his government had five years in office and they should be given the opportunity to deliver their promises. He said that it would be up to the people in the next general election which government they want to lead the country.

Chaudhry’s Deputy Prime Minister, Tupeni Baba, said Tora had every right to work constitutionally under the law to change the Government. Tupeni Baba said the rights of Tora would not be denied. Tora had told Radio Fiji News that he was taking moves to overthrow the Government. ‘Any Fijian in his right mind, anything and everything that this Government is brought down off course when I say brought down I mean legally, lawfully, constitutionally brought down,’ Tora said. When asked as to how he would achieve this, Tora said ‘Well we are thinking of mobilizing the Fijian Political Parties to form a coalition and move on from there, but I must stress it must be done legally’. Baba said Tora had been misinformed. ‘It saddens me to see that a very senior citizen of this country and politician being mis-advised about the Chaudhry Government, obviously he has got other agenda's and he is using the land negotiations, which is currently in process as a vehicle to segregate us’ he said.

Baba also said the Government was not trying to deny Fijians of their land rights. But Tora was unstoppable. The racial bandwagon was in full swing and hurtling out of control towards the Chaudhry government.

The Ghost of Pinochet and Tora

I have written elsewhere about the likelihood of the former military dictator turned late prime minister of Fiji, Sitiveni Rabuka, and his conspirators, facing legal prosecutions for their roles in the 1987 coups following the decision of the highest British court that former heads of state are not immune from prosecution from crimes against humanity. It is no secret that Tora played a leading role in the downfall of the Bavadra government, and in the process escaped the sedition charges that had been filed against him before the coups. His actions during the 1987 coups, and most recently, again smacks of paradox. In 1980 Tora led demonstrations against the Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet’s visit to Fiji. A picture of him in the Pacific Islands Monthly of June 1980 shows Tora at his vintage; being restrained by two Indo-Fijian police inspectors, he holding a microphone and a banner headline reading: ‘Death to Pinochet’. Many commentators of the day attributed Pinochet’s humiliating retreat from Fiji to the protests of Tora, his human rights followers, and the combined churches of Fiji who encouraged churches to hold a special day of prayer for persons known to be then suffering gross violations of human rights in Chile. They also ignored the protestations from the then prime minister Ratu Mara that the protests against Pinochet was ‘unchristian’ and that the visit was an opportunity for citizens of a free country to persuade and influence General Pinochet.

A group of Fijians wearing traditional grassskirts performed ceremonial mourning. Others wore black arm bands, chanted protests and held placards in Spanish and English, some of which read: ‘We hate dictators-Chile si, Pinochet no’. Pinochet’s car was pelted with several eggs and water bombs splattered across the windshield. Pinochet had enough of Tora’s hot taste of Fiji. He cut short his visit to the country and fled to his oppressive Chile. Now, Pinochet is likely to be tried on murder, torture, and genocide charges in his own country.

The late Fijian nationalist, Sakiasi Butadroka, had put up a sign outside a house in the Suva suburb of Flagstaff shortly after the election of Chaudhry as Prime Minister. The sign read: ‘Wake up Fijians, the Indians are taking over.’ He also tried to get a permit to stage protest rallies around Suva. He also planned to meet army commander Frank Bainimarama sparking fears of a third military coup. Butadroka did not have to wait for long. George Speight and his storm troopers did the job for him.

Chaudhry was bundled out of the political office by the machinations of those who remained on the fringes of power while their colleagues and opponents taunted and haunted them from inside the Peoples Coalition Government.The Fiji Labour Party, and its leader, remained constitutionally impotent ringside spectators as the various non FLP groups tried to settle political scores with their rivals.

The political show is over, and perhaps it is time for the Fiji Labour Party to go home: to leave the kingdom of the People's Coalition Government.

VIOLATING THE SANCTITY OF THE HINDU MANDIR IN BA TO HOLD PAP-NAG CAMPAIGN
Essex boy, Ajay Bhai Amrit it is NOT MANDIA, as you introduced the venue. Its MANDIR. Imagine the barking political dogs if Aiyaz Khaiyum had held the FFP campaign in a MOSQUE

BIMAN PRASAD: 'INDO-FIJIANS WILL NEVER RULE FIJI AGAIN, BUT MY GIRMIT PARTNER AND 1987 COUPIST WILL BECOME PM AFTER 2022.'

CAGED FOR SWINDLING TAXPAYERS: Rabuka's firebrand NATIONALIST NIKO NAWAIKULA jailed for fiddling with his parliamentary allowances. Tragically, victim of Coupist's bogus nationalism but willing executioner

20/5/2022

From Buca Plantation to Parliament to PRISON

Former SODELPA MP Niko Nawaikula has been sentenced to 3 years imprisonment with one year suspended for 5 years for falsely stating his permanent residence was in Buca Village and obtaining more than $20,000 as parliamentary allowance.

This means he will spend 2 years in prison.

Nawaikula had lied about living in Buca Village between August 2019 and April 2020 and obtained $20,201.35 in parliamentary allowances. He was convicted of one count of Giving False Information to a Public Servant and one count of Obtaining Financial Advantage.

While delivering the sentence, High Court Judge Justice Dr. Thushara Kumarage says Nawaikula committed the highest breach of trust to the people and the nation.

He says the money could have been used to provide more computers to a school in his village or better health care.

Justice Dr. Kumarage says he betrayed public trust in honourable Members of Parliament and his action decreased the confidence in democratic processes of the country.

He adds Nawaikula's actions were also premeditated.

Meanwhile Police Chief of Operations, ACP Abdul Khan says they escorted Nawaikula out through the judges chambers for security reasons.

ACP Khan says this is to ensure they follow a professional and smooth operation after the sentencing of a high profile person. Source: FijiVillage News

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