
BY MICK BEDDOES
Opening a Regional Training Workshop on Economics, Social and Cultural Rights and Human Rights Indicators in Denarau this week, the AG went on an excursion into the Land of the Big Lasulasu (Lie).
He was quoted in a Fiji Times report as having said Fiji's 1987 and 2000 coups were a result of people's inability to access basic socio economic rights.
Lasulasu No 1: There were not two coups, but three, 1987, 2000 and 2006 -The Kai-Bai Coup in which he was a key player along with Voreqe Bainimarama.
Lasulasu No 2: The reason for the first, second (and third) coups had nothing to do with lack of access to socioeconomic rights. The 1987 takeover was because an Indian-dominated government won the elections of that year. The second coup was to remove our first Indian elected Prime Minister. It had nothing whatsoever to do with socioeconomic rights. The Kai-Bai Coup was motivated by different reasons and was essentially a power grab.
For the record, when the 1987 coup happened Fiji was coming off the back of a 7.75% growth in 1986, four months later came Rabuka’s Coup No 1 and we nose-dived to a (-6.62%) negative growth.
Similarly with coup 2, the country had an 8.8%; growth in 1999 then after the Speight 2000 Coup it took a nosedive to (1.6%)
And again in 2006 the growth rate was 1.9%, then the Kai-Bai coup occurred and it slumped to (0.09%) leading to a devaluation.
In each case the economic damage was directly caused by the three coups; the people had nothing to do with them. Each of the coups were planned and executed by a handful of people who wanted to grab power, pure and simple (although with different motivations).
The AG says, quote: “In Fiji, we've had disruptions to Government in 1987 and in 2000. If you see the genesis of that and if you look at why these things have happened it's because of people's inability to access very basic socioeconomic rights
Lasulasu No 3: ‘Disruptions to government’ in 1987 and 2000, but again no mention of their own 2006 ‘disruption’. I mean seriously he now wants to call ‘coups and acts of treason’ ‘disruptions! Who is he kidding!
This new spin by the AG is part of a plan by the Fiji First Government and its $1 million a year p.r. company QORVIS to ‘socially re-engineer’ the minds of the gullible among us into believing that 2006 never happened.
Have a look at the Prime Minister’s bio in the COP23 website and there’s not a single mention of the 2006 military takeover of an elected government by Bainimarama. Yet this is the defining action of his entire career. What should this omission be called? A falsification? Or a rejection of reality? The truth, of course, is that Bainimarama wants to conceal what he did in 2006 because perpetrating an act of treason is hardly an achievement he would want to draw attention to on his bio details for COP23.
At the workshop where the AG broke with reality, he veered off into Lasulasu Land again when he spoke of the need for certain rights, including “cultural” rights, to be “mainstreamed” into policies. The 2013 imposed Constitution, of which Sayed-Khaiyum was the principal author, lists 45 items under its Bill of Rights. There is no reference to cultural rights.
The 1997 Constitution, which may still be in force, had a section on group and customary rights, which are an important part of indigenous Fijian culture. But these cultural rights were left out of his 2013 Constitution, with the agreement of Voreqe Bainimarama.
And sadly the UN and other International players appear willing to give credence to the orchestration of all this Denial by Deception.
One wonders whether they have the well-being of we the people at heart. Perhaps they think we can be cast side?
Well we WILL NOT!!
Opening a Regional Training Workshop on Economics, Social and Cultural Rights and Human Rights Indicators in Denarau this week, the AG went on an excursion into the Land of the Big Lasulasu (Lie).
He was quoted in a Fiji Times report as having said Fiji's 1987 and 2000 coups were a result of people's inability to access basic socio economic rights.
Lasulasu No 1: There were not two coups, but three, 1987, 2000 and 2006 -The Kai-Bai Coup in which he was a key player along with Voreqe Bainimarama.
Lasulasu No 2: The reason for the first, second (and third) coups had nothing to do with lack of access to socioeconomic rights. The 1987 takeover was because an Indian-dominated government won the elections of that year. The second coup was to remove our first Indian elected Prime Minister. It had nothing whatsoever to do with socioeconomic rights. The Kai-Bai Coup was motivated by different reasons and was essentially a power grab.
For the record, when the 1987 coup happened Fiji was coming off the back of a 7.75% growth in 1986, four months later came Rabuka’s Coup No 1 and we nose-dived to a (-6.62%) negative growth.
Similarly with coup 2, the country had an 8.8%; growth in 1999 then after the Speight 2000 Coup it took a nosedive to (1.6%)
And again in 2006 the growth rate was 1.9%, then the Kai-Bai coup occurred and it slumped to (0.09%) leading to a devaluation.
In each case the economic damage was directly caused by the three coups; the people had nothing to do with them. Each of the coups were planned and executed by a handful of people who wanted to grab power, pure and simple (although with different motivations).
The AG says, quote: “In Fiji, we've had disruptions to Government in 1987 and in 2000. If you see the genesis of that and if you look at why these things have happened it's because of people's inability to access very basic socioeconomic rights
Lasulasu No 3: ‘Disruptions to government’ in 1987 and 2000, but again no mention of their own 2006 ‘disruption’. I mean seriously he now wants to call ‘coups and acts of treason’ ‘disruptions! Who is he kidding!
This new spin by the AG is part of a plan by the Fiji First Government and its $1 million a year p.r. company QORVIS to ‘socially re-engineer’ the minds of the gullible among us into believing that 2006 never happened.
Have a look at the Prime Minister’s bio in the COP23 website and there’s not a single mention of the 2006 military takeover of an elected government by Bainimarama. Yet this is the defining action of his entire career. What should this omission be called? A falsification? Or a rejection of reality? The truth, of course, is that Bainimarama wants to conceal what he did in 2006 because perpetrating an act of treason is hardly an achievement he would want to draw attention to on his bio details for COP23.
At the workshop where the AG broke with reality, he veered off into Lasulasu Land again when he spoke of the need for certain rights, including “cultural” rights, to be “mainstreamed” into policies. The 2013 imposed Constitution, of which Sayed-Khaiyum was the principal author, lists 45 items under its Bill of Rights. There is no reference to cultural rights.
The 1997 Constitution, which may still be in force, had a section on group and customary rights, which are an important part of indigenous Fijian culture. But these cultural rights were left out of his 2013 Constitution, with the agreement of Voreqe Bainimarama.
And sadly the UN and other International players appear willing to give credence to the orchestration of all this Denial by Deception.
One wonders whether they have the well-being of we the people at heart. Perhaps they think we can be cast side?
Well we WILL NOT!!