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BUDGET REACTION: FRANK Bainimarama's former INTERIM Minister of Finance, Public Enterprise and Sugar Reforms Mahendra Chaudhry says there is "NO BENEFIT FOR ORDINARY WORKER" in Khaiyum's Budget

30/6/2017

21 Comments

 

“What we see here is an election budget with a lot of money being thrown around to impress the voters – increasing allowances for the poor, catering for the handicapped, increasing the tax threshold etc. But, in fact, the Budget is absolutely silent on any real long term measures to tackle the roots of poverty through increasing employment particularly for our youth, raising wage rates for the ordinary worker, bringing down the cost of food and other living costs.” - FLP

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THE MONEY MAN: Chaudhry striding with Bainimarama into Parliament to deliver post 2006 coup BUDGET
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No benefit for ordinary worker in Khaiyum's Budget 2017-18

The ordinary worker gets no benefits from Budget 2017-18, says Labour Leader Mahendra Chaudhry.

“It is a show Budget which flaunts the allocation of big moneys to different sectors but we will have to wait and see how much of this funding actually trickles down. We know from past experience that moneys allocated are not actually released to ministries and departments,” said Labour Leader Mahendra Chaudhry.

The poor will be disappointed to see that the 9% VAT on basic food items imposed by Economy Minister Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum in Budget 2016 remains despite strong protests from the public.

The National Minimum Wage of $2.68 an hour announced by the Minister is an insult to workers. It is grossly inadequate to meet the basic needs of the ordinary worker.

The ordinary worker will also not benefit from the increase in the #tax #threshold to $30,000. It is acknowledged that at least 65% of our workers earn below poverty line wages. The minister should have raised the minimum wage to help them out of the poverty pit.

“What we see here is an #electionbudget with a lot of money being thrown around to impress the voters – increasing allowances for the poor, catering for the handicapped, increasing the tax threshold etc. But, in fact, the Budget is absolutely silent on any real long term measures to tackle the roots of poverty through increasing employment particularly for our youth, raising wage rates for the ordinary worker, bringing down the cost of food and other living costs,” Mr Chaudhry said.

On #Public #Service pay increases, Mr Chaudhry said: “It is unacceptable that civil servants are being forced to convert to yearly contracts in return for pay increases promised in the Budget. Those who decline have been told that they will not qualify for the increases.

“This is sheer blackmail and in contravention of the provisions of the Employment Relations Act. Public service unions must fight hard against this draconian measure. It is a question of security of employment of their members,” said Mr Chaudhry.

On #housing, the $60m allocated for affordable housing through the Reserve Bank of Fiji, will not assist people on lower incomes. The truth is that most of our low income workers, those really in need of assistance, will not qualify for it. They will not be able to meet the bank’s lending criteria.

The other objectionable feature of the scheme Mr Khaiyum outlined for the construction of a multi-unit housing project by FNPF at Matavolivoli, Nadi is the fostering of class differences. It will also create social problems.

On the #sugarindustry, it is not clear whether the subsidies on fertilisers and weedicides are a one-off concession for the 2018 elections or whether they were designed to stay in place.

The Budget makes no mention of $100 a tonne guaranteed minimum price demanded by the farmers. Nor does it make any provision for the construction of a new mill for the Ra cane growers.

#Mounting #Debt levels remain a major worry contrary to claims by the Minister that it is being reduced. Debt repayment cost in the 2017-18 Budget has gone up by $65m, from $153m in the last Budget to $217m.

This underscores the fact that we are increasing our reliance on borrowed money. The Budget deficit at 4.5% of the GDP is on the higher side.

“The increase of $700m in revenue seems to be a book balancing exercise to match a similar increase in expenditure. This is improper practice and distorts the real picture.

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United States ambassador Larry Dinger to Washington

BUDGETS have always provided high drama in the annals of Fiji politics. The following Opinion column in the Fiji Sun (2006) by VICTOR LAL is a case in point. It was not long afterwards Frank Bainimarama and his shadowy conspirators overthrew the Laisenia Qarase led SDL-FLP multi-party government. As revealed by Dinger, Chaudhry agreed to accept Coupist Bainimarama's offer to become the interim regime's Minister of Economy, Public Enterprises and Sugar Reforms

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The FLP Cabinet ministers should have free vote on Budget

Why Chaudhry voted with SVT rebels on 1994 Budget?

BY VICTOR LAL

1994 Budget!
Do we recall the political drama when it was put to a vote?
Do we recall the role the leader of the Fiji Labour Party Mahendra Pal Chaudhry played that fateful day? If not, here is what happened in November 1993. Six members of the former Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka’s SVT government, led by the dissident Josevata Kamikamica, and one from the General Voters, David Pickering, crossed the floor to vote the Budget down with the help of the Opposition. And what was Mr Chaudhry’s reaction? Instead of chiding his political opponents for betraying SVT party solidarity, he immediately wrote to the late President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara asking him to have Mr Rabuka tender his resignation as Prime Minister of Fiji.

Twelve years later, he is singing to a different tune, reminding his nine FLP Cabinet ministers to stand by the party’s opposition to the increase in VAT, and to vote against the 2007 Budget because it is against the poor. Of course, he would characteristically reply that it was not his business to discourage the SVT dissidents from voting against the 1994 Budget. Politics is about naked opportunism, and he merely seized the occasion, he would claim, on that fateful November 1993.

Fair game. Politics is, after all, the art of the possible. In retrospect, however, one may ask whether Mr Chaudhry and his supporters are not so much opposed to VAT in the Budget as consumed by their determination to finish off their own political opponents, most notably Krishna Datt and a few others. The Budget has provided them the perfect opportunity to seize their moment, which they have miserably failed to do so far despite their slow but dogged pursuit of the so-called ‘Gang of Five’, especially Mr Datt.

Meanwhile, Mr Datt has revealed that Mr Chaudhry had declined to enter the Multi-Party Cabinet. Why? Was it because Mr Datt was also to serve alongside him? Now, Mr Chaudhry says that he has not turned down the offer by Mr Qarase to become a Deputy Prime Minister. According to him, the sticking point is VAT, as he told Mr Qarase: ‘I said you made it very difficult for me to accept it (DPM) by imposing VAT on the poor people. So we have this big difference in economic and social policy.’

According to Mr Chaudhry, the Qarase government has a record of penalising the poor and pampering the rich. ‘Now how can then I serve as the deputy prime minister in such a government until such time as we sort out these major differences. Are we there to serve ourselves or are we there to serve the people,’ said Mr Chaudhry. Mr Chaudhry added that he was not going to be trapped in a situation like that of Minister for Labour Datt.

‘The point is when I go in I want certain things clearly understood. I will only go on that basis. I will not go in just for the sake of being the deputy prime minister.’ Fair enough. And yet, one has grave reservations about Mr Chaudhry’s explanations, given Mr Datt’s tone and speech on the 2007 Budget, where he also lambasted Mr Chaudhry and his directives on voting pattern. It seems that Mr Chaudhry feels that the two giant FLP political crocodiles cannot co-exist in a multi-party cabinet pool at the same time, given that they have not spoken to each other since moves began to discipline, and if necessary, to expel Mr Datt and others for challenging Mr Chaudhry’s leadership.

During the 1994 Budget debate, the former Opposition leader Jai Ram Reddy claimed that ‘There is a yawning gap between what this government says and what it does, raising serious questions both about its competency and ability to manage the nation’s economy’. Mr Reddy offered to help revise the budget but Mr Rabuka was advised it was not necessary, his senior people encouraged by what they saw as rather mild criticism of the proposal.

The taste of the political pudding is in its eating. If Mr Chaudhry’s only reservations are VAT and the absence of ground rules for the multi-party cabinet, why he did not bluntly tell Mr Qarase that he would enter Cabinet as DPM provided he was allowed to help revise the budget, especially the contentious VAT, for Mr Qarase had reportedly told him, ‘to come and fix it’. On entering Cabinet, the two could have issued a joint public statement on the subject of VAT, and a slightly revised budget could have been presented at the second reading. There is no evidence that Mr Chaudhry nor Mr Qarase entertained the above propositions.

Cynics are saying that Mr Qarase is only eager to bring Mr Chaudhry into Cabinet to thwart Commodore Bainimarama executing a coup. Mr Chaudhry, on the other hand, the cynics claim, is using the issue of VAT in the Budget as a pretext to dismiss his political opponents, especially Mr Datt, both from Cabinet and the FLP.

Whichever side one takes, if Mr Chaudhry is serious about the poor and the nation, he should take the opportunity to expedite the process of drafting ground rules for the successful functioning of the multi-party cabinet. It is widely claimed that it was Mr Chaudhry who allegedly deliberately delayed the drafting of the ground rules, until the fate of the Budget has been decided. There are so many problems with the concept of power sharing in the 1997 Constitution. It is ludicrous, for example, that an Opposition MP who becomes a Cabinet minister finds himself or herself in an invidious position, to vote with Government or on party political lines. There are other matters that need urgent attention and clarification.

The Prime Minister says that the FLP members are part of his Government and should, therefore, vote with him. If they are a part of the Government, were they consulted on the appointment of Dr Tupeni Baba, one of their former founding members, to become the new Fiji ambassador to the UN? Were the FLP Cabinet ministers consulted, or approved, the appointment of those with chiefly ranks to be new High Commissioners to Malaysia and the United Kingdom? It is a well-known maxim that for the successful functioning of a Coalition or a Multi-Party government, there has to be consensus management and the avoidance of surprises.

It is time all the political leaders went back to the drawing board, beginning with the drafting of ground rules. As to the 2007 Budget, it would be best if Mr Chaudhry allowed his FLP Cabinet ministers a free vote on the budget, for in the absence of any pre-agreed ground rules they cannot be punished for adhering to Cabinet collective responsibility and against their party’s own stance on VAT.

Unless, as the cynics claim, Mr Chaudhry has embarked on cleansing his political opponents, especially Mr Datt, from the Multi-Party Cabinet, before he himself enters it as Deputy Prime Minister of Fiji. Moreover, any disciplinary action, which might result in expulsion from the Cabinet, is fraught with legal problems. The ruling in Chaudhry v Qarase on 18 July 2003 on collective responsibility favours the FLP Cabinet ministers who are pro-Budget. It states that ‘Ministers who are members of the Cabinet will publicly stand by the decisions of the Cabinet, if unable to do so, will resign’.

If some of the FLP Cabinet ministers vote for the budget, they will be constitutionally voting not as members of the FLP but as Cabinet ministers who have taken the oath of affirmation to act as Government ministers. There is also no guarantee that the President will readily concede to their expulsion at the whim and fancy of Mr Chaudhry, and a reluctant Prime Minister Qarase at a time when the nation dithers on the cusp of upholding the fledgling democracy and possible military dictatorship. Above all, there is no guarantee that some of those might not return to Parliament as independents in any by-elections.

In historical perspective, Mr Chaudhry joined Mr Rabuka’s own six dissidents to vote down the 1994 Budget? Why cannot he now allow his Cabinet ministers a free vote on the 2007 Budget? It is the only sensible way to resolve the Catch 22 situation his nominated Cabinet Ministers find themselves before returning to the constitutional drawing board.

It is frequently said that ‘the economy is stupid’. In our case, ‘the 1997 Constitution is stupid’ in some aspects and needs urgent attention. The FLP Cabinet ministers must not be made the political sacrificial lambs for any hidden political agendas or on the workings of Cabinet collective responsibility. Mr Chaudhry should never have sent them into Cabinet in the first instance without signing any ground rules. It is Mr Chaudhry, who must, accept responsibility for the strife and division on the 2007 Budget. It is he who must explain to the rank and file members of the FLP why he sent them to Cabinet without any checks and balances. He cannot close the political stable after the horse has bolted out of it – on this occasion, the founding father of the FLP, Krishna Datt.

The only alternative for Mahendra Pal Chaudhry is to completely withdraw from the MPC (I mean Multi-Party Cabinet) and re-negotiate a written agreement on power sharing in Fiji. If not, we will never have political stability in the country; forget about the debate on for and against the 2007 Budget. It is hypocritical of him to say that Mr Qarase does not need his nine Cabinet Ministers to pass the Budget and, in the next breath, to threaten the nine with dismissal if they do not vote with him against the Budget. Surely, if Mr Qarase does not need the nine votes, so why does Mr Chaudhry to defeat it.

The FLP Cabinet ministers must have a free vote on the Budget because of Mr Chaudhry’s failure to draw up any ground rules when he put forward their names for Cabinet positions. They are adhering to collective Cabinet responsibility as required by the Constitution of Fiji.

The nation comes before the party. If not, Mr Chaudhry should never be allowed into Cabinet as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance.

Fijileaks:
On 5 December 2006 Bainimarama overthrew the SDL-FLP government and Chaudhry phoned US ambassador Larry Dinger to inform him that he was accepting coupist and treasonist Frank Bainimarama's offer to become Minister of Finance, Public Enterprises and Sugar Reform.


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http://www.economy.gov.fj/

Fijileaks: There is nothing on the 2017/2018 BUDGET on the above link

21 Comments
Chiku
30/6/2017 09:31:18 am

It is only to be expected that Khaiyum would present an Election Budget with the election coming up. Vote buying by using public funds is not new. Khaiyum and his FFP used that strategy in the 2014 election and got away with it. They will use it again in the 2018 elections to cling to power.
And this mob took over government claiming to clean up on such bad governance practices.
They have become a caricature of what they were condemning before grabbing power,

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Ratu
30/6/2017 12:24:45 pm

This budget is a consumption budget. It has a short time horizon and therefore irresponsible when the the axe of a half trillion dollar debt hangs over the nation and no plan in the budget on how to bring down the debt. This guy the Ministet of Finance has no training in economic theory to inform his budget hence the tendency to a "Christmas tree approach" of dishing out "gifts" to as many social groups as possible. It does nothing to solve Fiji's underlying fundamentals

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Samisoni Druavesi
1/7/2017 04:07:10 am

Fijileaks would do well to concentrate on resident evil of kaiyums and bainimaramas rather than the old hog Chodary. Chodary has already being rejected by Indians and replaced with new evil bagwan in kaiyum and bainimarama. chodry is far less evil and scum than kaiyum and bainimarama. in comparison to the new satans, chodary is a saint. Thus us coming from me who was involved in removing chodry from power in 2000. kaiyum and bainimarama has done lot more harm to Fiji and Fijians than chodary could ever dream of. expose the real demons occupying Fiji.

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Tomasi Tabanidalo
1/7/2017 03:57:34 pm

I agree with Samisoni. Chaudary has paid dearly for his crimes and continues to do so through rejection by Indian voters. His political career is all but over. Kaiyum and bainimarama are yet to be held accountable for their evil deeds. Let's work in exposing that so that fiji islanders can realise the truth and boot them out in next election. Despite many evil deeds, hardly any expose articles are written about them. Instead, a lot of effort is put in degrading nobies like chaudary, reddy, pio, biman etc

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Bula boy
1/7/2017 10:29:41 pm

Druavesi,

By your own admission, you helped remove an elected government and now you expect to lecture us, the law abiding lot on political leadership?

I don't support B&K any more than the average informed Joe, but would like to be spared your drivel, you scumbag! Crawl back to the hole you came from!!

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Fijileaks to Samisoni Druavesi and Others
2/7/2017 01:51:39 am

As much as we agree about Bainimarama and Khaiyum, why dont you and others spend the same energy in denouncing SODELPA for provocatively appointing Sitiveni Rabuka.

Just look at the Sodelpa mob and the postings of Niko Nawaikula and others - appeal to gross native Fijian nationalism.

We have a duty to stand up to them - otherwise the choice is democracy or another dictatorship.

The military will never allow Sodelpa under Rabuka to taken Fiji back to the dark ages.

As long as Rabuka is leading SODELPA we will speak up and against this SATAN who is trying to make a political comeback.

RACE, Chiefs, Church is being exploited by a bunch of Sodelpa right-wingers who have no other tool in their political bag and are now resorting to what they are good at - inciting native Fijian nationalism and racism, and have chosen Rabuka as their frontman.

They have roped in Mahendra Chaudhry - the currency convict to team up with coupist Rabuka

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Rajend Naidu
1/7/2017 07:37:30 am

Editor,
Holding Power To Account
The leader and deputy leader of Kesington and Chelsea's council have resigned after the Grenfell Tower fire, one of UK's deadliest post war disaster with 80 dead and hundreds made homeless ( ' Council leaders quit after Grenfell Tower fire ' Financial Times 1/7 ).
The criticism intensified after the council chief on Thursday abruptly ended a council cabinet meeting - the first since the catastrophic disaster - when the Financial Times and other media organisations obtained a court order ruling that the meeting should be open to the media and public.
Sadiq Khan, London's mayor, who among a number of senior politicians urging the head of the council to resign, welcomed the decision. In his letter to Number 10 he said it was clear that the council leadership had lost the trust of the residents.
It also emerged on Friday that the council had taken the wrong option by approving aluminium cladding instead of the original zinc panels thus making a monetary saving.
In other words profit was put before people.
Now two inquiries are underway to hold those responsible to account. More heads are likely to roll.
The victims demand accountability and justice and under the British system of democratic accountability their demand cannot be ignored.
That's unlike some countries we know where those in power routinely ignore the demands for accountability by the people.
Sincerely,
Rajend Naidu

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Alibaba
2/7/2017 05:46:51 am

I am a spiritualist and belive strongly in the cause and effect laws of the Universe in other words Karma. Mr. Druavesi i know you are most likely a church going christain and thus do not believe in Karma. By your own admission you helped remove a democratic government from power. Dont you think the laws of karma is biting back in the form of 2 rattle snakes Bai and Kai. The problem with idiots like you is that you cant see your own hypocratic bullshit. You see you cant have democracy only when it suits you. Wrong is wrong no matter what the reason. A coup is a coup and it always and i mean always puts despots and dictators in power always.You opened a Pandoras box of evil and we are all suffering. Unlike Victor though i do not think Rabuka is as bad as he is made out to be. If he succeds in getting rid of the 2 snakes i forgive him. There is an old saying "the enemy of my enemy is my freind". Right now our greatest most important task is to get rid of the ruling mob of thugs and if we have to make a deal with the devil himself so be it. My personal choice is NFP however i think they cannot win outright so SODELPA must be in the mix.

While i respect Victors stance on the matter i live in Fiji not Victor. For us it is simply the lessor of 2 evils.

Reply
Fijileaks
3/7/2017 01:15:06 am

Alibaba

Victor did not choose to live abroad out of his own volition

It was coupist Sitiveni Rabuka who forced Victor out of Fiji; go ask this thug where is Victor's FIJI PASSPORT?

Rabuka only appeared on the scene last year and is now wanting to become Prime Minister.

Victor has been standing up to the coupists, including the 2006 lot, from day one, and along the way has paid a very heavy price.

We will continue to have coups as long as we embrace the likes of Rabuka

Sodelpa is a motley collection of "snakes" who will take Fiji back to the racist old days if Rabuka wins the election

Full stop

Thanks

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Kini
2/7/2017 07:54:37 am

Let's not forget that Rabuka learnt about how to carry out his coup while at the Defence Services Staff College at Wellington, Tamil Nadu in India. Now why would any staff college in the British commonwealth allow a fellow Comminwealth scholarship student to study and submit a thesis on how to carry out a coup back in his own country? Coups are cowardly acts performed against innocent civilians of a nation who lack the means to fight back. Now what tells u about the nature of a soldier who of a wide brace of military subjects to choose from he chooses to devote his scarce time at military staff college on how to overthrow a legitimate government and seize power away from the grasp of unarmed and innocent civilians?

Reply
Alibaba
3/7/2017 02:23:19 am

Fiji Leaks. I get it it and as i said i respect Victors stance on the matter. Rabuka is no saint and yes their is a very strong chance that SODELPA has a few nasty individuals who will try their old tactics again. The question that i would like to ask is this what is your alternative. Do you want us to stick to FF because the numbers simply do not favor NFP to win outright.The Indian population is now down to about 35% of the total population. While FF is not going to get as many votes from the Indian community like the last time their will still be about 50% voting for the FF party. It is the indigenous populace who are going to make the difference and all the indications are that they will block vote for SODELPA as they are certainly sick of FF. Unless NFP succeeds in convincing them that they can be a party that will represent them. (which they certainly will if they win) The trick is to convince the i-taukei and i am not sure we have time.
I speak to people on the ground and believe me the i-taukei don't care if the SODELPA leader is Rabuka or a cow. They will vote against the FF party and SODELPA is the party to get rid of FF in their eyes. I have accepted this reality and Rabuka as PM for the next 4 years after election. The best we sane lot can do is make sure that NFP is strong enough to win at least enough seats so that SODELPA needs them to form government. That will ensure that they stay in check.
This is the reality unfortunately. If you have a better solution or an alternative thought on this we would like to read it.

Reply
Bai / Kai are Great Poison chosen by Allah
3/7/2017 05:49:08 am

Khaiyum /Bai are great. Chaudry said in 2006 the great Banker Qarase almost bankrupted Fiji so coup was necessary. In 2006 Reserve Bank had only about $400,000 in foreign reserve. So SDL instructed FNPF to bring back $300k from overseas into Fiji to falsely boost the funds to 2006 electioneering.

If we follow this the foreign reserve today stands at $1.8billion. So in this sense Khaiyum / Bai are great, that they can even pay off 1billion debt from this money and still have 800k or 2 1/2 month reserve remaining, isn't it?

So they beat the banker and beat

Reply
Kumar
3/7/2017 11:40:39 am

Fiji has moved too fast for dumbass rabuka to catch up. Do you think he can handle fijis current gdp. What is going on now is beyond the average taukeis grasp. Under rabuka leadership the taukei was eating cassava and walking to work. Now they are eating MacDonald's and driving Prius. Do you think taukeis want to go back to that. Think again ! The taukeis I meet all want ffp. The reasons ffp won the 2014 election was because of the young taukei votes which is the deciding factor not the Indian votes. That is the reason the voting age was dropped to 18.

Reply
Tridev
3/7/2017 11:44:34 am

@alibaba

The fijitimes or Tebutt results reveal only 1% support for NFP or biman.

This means that nfp has no itaukei support and marginal indo fijian support.

I asked 5 indofijian why they don't support nfp.

The reply was as follows:

1. Two of the 5 said they were very big FLP supporters, hence can not support nfp.

2. One said because frank will protect them.

3. One said because Of Rabuka, supporting biman is supporting Rabuka.

4. One said, Biman is a weak leader and wants to he pm. He should let an itaukei become pm.

So, I would be surprised if they get 5% of the votes.

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Zark Muckerberg
3/7/2017 02:33:22 pm

Alibaba, there is definitely an alternative. This is that NFP wins enough seats to form a coalition government with fiji first. Fiji first should not win an outright majority. On any given day, fiji first is a better alternative to the racist SODELPA. Remeber, multiracialism today is mainstream beacuse of Fiji first. SODELPA do not believe in the equality of all Fijians. Fiji first has also done things which no other government even conceived of- such as universal access to tertiary education, elderly pension schemes, infrastructure development, equitable sharing of lease money, etc. NFP holding the balance of power would be a great scenario so that they can negotiate the removal of the minister for everything and also restore basic democratic freedoms such as media freedom, transparent governance, vibrant civil society, etc. the country needs to be rescued from the authoritarian regime of Aiyaz Khaiyum and NFP can do it if they win enough seats to hold balance of power. SODELPA has zero capability and is full of racists and homophobics.

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Victor the bigot
4/7/2017 11:51:11 am

Victor Lal is a Christian apologist. He is also a Muslim apologist who refuses to acknowledge the Islamization that is rampant in the Fijian state. Victor Lal also is very quick to discredit Hindus not realizing that Hindus have NEVER been fairly treated in Fijian politics.

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Tomasi
8/7/2017 09:35:54 pm

A few observations from the Minister of Everything's budget speech in Parliament.

1. There was no accompanying budget / financial documents as stipulated in the Constitution and under Parliamentary Standing Orders.
2. When confronted with this legal and SOP requirement, neither Khai nor his puppet Speaker acknowledged it. In fact they dismissed it as a non issue and allowed their puppets to vote.
3. By voting for the motion to accept the Budget as read out by the real PM (Khai), the FFP parliament may have committed an illegal act and should be held accountable for it.
4. Democracy can be subverted through various kinds of acts. Most of us generally expect them to come from outside Parliament. But imagine a situation where the Parliament itself is cunningly engineered to subvert Parliament without the MPs and the people realizing it. This is precisely the case in Fiji since 2014.
5. A responsible Government must have a vision, a sense of national calling and the passion to guide the nation to their destination. But here in Fiji, there is no Strategic Development Plan to which budgets must be aligned, and to which the people, from both the public and private sectors and others would use as a frame of reference for their own plans and actions. We only have Khaiyum's constifusion, his passion, his public speeches and decrees and his most compelling commitment to realise his legal thesis to transform Fijian society into a new Fiji where only he and his cronies and their families will rule and decide what is best for Fiji.
5. The FFP is a crumbling political edifice that will not stand. Some of its members and MPs have resigned, and others are expected to leave the sinking destroyer. In fact, it is a mob of thugs cleverly disguised as a government. The nation and the world are having a closer and inner look at the FFP and the next 2018 election will reveal the truth about them.

May I finish with this thought for the thugs and the mob and their blind or stubborn followers. To know that this world is not some wild jungle where whoever is stronger or richer or smarter can abuse and destroy without regard for those beneath them—this is not a matter of religion or faith, particular to one people or group of believers. This is the underlying reality—that this world has a Master, and it is not any of us.

A peaceful society can endure only when it is built upon that which is real and true.

May God bless our Fiji with more people who will stand up for the truth, justice, love and righteousness.Vinaka.

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I have my doubts.
11/7/2017 05:06:34 am

Tomasi, inner look at the FFP and the next 2018 election will NOT reveal the truth about them because history will repeat itself.

A peaceful society can endure only when it is built upon that which is real and true was destroyed when SODELPA took to parliament via a corrupt constitution.

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Welcome Home
11/7/2017 03:28:26 pm

Pulitzer Prize winning historian Anne Applebaum uses two telling quotations at the frontispiece of her masterful work 'Iron Curtain' - The Crushing of Eastern Europe 1944 - 56. The first from Aleksandrr Wat 'My Century':
"The loss of freedom, tyranny, abuse, hunger would have been easier to bear if not for the compulsion to call them freedom, justice, the good of the people ... Lies by their very nature partial and ephemeral, are revealed as lies when confronted with language's striving for the truth. But here all the means of disclosure had been permanently confiscated by the police".
From Vaclav Havel (imprisoned writer and later Czechoslovakia's President): 'The Power of the Powerless':
"Individuals need not believe all these mystifications, but they must behave as though they did, or they must at least tolerate them in silence, or get along well with those who work with them. For this reason, however, they must live within a lie".
The stress of 'Living within a Lie' can be unendurable for many. Do we 'Get It'?






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They all supported a LIE.
12/7/2017 08:04:45 am

WHY 'The Power of the Powerless' are still tolerating them in silence and live within a lie by SODELPA's cake cutting partner Chaudhry not telling us how much the INTERIM MINISTERS were getting in salary, allowances, and other PERKS after the 2006 COUP when he was the Interim Minister and WHY did Chaudhry Mr CLEAN not resign when provided a $185k bill to back pay approval.

That cake must have been very sour and bitter in taste, isn't it?.

Welcome Home
14/7/2017 04:28:43 am

'Living within a Lie': interesting that Donald Trump jr - Man of the Moment - should use the revealing phrase "It's a language thing" when being interviewed by Hannity on Fox News about the specifics of his now infamous meeting. The inanity and the boring repetition of Trump Speak will serve as the hallmark of history. But it also has a certain familiarity?

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