* Fijileaks: Coming soon, how SODELPA's Ratu Sela Vuinakasa Nanovo allegedly cheated a relative over land and lied to Elections Office to stand for election in 2014; now he is on Public Accounts Committee
* The die-hard nationalists and racists in SODELPA, led by Adi Litia Qionibaravi, lobbied for Rabuka and they disapproved of Ro Kepa's moving speech in Rewa where she welcomed descendants of the wreck of "Syria coolies" into her domain; Adi Litia demanded Ro Kepa stand down as Leader of Opposition. Full story in coming weeks!
As for Indo-Fijian votes, come the next election it will be split between FFP and NFP - a party which could become the principal challenger to Bainimarama provided a formidable array of native Fijians and other minorities stand for it. SODELPA have dug a political graveyard by appointing Rabuka as their leader, a man who on losing the 1999 election to Mahendra Chaudhry's FLP led government accused the Indo-Fijians of political treachery; he was mum on native Fijian bloc voting:
"The result of the election and especially the orchestrated bloc voting by the Indian community clearly shows how far apart we still are racially. Your vote is your democratic right but judging by the way you have bloc voted, turning inward to your own communal interests, I appeal to you all to show greater responsibility to our wider common interest as a nation." Chaudhry rejected Rabuka's charges.
"It is the leaders who are dividing the nation, it is the Labour party who will unite the people."
Fijileaks: Professor Biman Prasad is unlike the previous National Federation Party leader Jai Ram Reddy who naively believed that Rabuka was a reformed coupist who can be trusted to share power; recently Rabuka seemed to be suggesting that Prasad would be welcomed as his 'shorthand typist' in a SODELPA government. As for Chaudhry, he is sadly the new "Jai Ram Reddy" trying to talk coalition with Rabuka. On 7 May 1999, FLP's Dr Ganesh Chand had disclosed in a Letters to Editor that he had warned his colleagues privately and publicly in 1992 that Rabuka cannot be trusted:
"This is my principled stand. On the eve of this [1999] election, the burning question remains: can Rabuka be trusted?"
Fijileaks: We are not ENDORSING the National Federation Party
NFP: We will revoke the controversial and oppressive Village By-Laws
April 7, 2017
MEDIA RELEASE
Village By-Laws Will Be Revoked by an NFP Government
National Federation Party Leader Hon Professor Biman Prasad says the revocation of the Village By-Laws will be a high priority of an NFP Government because it disenfranchises the rural i Taukei community.
Professor Prasad has described the Village By-Laws as an agenda of the Fiji First Government to control and coerce people into accepting their imposition.
“We expect the Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission to investigate whether the by-law’s are discriminatory and will marginalise our rural i Taukei communities.”
“The Government’s sponsorship of the by-laws points to an attempt to unilaterally force an issue that addresses social issues that are prevalent all over the country, and is not solely limited to villages alone.”
“If the Government thinks that people do not see how they are using their appointees and proxies at the local level such as the Turaga Ni Koro’s to execute their designs, they are sorely mistaken.”
"Similarly, the Rotuma Bill has already been rejected by the people of Rotuma and their traditionally appointed spokespeople. While we appreciate that a Parliamentary Standing Committee is still looking at the Bill, we will await their findings and recommendations when it comes to the Parliament and respond accordingly with what we have been advised by the Rotuman community”.
“The tinkering of age old customs and traditions of our indigenous and Rotuman communities, as well as entrenching conversational and contemporary i Taukei and Fiji Hindi languages in the 2013 Constitution to be compulsorily taught in all primary schools, is further confirmation of this Government’s scant regard for social and moral values as well as invaluable lessons contained in the formal languages of both communities”.
“Section 43 of the by-law that states that it is unlawful to enter a village without formal authorization of the Provincial Council for any other purpose than visitation, is clearly intended to limit access by political parties and is further confirmation of control of our people who should be free to make their own decisions without any State sponsored control.”
“This is symptomatic of a Government that has lost its way and is rudderless, only choosing to ride roughshod over all people and manipulate processes that they think will tilt the balance in their favour. The domino effect of the culmination of all their misplaced policies will be echoed to them loud and clear come elections in 2018.”
Authorised by: -
Professor Biman Prasad
NFP Leader
MEDIA RELEASE
Village By-Laws Will Be Revoked by an NFP Government
National Federation Party Leader Hon Professor Biman Prasad says the revocation of the Village By-Laws will be a high priority of an NFP Government because it disenfranchises the rural i Taukei community.
Professor Prasad has described the Village By-Laws as an agenda of the Fiji First Government to control and coerce people into accepting their imposition.
“We expect the Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission to investigate whether the by-law’s are discriminatory and will marginalise our rural i Taukei communities.”
“The Government’s sponsorship of the by-laws points to an attempt to unilaterally force an issue that addresses social issues that are prevalent all over the country, and is not solely limited to villages alone.”
“If the Government thinks that people do not see how they are using their appointees and proxies at the local level such as the Turaga Ni Koro’s to execute their designs, they are sorely mistaken.”
"Similarly, the Rotuma Bill has already been rejected by the people of Rotuma and their traditionally appointed spokespeople. While we appreciate that a Parliamentary Standing Committee is still looking at the Bill, we will await their findings and recommendations when it comes to the Parliament and respond accordingly with what we have been advised by the Rotuman community”.
“The tinkering of age old customs and traditions of our indigenous and Rotuman communities, as well as entrenching conversational and contemporary i Taukei and Fiji Hindi languages in the 2013 Constitution to be compulsorily taught in all primary schools, is further confirmation of this Government’s scant regard for social and moral values as well as invaluable lessons contained in the formal languages of both communities”.
“Section 43 of the by-law that states that it is unlawful to enter a village without formal authorization of the Provincial Council for any other purpose than visitation, is clearly intended to limit access by political parties and is further confirmation of control of our people who should be free to make their own decisions without any State sponsored control.”
“This is symptomatic of a Government that has lost its way and is rudderless, only choosing to ride roughshod over all people and manipulate processes that they think will tilt the balance in their favour. The domino effect of the culmination of all their misplaced policies will be echoed to them loud and clear come elections in 2018.”
Authorised by: -
Professor Biman Prasad
NFP Leader
Village by-laws take us back to colonial era
Changes to village by-laws which require political parties to go through provincial councils to hold meetings in a Fijian village, is yet another imposition by the government on opposition parties ahead of the 2018 general elections, says Labour Leader Mahendra Chaudhry.
“It is a regressive move designed to give them more control on the liberties of our people, and opposition parties in particular.
Mr Chaudhry questioned to need to reintroduce village by laws which were part of the dual colonial administration system that was thrown out in 1966 when the indigenous people were first given the right to vote.
“What is the need to go back into history and re-impose these colonial restrictions? Political parties wanting to campaign in a village always went through the village turaga ni koro, as a matter of courtesy.
“But to put this into our laws as a statutory requirement is nothing short of an imposition and must be condemned as such.”
By laws which restrict fundamental freedoms violate human rights and should be opposed.
“It seems that we are going back to the age when there were two laws – one for the indigenous Fijians and one for the rest of us. It is simply reinforcing segregation and racially discriminatory practices,” Mr Chaudhry said.
Changes to village by-laws which require political parties to go through provincial councils to hold meetings in a Fijian village, is yet another imposition by the government on opposition parties ahead of the 2018 general elections, says Labour Leader Mahendra Chaudhry.
“It is a regressive move designed to give them more control on the liberties of our people, and opposition parties in particular.
Mr Chaudhry questioned to need to reintroduce village by laws which were part of the dual colonial administration system that was thrown out in 1966 when the indigenous people were first given the right to vote.
“What is the need to go back into history and re-impose these colonial restrictions? Political parties wanting to campaign in a village always went through the village turaga ni koro, as a matter of courtesy.
“But to put this into our laws as a statutory requirement is nothing short of an imposition and must be condemned as such.”
By laws which restrict fundamental freedoms violate human rights and should be opposed.
“It seems that we are going back to the age when there were two laws – one for the indigenous Fijians and one for the rest of us. It is simply reinforcing segregation and racially discriminatory practices,” Mr Chaudhry said.
Fijileaks: The Village By-Laws debate remind us of how Rabuka manipulated the chiefs to endorse his new political party in 1999, and on losing election again manipulated the chiefs to appoint him as chairman of the Great Council of Chiefs - devaluing and demeaning chieftaincy - paving the way for Bainimarama to "finish them off" after the 2006 coup
In May 1999, Rabuka [as Prime Minister], was condemned by the Christian Democratic Alliance during the election campaign over his statement that voters should vote for commoners rather than those of chiefly status. Rabuka was accused of insulting election candidate Adi Koila Mara and the province of Lau. "Adi Koila is not only of chiefly status, she is an educated woman in her own right. One fact which had emerged very clearly from this election campaign is that SVT parliamentarians of chiefly rank and otherwise, have failed to touch base with their constituencies in the seven years they have been in power...He [Rabuka] used the chiefly system for his and the SVT's political ends and we really don't know why he said that because it is highly disrespectful." - CDA spokesman Viliame Gonelevu. He said that Rabuka had resorted to insulting the same chiefly system, as a means of shoring up the chances of SVT's candidates who, otherwise, stand no chance of winning against Adi Koila and other CDA candidates.
Rabuka and Reddy were trounced at the polls, and now SODELPA have dug him out of his political graveyard.
Rabuka's then political spokeswoman Ema Druavesi, who later ran away to support FFP in the 2014 election, had claimed that most native Fijians "will agree with the Prime Minister [Rabuka's] view.". "For a non chiefly MP, the protocol to be observed is minimal and the voter can relate to that person as an equal," she said. Druavesi: "A chief who enters the political arena should expect the rough and tumble of politics. He or she can't expect to have it both says. If you want to be served then be prepared to serve rather than being served."
