 Tax dodger? By Fijileaks Investigative Team According to highly reliable sources inside FRCA, the recently appointed chairman of the Electoral Commission and Lautoka lawyer Chen Bunn Young was charged by FRCA for tax evasion. He was accused of charging his clients $10,000 but was declaring only $5,000 in deposits to FRCA. That is why the illegal Attorney-General and Minister for Elections Aiyaz Khaiyum took a long time to announce the appointment of Electoral Commission members. FRCA was ordered to drop the charges. More details to follow soon. |  |
Chen Bunn Young to FBC News: "Well I guess I could tell you now the government approached me, the Attorney General approached me last year, sometimes in August September, so I have had some time to think about it and obviously I don’t have any illusions of the responsibility that came with the appointment if I were to accept it."
Meanwhile, Fijileaks wants to know why regime lackey Nalin Patel and his brother Pradeep Patel are not standing trial alongside Mahendra Chaudhry over the "Haryana Millions", for after all, it was G. Lal & Co who provided all the documents to FRCA, including the controversial 'Harbhajan Letter'
 Chaudhry with his lawyers at the Fiji High Court  |  Nalin Patel: Is his blind support for the regime tied to his cutting a deal with regime to avoid standing trial alongside Chaudhry?  Madhu Sudhan who interrogated Nalin and Pradeep Patel over Chaudhry's "Haryana millions" is now working for the brothers at G. Lal & Co |
Bainimarama’s attack on Chiefs and Church is an anathema to Fijian values, culture, and tradition and must be stopped
 By RAJENDRA CHAUHDRY Bainimarama’s assault on the chiefly and church system is unprecedented in Fiji’s history. It is a self serving measure to remain in political control. His acts in this regard can be summed up by the words of William E Gladstone, Statesman and four time Prime Minister of Britain, who said: “Selfishness is the greatest curse of the human race.” It is an assault on what indigenous Fijians hold dear to their heart. The Great Council of Chiefs in its most recent form was established under Section 116 of the 1997 Constitution (now defunct), but it actually predates the Constitution by many years, having been established by the British colonial rulers as an advisory body in 1876, two years after Fiji was ceded to the United Kingdom. (Wikipedia) Land, of course, is the other area of attack by the illegal Bainimarama regime. Again, and like Chiefs and the Church, the indigenous Fijians attachment to the land is linked to their identity, culture, tradition and belonging. The role of the Church is an intrinsic part of Fiji’s social, moral and political fabric. It is by nature an institution that has provided leadership and promoted good values as enshrined in the Bible. It has, and with the Chiefs, by its standing and influence in society a right to participate and contribute to the national political debate. This is a practice embodied by many religious organizations in countries such as the USA, the UK and Australia, where the Church makes its stand known on a number of national issues that are the subject of political debate. In Fiji, the Chiefs and the Church have important political roles to play and to stand up on issues of good governance, leadership and the future of Fiji. In this regard, they have every right to advise their peoples and members respectively on these issues as well as other issues. After all, indigenous land accounts for almost 88% of all land and the Chiefs, as trustees of the people have every right to comment on this and matters linked to land, such as the economy, immigration and mining. The huge influx of Chinese immigrants, many without proper documentation or qualification to reside in Fiji will place pressure on land, especially native land. The arbitrary removal of the GCC from land matters, thus, will not be in the best interests of Fiji and has the potential to lead to conflict. This biblical quote, in relation to the role of the Church and the Chiefs, is quite appropriate at this juncture: 1 Corinthians 12:12-26 "12 The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body-whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free-and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.14 Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15 If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 16And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.21 The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it." |  Similarly, the indigenous Fijian is made up of many parts, with the Church and Chiefs being at the forefront. This is the source of unity of the indigenous Fijian race. This unity is what Bainimarama wants to destroy. He must not be allowed to do this for the paramountcy and preservation of interests of the entire indigenous Fijian race is crucial for Fiji’s long terms social, political and economic stability and success. For the importance of the Church and the Chiefs is like the mast and the rudder of a ship. Without the both of them working in tandem the ship would stray off course or run aground. The indigenous Fijians need both the Church and the Chiefs as the mast and rudder of the ship to ensure that they are properly heard, represented and respected. This is something that is non negotiable. Bainimarama must be made to realize this. The culture, tradition and values of the Fijian peoples has survived over time immemorial. We as citizens of Fiji have to ensure that we do our duty to preserve the august institutions of Chiefs and Church and encourage their participation in the body politic of Fiji. As poignantly said by US President Ronald Reagan: “Let us be sure that those who come after will say of us in our time, that in our time we did everything that could be done. We finished the race; we kept them free; we kept the faith.” As Martin Luther King Jr once said: 'The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.' Let us continue to preserve. We will succeed.    Martin Luther King Jr: 'The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.' |
