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FIJI IN 2016? FRANKLY speaking, does Bainimarama's New Year message ring true?: 'In 2015, we completed our first full year as true democracy...'

31/12/2015

9 Comments

 
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BAINIMARAMA 2016 NEW YEAR'S MESSAGE, 12/31/2015

My fellow Fijians,

Bula Vinaka and a very Happy New Year to you all.

As we end the past year and celebrate the coming of 2016, I hope you are all able to take the time to reflect on what we have been able to achieve and focus on the path ahead of us–a path that will take Fiji and all Fijians to even greater levels of success and prosperity.

In 2015, we completed our first full year as a true democracy, and the Fijian people had the opportunity to see their votes and their voices become actions.

2015 was indeed a year of action. It was a year of achievement and it was a year in which Fiji truly came into its own as a model Pacific Island country.

We witnessed how successful a Government can be when it remains untainted by ethnic considerations and division. How effective it can be when it awards on the basis of merit. How fair it can be when it embraces common and equal citizenry for all Fijians. And how successful the country can be when we focus on growing the economy for the well-being and prosperity for all. These values have led us to become a more unified country, and the world has taken notice.

This year, I had the opportunity to visit the Fijian diaspora around the globe and tell them what we have been able to accomplish as a new Fiji. I let them know that Fiji is back, better than ever before, and that we are open for business.

The changes that we have implemented were long-awaited by many of our Fijian brothers and sisters overseas -- and it was an emotional time, as we reconciled with many people who were told that Fiji was no longer home for them. They recognised the progress we’ve made, and many committed themselves to walk side by side with us towards an even more prosperous and united future for our country.

As we recapture what we lost, and rebuild relationships with many Fijians who were driven away, we will strengthen our global presence. And with their knowledge and investment, and together with our home-grown talent, we will take our economy to even greater heights. That is why reconnecting with our people living abroad is so important.

My fellow Fijians,

Last year I asked you all to capitalise on our transition into democracy, and I am proud to say we are meeting that challenge every day. In 2015, we built upon our education revolution, we continued to improve and modernise our infrastructure – connecting more and more Fijians to roads, water and electricity - and we logged our sixth consecutive year of economic growth.

Our schools continue to equip our children with new technology in the classroom that will keep our students, and future workforce, competitive on the regional and global stage. Our infrastructure continues to develop, bringing essential services to every corner of the country. Our economy is improving every day, and my Government will remain committed to making sure that the benefits reach every level of our society. All of this was made possible because the vast majority of Fijians are focused on the future, they don’t live in the past, and they don’t want to go back to the politics and ways of the old. They have stood as one people, together, to confront the obstacles that came our way and now step into the future confidently.

My fellow Fijians,

To strengthen our stand as one modern nation, free from its colonial past and to give ample opportunity to Fijians of all ages, and in particular our youth, to further contribute and consider what symbols most rightly represent our wonderful nation; my Government has decided to further extend the feedback period for designs for the new national flag to 29 February, 2016. The Government has received a number of new submissions since the 23 designs were published earlier this year.

The new time frame will be as follows: From 1st to the 19th of March 2016, 5 designs will be chosen, through the PM’s Office, for you all to vote on. Members of the public will have 3 months to vote on the 5 designs through public consultations, social media and text messaging. It is expected that the design with the most votes will be announced on 1 July to be our new national flag. The new national flag will be raised on Constitution Day which is on September 7.

I urge you all to join our pursuit for a flag that represents who we are today, rather than our past and one we can fly proudly into the future.

With that said, my fellow Fijians, our work can’t stop here. There is much that is left to be done, not only to reach our potential in the short-term, but also to pass on better opportunities to our future generations. That means leaving our children and grandchildren a world, and environment, that we can be proud of.

Recently, I was in Paris at the United Nations Conference on Climate Change advocating a strong deal that addressed the threat climate change poses to our region and demanded real action on the part of developed countries.

At the start of this month, the UN laid out the Paris Agreement. It’s not everything we asked for, but it is still a step in the right direction. But now, more than ever, our commitment will be tested as we continue to fight to make sure the strong words printed on the agreement take the form of real, binding cuts on emissions through the developed world.

I am counting on other small island Leaders to stand fast, as we have in the months leading up to the Conference, and on our development partners to continue collaborating with us as we push forward in mitigating the effects of climate change. By having a national co-ordinated approach, we will mainstream climate change issues to all the Government Ministries and ensure that we are able to source the right levels of financial support and allocations.

My fellow Fijians,

I hope that you have been able to spend quality time with your families and loved ones this holiday season. Families are the backbone of our country, and we must do what we can to protect the sacred bonds of trust that hold our families together. That is why I have committed to using every available opportunity I have to condemn domestic violence and sexual assault that plague our society.

The law punishes these crimes severely, but we need to create a culture that disgraces anyone who even thinks about abusing or assaulting our women and children. And people who commit these atrocities should be mortified to show their faces in our communities and in our society.

When we allow violence to persist in our most private settings, when we have such a fundamental breach of trust, it creates an epidemic of destructive and immoral behaviour that spreads throughout our society, and it is our collective responsibility to prevent that from happening. As Fijians, we should be able to look at ourselves in the mirror and know that we are doing our utmost to protect those who cannot always protect themselves. So, I call on all of you to join me in this mission to ensure that every Fijian woman and child lives a fulfilling life that is free from violence and abuse.

As we close out 2015, let us, above all, thank God for the many blessings, and let’s resolve to do our best to keep building a better Fiji.

Wherever you are on this New Year’s Day, I wish you all a very happy and prosperous 2016.

Vinaka vakalevu. Thank you
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9 Comments
Dekho
31/12/2015 11:44:40 am

In 2015 Bainimarama's Fiji First Theft Party government complete its first full year as lasulasu democracy. The megalomaniac dictator of Fiji is lying about " true democracy" just as he was lying about an "interim civilian administration " after taking over power unlawfully in 2006. The " government " he had after the coup was neither interim nor civilian. It was a military dictatorship with a civilian mask. Bainimarama and his main boy Khaiyum are pathological liars. They will be remembered for their lying, deceit, corruption and coercive rule. The people of Fiji lived in constant fear under their rule. That will be their enduring legacy.

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Chiku
31/12/2015 11:54:35 am

Friends, Fijians and countrymen lend me your ears. We have come to bury democracy in Fiji and we have done that successfully through 8 years of direct dictatorship and the past one year of indirect dictatorship clothed as " true democracy ".

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Samjho
31/12/2015 12:07:15 pm

Bainimarama's new year message is full of lies. I stopped where he claims he has put in place a government that " awards on the basis of merit ". He himself is not Prime Minister based on merit. He got there through the barrel of the gun and he handpicked his cronies and sycophants to run the entire government machinery. His speech is an insult to the intelligence of thinking Fijians in the country and abroad.

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Socho
31/12/2015 12:31:45 pm

In Fiji's dictatorship of two, one dictator has broadcast his bullshit message about " true democracy " in Fiji. Now we wait for the other dictator to broadcast his in the same lying vein.

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Rajend Naidu
31/12/2015 05:48:28 pm

Editor,
In response to the politically motivated royal Commission into trade union corruption and abuse in Australia and commissioner Dyson Heydon's description of some trade union officials as " louts, thugs, bullies, thieves and perjurers", Jean Jacques Portal writing to the Age 1/1/16 had this to say :
" I cannot wait for royal commissions into : fraud and corruption in the banking sector and financial services sector; the underpayment of staff by large companies and small businesses ; the links between developers and elected officials; price gouging by oil companies and tax avoidance schemes by multinational companies. Let us go after the " thugs, thieves, bullies, perjurers" in the corporate sector ".
I wonder how much of what Jean identifies as rogue behaviour by the corporate sector is true in the " New Fiji " of Frank Bainimarama - especially the " links between developers and elected officials "?
I wonder how much of commissioner Dyson's description of " louts, thugs, bullies, thieves, perjurers" applies to certain politicians?
Sincerely,
Rajend Naidu

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And
31/12/2015 06:09:38 pm

No, Bainimarama's new year message does not ring true. It has a hollow ring . His phantasmagorical claims do not correspondent to the realities in Fiji under his misrule since 2006.

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And
31/12/2015 09:14:11 pm

And putting " Hon " before a man's name does not make him honourable. It most certainly does not make the coupist Frank Bainimarama now going by the handle " Hon. Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama" an honourable man no matter what fancy titles he adorns himself with. The man's a lying ruthless dictator and his new year message is lies, lies and more lies.

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Tomasi
31/12/2015 10:39:31 pm

Very true indeed. While many of us take time to rest and relax, without any feeling of guilt and apprehension, the Horrible Puppet Josaia Vore Bainimarama has to keep on "working" around the clock by reading the psychological garbage penned by QORVIS and the PM Khaiyum. The primary intention of all this note reading and beautiful salusalu is to project a public image of respectability, decency and beauty.

But as time goes on, the magic wears thinner and thinner until the people can stand it no more. The question is how long will they be able to bribe the audience and their entourage. How long will the two keep their circus together before the audience leave along with more of their own crew? Only rime will tell folks. Only time will tell.

Thanks to Victor and Coup 4.5 and others, that time of reckoning may be 2016. We shall see, but until then, while we work, rest and relax, the two leading circus stars and their puppeteers will be working overtime conceiving new schemes, acts and music to entertain the crowd as well as their own band of followers.

Have a wonderful New Year Victor and our friends. May God bless our Fiji.

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Sunno
1/1/2016 01:26:39 am

Bainimarama is a tyrant pretending he is a Man of the People. This is an all too common personality trait of the tyrant. He has the delusional belief that he is a much loved leader. The reality is that Bainimarama is a feared dictator. Nobody wants to cross his path,as yet. And as with all tyrants Bainimarama has attracted his cohort of cronies and sycophants who praise him to high heaven. When the dictator goes these bakewas do the disappearing act, crawling back into the woodwork.

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