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HOLDING SITIVENI RABUKA TO ACCOUNT: As we noted previously, he disappeared from party politics after losing 1999 election, and with him disappeared any scrutiny of where he got money to buy his farm & more

28/6/2016

8 Comments

 

His role in the collapse of the National Bank of Fiji, the "Kama Sutra Affairs", the 'Stephen Affair', his chairmanship of the Cakaudrove Provincial Council, and him appearing with army uniforms during crisis or later with tabuas. Above all, he is still hiding behind the sulu of his 1990 Immunity Decree. Now, he is claiming [Fiji Times, 29 June 20016]: "Since my re-emergence into the political arena, sadly people have looked right back to the beginning in 1987. They never look back to 1997 and the Constitution that we had produced with the co-operation of the National Federation Party and Fiji Labour Party. They forget the effort put in towards the re-engineering of our Constitution between 1992 and 1997 and then the elections of 1999".
We have written on the 1992 election, and below is the continuation, on the 1994 election that led to the 1997 Constitution

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"The irony is that Indo-Fijian political leaders had become power brokers in the face of Fijian disunity. The newly-elected Prime Minister Rabuka could not ignore their demands for constitutional change in the light of political and ‘kama sutra’ scandals hovering over his head. But he could find refuge in the constitutional process, and he was forced to initiate negotiations between Reddy and Chaudhry culminating in the setting up of the Constitutional Review Commission (The Reeves Commission)."- Victor Lal, 2001

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The 1994 Elections and Native Fijian Divisions

By VICTOR LAL
Fiji's Daily Post, 2001


It was the second general election under the new racist Constitution promulgated in 1990 after the two military take-overs in 1987 by Sitiveni Rabuka. The election was notable for the fact that the incumbent Prime Minister Rabuka was not expected to do well as dissidents in his party had broken away to form new political parties to challenge his rule. Fiji had undergone several changes prior to the 1994 elections. The President, Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau, had passed away, and the Great Council of Chiefs had elected Ratu Mara as his successor.

The 1994 election campaign was dominated by intra-ethnic instead of inter-ethnic issues and conflicts and debates centred around communal issues because each group was fighting for communal seats. For the Indo-Fijians, the central issue of the racially biased constitution took a back seat to FLP/NFP rivalry, most of it at a personal level between Mahendra Chaudhry and Jai Ram Reddy. Chaudhry and the FLP were repeatedly taunted by the NFP for their support for Rabuka in the aftermath of the 1992 election. The NFP claimed that the support had yielded nothing. The FLP, on the other hand, accused the NFP for being too close to Rabuka, who unwittingly reinforced this image when he announced that he planned to set up a government of national unity with Reddy after the elections. FLP also attacked NFP for being an ‘Indian’ party as opposed to FLP’s multi-racial character.

On the Fijian side, Josevata Kamikamica hastily launched a new political party, Fijian Association Party (FAP) to challenge Rabuka and the SVT. The FAP had the tacit support of the President Mara who had openly expressed his support for Kamikamica for the premiership at the Great Council of Chiefs but he was outvoted, in part by Rabuka’s politicised nominees on the Council. The SVT also condemned Kamikamica of helping to hand political power back to the Indo-Fijians. Kamikamica, on the other hand, played right into the hands of SVT nationalists when he made the strategic mistake of announcing that he would form a coalition government with the Indo-Fijians if he won the 1994 elections. He had promised to restore integrity and dignity to Fijian leadership.

Tora-Adi Kuini Join Fray

The already fragmented Fijian populace had the spectre of dealing with two other political entrants in the election-Apisai Tora and Adi Kuini Vuikaba-Speed, widow of the deposed premier Bavadra, and the remarried wife of the Australian political consultant Clive Speed. Tora, who has been a member of every political party in Fiji, this time formed his own All National Congress(ANC), which did not win a single seat in the 1992 election. He solicited votes on a platform of multi-racialism (yes!) and the exclusion of the Great Council of Chiefs from politics. At his political side was Adi Kuini. Earlier she had announced her retirement from active politics but she attempted a comeback as a candidate for the ANC. Another candidate for the ANC was David Pickering, who had defected from the GVP. At the end of the day the issue among the Fijians and Indo-Fijians revolved around leadership: did they want Rabuka over Kamikamica and Reddy over Chaudhry?

The election results were interesting. The NFP won an extra 6 seats to increase its MPs to 20. There was also an increase of 5% of Indo-Fijian vote for it. The FLP only managed to win 7 seats. The results suggested that Indo-Fijians preferred Reddy’s cautious and moderate approach to Chaudhry’s often confrontational approach. The Indo-Fijian voters were also not ready for Chaudhry’s politics of multi-racialism.

Among the General Voters, the GVP managed to retain the four seats with the fifth going to Pickering. Tora and Adi Kuini were comprehensively beaten at the polls.

The SVT and Rabuka managed to hold on to power by one seat, increasing their seats to 31. In terms of voting percentages, SVT’s vote actually dropped 4%. The SVT’s Deputy Prime Minister, Filipe Bole, lost his seat to FAP’s candidate Ratu Finau Mara in the Lau constituency, where his father is the hereditary chief of Lau.

The FAP only managed to win 14 % of the Fijian vote which translated into 5 constituencies (3 in Lau and 2 in Naitasiri). The SVT had the upper hand because of the wide gulf between urban and rural Fijians and the fact that rural Fijians were allocated more seats. The military and significant members of the Methodist Church bloc-voted for the SVT boosting its overall win. Kamikamica’s announcement that he would form a Coalition with Indo-Fijians also robbed him of crucial Fijian votes. Kamikamica lost his own seat.

Ratu Mara had no choice but to ask Rabuka and the SVT to form the next government. Rabuka had the support of 37 MPs (31 SVT, 4 GVP, one independent and Rotuma’s Manueli). He did not have to rely on Indo-Fijian MPs. His main critics now nested in the rival FAP political bure. The indigenous Fijian political elite had embarked on an uncertain journey of political rivalry in the future.

The only thing the 1994 election resolved was which Fijian was to become Prime Minister and the answer was Rabuka and not Kamikamica.

The irony is that Indo-Fijian political leaders had become power brokers in the face of Fijian disunity. The newly-elected Prime Minister Rabuka could not ignore their demands for constitutional change in the light of political and ‘kama sutra’ scandals hovering over his head. But he could find refuge in the constitutional process, and he was forced to initiate negotiations between Reddy and Chaudhry culminating in the setting up of the Constitutional Review Commission (The Reeves Commission). The recommendations of the Commission provided the basis on which the Joint Parliamentary Select Committee (JPSC) made its recommendations to Parliament.

The end result, as we know, was the new electoral system, accountability, and multi-party government concept in the 1997 Constitution of Fiji. Fijileaks: To be continued

http://www.fijileaks.com/home/a-fifth-coup-rabuka-is-an-opportunist-who-has-been-in-the-wilderness-since-losing-the-1999-general-elections-he-brings-nothing-to-sodelpa-except-one-frightening-scenario-and-certainty-a-fifth-coup-in-fiji

8 Comments
For Fiji Ever Fiji
29/6/2016 03:16:38 am

I cannot understand why Indo Fijians are saying that Rabuka will bring back the issues of 87 and banish Indians from Fiji. Can't it be enough that he has publicly acknowledged his mistake and is now promoting multiculturalism as the only way forward for Fiji? For those of you Indo Fijians fighting this...you are being self centred and truly reflecting your cunningness especially when you know we Indigenous Fijians are suffering so badly under the Bainimarama government. Come on guys....at least you have two homes. Fiji and India. We Fijians, we Fiji is no more...that's it for us. Can't you not be lopsided and help us overcome Bai and Kai? Afterall they are the real dictators.

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Dhara link
29/6/2016 10:14:30 am

For Fiji ever Fiji , do you really want the Indo Fijians to believe rabuka? He changes his tune whenever it suits him. Who did he apologize to? To sodelpa?
If he was so apologetic he would have revealed the names of the people behind the 87 coup. He did not do so. The only home Indo Fijians know is Fiji, not Indian. If the Indians have two homelands than so do we itaukeis. We came from Africa so let's not forget that.
At least Bainimarama is treating every citizen of Fiji equally. So please do tell us as to what Bainimarama is doing wrong that we itaukeis are suffering.

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Alby
29/6/2016 11:04:46 am

I think there's a misconception that any change in party or leadership at the next election is going to be a solution to any perceived suffering within Fiji.

The pot of money the government has available can only be disposed in limited ways and a balance has to be achieved.

You talk of the Indigenous Fijians suffering so badly but perhaps you need to look at some of the root causes. How can some Indigenous Fijian get out of poverty when from 4 in the morning until late at night they are bombarded by religion during the week.

The present government has tried hard to push education for our children so they can progress in their future life but the Methodist Church does all it can to suppress them and steal their dreams.

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Mahen
29/6/2016 11:57:37 am

If Indians can have 2 homes (Fiji and India) why cant you itaukei,also have 2 homes? (Fiji and AFRICA) Like Indians ancestors came from India, yours came from Africa! lUTUNASOBASOBA DID NOT FALL OFF THE BACK OF nOAHS ARK!

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Pita
29/6/2016 06:57:46 am

Since Rabuka is no longer a private citizen since taking on leadership of the "So God Spoke to me Party" he had once again become a public figure and therefore should expect to be exposed to higher levels of accountability and public scrutiny. It's a simple matter for any journalist to do s title search of Rabuka's Valavala Freehold estate in Vanua Levu, the dates of purchase and its previous and new owners, Any valuer can obtain from their data base the purchase and sale price.

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Pita
29/6/2016 07:31:24 am

Prior to Rabuka coming to power freehold land could be bought by foreigners. When He became PM Rabuka introduced a policy requiring assent by the Ministet for Land to all freehold land sales by foreigners but more importantly the law required that locals be given first choice in all freehold land sales above a certain size. Moreover, locals could object to and therefore delay the transfer of land by foreigners.
Rabuka himself was a major beneficiary of this law as he acquired more than 1000 acres of freehold land known as Valavala Estate in Cakaudrove. It's not known whether the source of his loan was the Development Bank or the Nationsl Bsnk of Fiji that failed. Rabuka's govt refused to order a Commussion of Inquiry into the bank's collapse. Rabuka later sold Valavala estate to cashed up Americans and made his millions from the sale. The question is did he personally benefit from the law that he had passed while in Government? Did he declare his interest? We recall that failure to declare his interest at a Fijian Holdings board meeting saw former PM Qarase serve nine months in prison

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Aj
29/6/2016 08:49:58 am

There are too many pick and choose kinds of behaviour amongst politicians, ministers, journalists, social activists and academics. The questions now being asked of Rabuka - if same standards would be used to ask questions of all other politicians, none will survive scrutiny. Rabuka was a coupmaker. I was in high school when he carried out the coup. He destroyed my chances as that of many others. But now, i rationalise that he has gone through the mill. He has been asked questions and he has answered them. Even if not to our satisfaction, and even if quite inconsistently. But he has apologised for the coup. He has moved ahead and gave Fiji its best Constitution. He has now been duly elected to lead a party by the party members. Many on all sides see this as a threat. Government will do everything to target and destroy Rabuka. It will use all means necessary to keep throwing mud at Rabuka and will use all who hat ecoups, including journalists and bloggers; they will feed information to them and ask them to ask questions. If this fails, it will find some law to charge him and neutralise him politically. It is aside that if the same law were to be used on those in Government, they will all be in jail. The onus is now on us, ordinary people, to demand that the same standards be used on all public figures. If it is about women and sexual conduct, then ask the same questions about all politicians. If it is about property dealings, ask the same questions of all. If it is about coups, ask the same questions to all, including those who participated in coups, carried out coups, supported coups, financed coups, and were beneficiaries of coups. If we dont, we will remain petty unethical hypocrats that thrive on account of pulling others down. By the way, I wont vote for Rabuka in the next election. But I wont take away his right to wage a fair fight at the elections, nor will I want to destroy a man before he even enters the field.

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On-Song
30/6/2016 02:28:23 am

Rabuka has become the flavour of the month and it seems the Bai/Kai flavourings have somehow been set aside to ferment or to be forgotten. Old wounds have reopened and those destined never to forgive have raised their voices once again and unfortunately will never see the change, if ever there has been any, in Rabuka. This site is now totally devoted to tear down Rabuka and has become the perfect remedy that the Bai/Kai regime needed for a break. With all the facts and data presented, Bai/Kai remain untouched and the momentum of their brand of leadership goes unabated. How about we put them all together, Rabuka, Bai, Kai, the weaklings in SODELPA and the corrupt in Fiji First and put them up for scrutiny; and just tell them straight - you're not worthy of leading this Nation!! Only then, fairness will prevail and we'll be able to delete the racial bias that is staring back at us with all the current write up in Fijileaks

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