Blog Posts

SPICED UP: IN 2017, FIJIFIRST PARTY raised $1,552,469 and the LAST donor was MARC McElrath, the owner and operator of McDonalds Fiji. But in list of donors, FFP spiced up his name as 'Marc Mcelrath Mcdonal'

21/9/2020

1 Comment

And it seems the Supervisor of Elections Mohammed Saneem did not object to the stated name, 'Marc Mcelrath Mcdonal' which FFP listed as a donor. On 12 October 2017 'Mcdonal' donated $10,000 (Receipt No 860). How many other FFP donors have used different names to donate? A search for 'Mcdonal' surname was returing ZERO hit. Was it a deliberate ploy on the part of FFP? Unlike previous lists, the 2017 LIST does not have a column Received By: Treasurer, Head Office, DD (Direct Debit), and Shailesh Kumar (Founding FFP member) who, in 2016, solely received a total of $515,000 on behalf of the FFP.
We will be revealing those donors and also why Shailesh Kumar might have breached the donation decree for he is listed in one of the lists as having donated $70,000. The VOTERS must hold Saneem to account, including Grahame Southwick and Kavita Raniga, the two Electoral Commissioners who donated $10,000 each to FijiFirst Party.
Did Saneem match DONOR Names with the VOTER LIST on him? If he had, and that is what he should have done, he would have thrown back the list at FijiFirst Party general secretary Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum. We apologise for the time it is taking to identify and reveal the donors, for the FFP LISTS reek of FRAUD, so we are forensically following the
MONEY and DONORS.
We could not identify another donor in the 2017 list, recorded as
MCADEN MUTALIC who, on 18 April, donated $10,000 to FFP. Now, it turns out he should have been listed as MLADEN MATULIC,
General Manager at Vuksich & Borich (Fiji) Pte Limited

ONE MAN COLLECTOR:
And received on behalf of FijiFirst Party a total of $515,000 in 2016.
The financial vandalism wreaked by 'Crony Capitalists' MUST stop in Fiji. We will also reveal the DONOR to FFP who put up the party billboards

1 Comment

POLLS APART: Graham Davis, 'In an “analysis” piece that reeks of the customary Fiji Sun spin - some of it directed against Grubsheet – white haired Rewa sage Delaibatiki, downplays the significance of poll result"

21/9/2020

1 Comment

"True to form, the Fiji Sun has tried to please its political masters in government by burying the latest results of the Fiji Sun/Western Force research poll published in today’s edition of the paper. It leads with the relatively unremarkable news that the Fiji Labour Party has “leapfrogged the smaller parties to secure third place after FijiFirst and SODELPA” when the truly big news is the collapse of the government’s vote, along with a 10 per cent fall in personal support for the Prime Minister, Frank Bainimarama...Your paper receives money in the form of exclusive government advertising and in return, has surrendered control of its editorial pages to the AG. It’s an arrangement kept from Fiji Sun readers while the paper trumpets the quality of its “journalism”. That, Nemani, is corruption and a breach of even the most basic journalistic ethics. And you and your fellow “journalists” should hang your heads in shame." - Graham Davis, Grubsheet Feejee, 21 September 2020

By Graham Davis

TRUE to form, the Fiji Sun has tried to please its political masters in government by burying the latest results of the Fiji Sun/Western Force research poll published in today’s edition of the paper. It leads with the relatively unremarkable news that the Fiji Labour Party has “leapfrogged the smaller parties to secure third place after FijiFirst and SODELPA” when the truly big news is the collapse of the government’s vote, along with a 10 per cent fall in personal support for the Prime Minister, Frank Bainimarama.

In an “analysis” piece that reeks of the customary Fiji Sun spin – some of it directed against Grubsheet – the white haired Rewa sage and sometime New Zealand resident, Nemani Delaibatiki, attempts to play down the significance of the poll result. But the numbers speak for themselves and even he is obliged to acknowledge them.

“SODELPA is the other big performer. It has for the first time overtaken FijiFirst in responses to the question: “Who do you think will win the (2022) election?” It has polled 41 per cent to FijiFirst’s 37 per cent”.
“The economic crisis backlash also continues to have a detrimental impact on Voreqe Bainimarama’s standing in the preference for Prime Minister stakes. He has dropped from 43 per cent to 33. It correlates in the movement in the party ratings. This is the lowest he has polled in Fiji Sun opinion surveys since the return to elections”.

“SODELPA caretaker party leader and opposition leader Sitiveni Rabuka has been the beneficiary of the swing in opinion. He has jumped from 18 per cent to 27 per cent”.

So a ten per cent fall in support for the Prime Minister to his lowest ever number and a nine per cent increase in support for his opponent, Sitiveni Rabuka. Plus a four per cent lead for SODELPA over FijiFirst when voters are asked to pick the likely outcome of the 2022 election result. All buried in the body of the story on page 2.

So who is to blame for all this unpopularity? Well partly me, apparently. Because this is the extraordinary “analysis” by Nemani Delaibatiki of why the government is now in a losing position and the Prime Minister’s support has collapsed.

“This is predictable at the moment given the economic impact of the pandemic and the constant strident negativity promoted by anti-Government media elements and social media keyboard warriors.

FijiFirst, like governments in many parts of the world, is being hit by the economic impact of the global pandemic. This despite the proactive initiatives quickly rolled out by the FijiFirst Government to address the economic pain. People are still blaming Government for the job losses and the hardship many businesses and families are going through.

But the Prime Minister’s decisive comments in yesterday’s Fiji Sun directly address some of the negativity, especially his description of Australian blogger Graham Davis. Mr Davis and his anti-government followers made much of his supposed inside knowledge. This from a spell working in Fiji for the American public relations firm Qorvis, which does work for the government.

The PM makes it clear Mr Davis was neither a significant player nor an insider, and was prone to making drama when there was none. He was also scornful of the Davis claims about leadership and divisions within FijiFirst."

Yes, Nemani. Anything you say. Correction. Anything the Prime Minister and his Attorney General, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, tell you to say. Despite the fact that I am Fiji born and a Fijian citizen, I’m an Australian blogger, as if this somehow makes me less qualified than you to make pronouncements on events in Fiji when you are a New Zealand citizen having worked for many years in NZ until you were brought back to play for the pipers who call your current tune.

Not once in his statement about me did Frank Bainimarama deny a single thing I have written in the past few weeks. Not one. Ergo, they are the facts. The truth. The Military Council has asked for changes to be made to the government, including the removal of the AG. The cabinet is divided, largely along ethnic lines. And the Prime Minister has also told the Military Council that his choice to succeed him is Inia Seruiratu.

You know all this, Nemani. It’s just that you are not a journalist but a government propagandist. And the difference between you and me is this: When I was at Qorvis, everyone knew it. But with you, it’s clandestine – the dirtiest secret in the Fijian media.

Your paper receives money in the form of exclusive government advertising and in return, has surrendered control of its editorial pages to the AG. It’s an arrangement kept from Fiji Sun readers while the paper trumpets the quality of its “journalism”. That, Nemani, is corruption and a breach of even the most basic journalistic ethics. And you and your fellow “journalists” should hang your heads in shame.

1 Comment

PEARLFISH DONATIONS TO FIJIFIRST PARTY: Justin Hunter, Savusavu Special Administrator and founder of pearl farming in Fiji, his wife, and Grahame Southwick, CEO, Fiji Fish Marketing donated TOTAL: $18,500

20/9/2020

1 Comment

Leanne Hunter

Justin Hunter

On 9 September 2014, Grahame Southwick, the CEO, Fiji Fish Marketing Group Ltd donated to the FijiFirst Party Head Office $10,000 (Receipt No 1041) and Justin Hunter, founder of J. Hunter Pearls Fiji, donated $1,000 on 10 September 2014 (Receipt No 812). Four years later, Justin and Leanne Hunter jointly donated $10,000 on 9 November 2018. No receipt number is listed for this donation. We must add a cautionary note: FFP have, for reasons best known to them, recorded the receving dates and years in British and English styles interchangeably: 6/11/2014 or 6/15/2014. The above donations are legal under the donation decree.

7 fishing companies to receive the $3.2M Tuna Support Fund, FijiVillage, 7 October 2017

Fijileaks Founding Editor-in-Chief: In 2008, my deep throats inside FIRCA had dumped on me scores of tax files belonging to Interim Cabinet Ministers, former politicians, individuals, companies, lawyers and businessmen; not to mention the tax file of Frank Bainimarama's Interim Finance Minister Mahendra Chaudhry who was also line Minister for FIRCA. Among the heaps of files was one relating to an investigation on JOSEVA NAMISI LEANO, FIRCA's then Acting General Manager, Risk and Compliance. When I exposed Chaudhry's $2million that he was hiding in an Australian bank account, FIRCA issued a press release on 24 February 2008 stating that Leano had been dismissed for misconduct and abuse of office. The press release went on to state as follows: "The Authority is unable to divulge the facts of the various allegations made against Mr. Leano because they involve other taxpayers affairs." The next day, on 25 February 2008, Fiji Sun's then publisher Russell Hunter was abducted from his home, detained overnight by the military, and deported out of Fiji- to prevent us from exposing other tax dodgers and fraudsters based on their own tax files. The Investigation Report on Leano was concluded in 2007. I never came around to revealing its contents but when I saw Grahame Southwick's photo with Aiyaz Khaiyum and a story on the Tuna Support Fund, my photographic memory jolted me to dig up the 'Leano File involving Leano, the Southwick Family, and Nur Bano Ali's BDO firm. After a lengthy consideration, we have decided to withhold the findings until we have obtained comments from Grahame Southwick and Nur Bano Ali on FIRCA's Report regarding Leano and the Southwick Family. In passing, both Nur and her husband are also listed as DONORS to FFP. We will deal with them when we come to the Indo-Fijian donors.

1 Comment

TRUMPIAN OUTBURST: Bainimarama attacks his former Spin Doctor Graham Davis: "I don't know why he's dealing in gossip these days but I also remember even in the best of times he seemed to find drama. And.."

20/9/2020

1 Comment

"If he (Davis) couldn't find it, he would make it up' - Frank Bainimarama

GRAHAM DAVIS, Grubsheet Feejee, 20 September 2020:
"I have quoted from the Military Council document almost in its entirety. It is from an impeccable source and as we’ve seen, the PM doesn’t dispute its contents. Nor has he disputed the announcement of his designated successor, nor indeed any of the facts that I have reported over the past few weeks. All of which makes this the astonishing statement that it is. Ask yourself this: If I was so unimportant and prone to fits of melodrama, why is this the most prominent story in the Fijian media today – not only the pro-government FBC and Fiji Sun but Fiji Village/CFL and Fiji One News? It is because I was a witness to the inner workings of the Bainimarama government for six years up close and wrote much of its narrative. And someone is extremely worried about the damage being done to his own position and what may be to come."

Fijileaks to Fiji Media: "Go and ask Bainimarama if he was Inciting Sedition Against Khaiyum, citing Fijileaks. He can look up the Laws of Fiji, which are on his bookshelf (photo)"

In his press statement, he told us: 'If you've read our Constitution, you know Fiji is a Democracy.'
Well, Fijian journalists should have retorted, "If you've read Khaiyum's Constitution, the Military Council is NOT your Cabinet. You had no right to approach the Military Officers."

FRANK BAINIMARAMA WAS INCITING SEDITION IN DECEMBER 2018
IF the contents of the Military Council's 'Secret 26 Point Blueprint for Change' to Bainimarama is authentic (and we believe it is authentic), then Attorney-General and Minister for Justice Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum must REPORT his Prime Minister to the Police Commissioner for INCITING SEDITION against him (Khaiyum), for Bainimarama as a Civilian Prime Minister had no right to approach his former Military Officers to seek advice on how best to remove Khaiyum and take back control of FFP machinery. For, Fiji was not in a state of anarchy and there was no need for the invocation of DOCTRINE OF NECESSITY (unlike 2000 and even dubious 2006 where Bainimarama had manufactured one) to run to the Military Council. What should Bainimarama have done? He should have conducted a post-election FFP post-mortem, with or without Kahiyum's permission, not by running to the Military Council but by summoning FFP candidates and party members. Bainimarama, by approaching the Military Council, and the Council by giving him its Blueprint, both committed TREASON against Khaiyum, a sitting Government Minister and Minister for Law and Order. The Military Council (RFMF) is required under the 2013 "Khaiyum Constitution" to be NEUTRAL, except when there is utter chaos, anarchy, and deeply mired in 'corruption' in Fiji. The former Land Force Commander Brigadier-General Pita Driti was jailed for approaching Frank Bainimarama with evidence of corruption against Aiyaz Khaiyum, and for he and his co-officers calling for Khaiyum's removal. We can't have two parallel laws when it comes to INCITING SEDITION, for Graham Davis is standing by the contents of the Military Council's 'Secret Blueprint for Change' Document, issued to Khaiyum's Prime Minister Bainimarama in December 2018.
The Military Council should have told Bainimarama to
"Piss Off", for in December 2018, he was a civilian Prime Minister calling on them to abuse their powers under the 2013 Constitution. But the right course of action was to take him up to the barracks, make him run around the military grounds (an expert in dashing through the cassava patch - "it was raining that day but there was dust in the air!"), LOCK him UP in a military cell, and then call the Fiji Police to charge him for inciting sedition against his own Attorney-General and Minister for Justice Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum.
It is still not too late, for the late Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase was convicted and jailed for offences committed in the 1990s. The 'Driti Precedent' must be applied to Frank Bainimarama, the Prime Minister of Fiji. Ironically, Bainimarama is not only alive but is Prime Minister today, courtesy of none other than Driti. It was Driti who led troops under his command to put down the November 2000 mutiny, provided cover from firing rebel soldiers, and escorted Bainimarama down the embarkment into the cassava patch so he could make that famous dash for his life. On his way, Bainimarama famously defecated in his pants, whether out of sheer fright or because of the call of nature, and had to be hosed and cleaned at the temporary Walu Bay hideout.
Unfortunately, Khaiyum not only ensured that Driti was behind bars but has turned Bainimarama into a 'CRY BABY', asking him to lash out at any legitimate criticism of Aiyaz Khaiyum's dictatorial rule in Fiji

GRAHAM DAVIS RESPONDS TO BAINIMARAMA ATTACK ON HIM:

Stung by successive Grubsheet articles revealing how the military wants changes to the government and also revealing the name of his designated successor, Frank Bainimarama has made an astonishing personal attack on me on the front page of the government-controlled Fiji Sun newspaper and on the government-controlled Fijian Broadcasting Corporation. (“PM slams claims made by ex-Qorvis worker”). While conspicuously failing to deny the substance of anything I have reported, the PM accuses me of trading in gossip and makes a number of snide personal references that are gratuitous and totally beside the point.

Once again, the PM has evidently been used by his Attorney General, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, to engage in an ill-considered public relations blunder that elevates me personally and the substance of what I have written and drives even more Fijian readers to my website. Whether it was on the advice of my former colleagues at Qorvis Communications is an open question. One of them has already commented that: ” Someone should tell him (the PM) to keep a cool head. He’s doing his own negative pr by being so aggressively defensive”. If Fiji is going to pay Qorvis $800,000 this year in highly straitened circumstances on top of the many millions it has expended over the years, the Prime Minister and his de-facto number two could at least heed their advice.
Here’s the text of what the Prime Minister said to the Fiji Sun:

“It’s funny, people outside of Fiji often have the most to say and the least to offer the country. Graham is no different. I know him, and he did some work with Qorvis, but that ended sometime back.

I think I remember the stress was sometimes too much for him. I don’t know why he’s dealing in gossip these days, but I also remember even in the best of times he always seemed to find drama. And if he couldn’t find it, he’d make it up.

I have no idea what he wants now. Maybe attention, maybe a job. I really don’t know. I don’t care and we don’t want to give him either. But he needs to understand that an attack on Fijian democracy, our Constitution, any of our independent institutions, or any of my ministers is an attack on me.

If you’ve read our Constitution, you know Fiji is a democracy. We are not a dynasty and I do not handpick my successor. The only ones who choose the Prime Minister of Fiji are Fijian voters.

I know, because they have picked my government twice. As the leader of FijiFirst, I am appointed under our party’s constitution, like all our office bearers. And I will once again work hard to earn the votes of the Fijian people when I lead FijiFirst into the next election.

Until then, we have to recover our economy and get industries running again, get jobs back and get help to those who need it most. I am working on these issues every day. We don’t have time to waste on gossip blogs. But for old time’s sake, I wish Graham all the best in his retirement in Australia.”

And here is the text of the statement that I have released to the Fijian media in response and that it is obliged to publish under Fiji’s media laws guaranteeing the right of reply to criticism of this nature:

I thank the Prime Minister for drawing public attention to my blogsite – grubsheet.com.au – in that many more Fijians will know that far from me criticising him or eroding his position, I am in fact trying to strengthen it by calling for the government to re-invent itself so that it can win the next election.

I take it as confirmation that what I have said is fact that in his statement, the Prime Minister does not deny anything at all that I have reported over the past month or for that matter, dispute any opinion that I have expressed.

In relation to his comments about the Constitution, the Prime Minister knows that a political party such as FijiFirst decides its candidate as leader before the people get to vote on that selection. So his preference as party leader is critical and as I reported, he has told the Military Council that his designated successor is Inia Seruiratu.

While I thank him for his best wishes, I am far from being retired – being of the same age as the Prime Minister – and am working for his re-election to prevent him from going into enforced retirement himself. He remains a person for whom I have a great deal of respect and affection.

HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF: Bainimarama has a history of lashing out at TRUTH, fed by those surrounding and manipulating him. In 2008, on the instigation of his then Interim Finance Minister Mahendra Chaudhry and Interim Attorney-General Aiyaz Khaiyum, he (Bainimarama) had attacked our Founding Editor-in-Chief, and even ordered the kidnapping and deportation of Fiji Sun's then Publisher Russell Hunter out of Fiji, for our revelation that Chaudhry was hiding $2million in his Australian bank account. When they fell out, Chaudhry was arrested and convicted over the $2million stash in Australia. In Graham Davis case, he has turned on his very own who was a witness to the inner workings of the Bainimarama government for six years up close and wrote much of its narrative

Bah, Bah, BARR: And remember Bainimarama lashing out at Father Kevin Barr, suggesting that if he didn't like his plan to change the Fiji flag, he (Father Barr) should relocate from Fiji to CHINA. Thank God, Father Barr remained in his beloved Fiji and died peacefully at the Home of Compassion last week

Father Barr Passes Away. Archbishop Peter Chong: "We thanked Fr. Barr for his service and gift to Fiji. We helped him pass from this world to God'. Mercifully, Father Barr was not dragged and deported to CHINA

Fijileaks: BOTH Frank Bainimarama and the miliatry officers who entertained him, and then went on to present to him the Military Council Blueprint, are guilty of inciting sedition and hatred against Aiyaz Khaiyum in his capacity as a duly elected Minister in the Bainimarama Cabinet. The precedent is the charges laid against Pita Driti

Graham Davis on Military Council Document, 10 September 2020

"Shocked to the core by his near defeat in the November 2018 election, the Prime Minister, Frank Bainimarama, summoned the people he trusts most – his military colleagues who helped him seize power in 2006 and who are still the ultimate authority in Fiji. They are the members of the Military Council – senior military officers still in uniform...The Military Council had been dormant for several years when it was suddenly reconvened by the Prime Minister in the election aftermath. His old comrades were given a specific invitation to advise him about how to respond to his near defeat at the hands of his bitter opponent – Sitiveni Rabuka, the former Prime Minister, RFMF commander and instigator of the 1987 coups who led the SODELPA opposition into the 2018 election and came within a small margin of winning.

The Military Council produced a 26-point blueprint for the direction it believed Frank Bainimarama should take his government and the nation. The contents of that advice have never been revealed – until now – and the Prime Minister is yet to act on its recommendations. But elements of the military and some of his cabinet colleagues want him to do so as a matter of urgency as the clock ticks inexorably towards the next election in 2022.

It is, by any measure, an astonishing document that even 20 months on, will send shock waves through the Fijian establishment and body politic. Not least because it shows the Military Council laying the blame for the government’s poor election showing squarely at the feet of Bainimarama’s Attorney General, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, who it accuses of arrogance and of putting the Prime Minister’s legacy at risk.

The document is bound to cause a collective tightening of sphincters in the AG’s immediate circle. Because pressure is building on the PM to end his 20 months of prevarication and at least implement the most pressing of the Military Council’s recommendations. It is also clear that the only thing between Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum and political oblivion is the support of one man – Frank Bainimarama."

www.fijileaks.com/home/the-fiji-military-councils-secret-blueprint-for-change-graham-davis-reveals-councils-unhappiness-after-2018-election-result-and-call-on-bainimarama-to-remove-khaiyum-as-fijis-attorney-general

1 Comment

FFP Donors List. There Ain't Native Fijians Bankrolling Bainimarama and Khaiyum Party. In 2014, Party raised $2,000,179.13, of which $36,870.13 were party fund raising, and $1,963,309 in Donations - Mostly Non-Fijians

20/9/2020

1 Comment

On 17 July 2014, "SERU" donated $10,000 to FFP Head Office (Receipt Number 829) and Pravin Kumar $2,500. Both were FFP candidates. "Seru" was none other than INIA SERUIRATU, now Frank Bainimarama's CHOSEN ONE to replace him as party leader. And, Pravin Kumar is Bala. Both were legally entitled to donate as long as the sum did not exceed $10,000 and was not donated by a company on behalf of them. They were the only two party candidates recorded as donors. As we have stated in the headline, hardly any Fijians of note or repute donated to the FFP in 2014. On 20 August 2014, JOSEFA SERULAGILAGI, donated $500. He was chairman of PSC and Rewa Dairy Company. JOE [Vuluma] VATUNITU, of Vatunitu & Co, on 7 September 2014, donated $5,000.
On 7 March 2014, one VILIAME LOLYASI donated $30.
The rest of the donations running into nearly $2million came from non- native Fijians. We will reveal non Indo-Fijian donors before we reveal the Indo-Fijian donors, for their donations are a complex web

1 Comment

FIJI FIRST PARTY DONORS 'WHO IS WHO' LIST: Mostly INDO-FIJIANS, Chinese, Europeans, and Part-Europeans donated over $2million to FFP to fight the 2014 General Election. A "Founding Party Member" - $70,000

19/9/2020

1 Comment

The Donors List explain why Bainimarama is so dependent on Khaiyum

ONE of them, Navua businessman GOVIND SAMI, gave $10,000 in June 2014. A month later, in July, he was raping the wife of his caretaker inside the farm house. In March 2018, he was JAILED for NINE YEARS on two counts of RAPE and one count of indecently annoying a person between 1 July 2014 and 29th October 2016. He has to serve 8 Years before he is eligible for parole. However, last December the Fiji Court of Appeal granted him leave to appeal against his conviction and sentence. Sami is not the only one. We may recall the appointment of another convict as Vice-President of FFP

THUMPS UP: Shailesh Kumar [Patel], described as [Founding FFP Member] donated $70,000 to FFP Head Office in 2014

DARK FINANCIAL KNIGHT: FFP Treasurer and current acting Fiji Pine Ltd CEO VIMLESH KUMAR who raked in thousands in donation for FijiFirst Party

Justice Salesi Temo, I March 2018, Fiji High Court, while jailing FFP Donor
Govind Sami
“The brief facts of the case were as follows. The accused, aged 60 years, was a businessman. He owned a 97 acres farm in Raiwaqa, Navua, where he raised various animals and maintained a vegetable farm. He hired various people to work for him on the farm. On the farm, he had a two bedroom farm house. The house had a bathroom, kitchen, a vacant room and a warehouse. In the warehouse, he kept his machineries, working tools and farming manure. The accused had hired the complainant’s (PW1) husband (PW2), as his caretaker at the farm house. The complainant was aged 27 years old, and her husband, was 40 years old, at the time of the incidents. In 2014, the accused normally visited his farm every now and then to check on his workers and to issue instructions to them on what to be done. PW1 and PW2 lived in bedroom no. 2 in the farm house, while the accused lived in bedroom no. 1, when he decides to stay at the farm. Between 1 and 31 July 2014, in one of his visits, the accused met the complainant in the warehouse. All his workers were out in the farm. The accused forcefully told the complainant (PW1) to take off her clothes. Out of fear, she complied. The accused then inserted his penis into her vagina for 3 minutes without her consent. He knew she was not consenting to sex at the time (count no. 1). Two years later, on 25 October 2016, in bedroom no. 1, the accused again repeated the above episode to the complainant (count no. 2). Four days later on 29 October 2016, the accused again tried to force himself sexually on the complainant. In the process, he indecently annoyed her by showing her his penis…Mr. Govind Sami for raping the complainant in July 2014, in October 2016, and also indecently annoying her in October 2016, I sentence you to 9 years imprisonment, with a non-parole period of 8 years imprisonment, effective forthwith.”

Fijileaks: We will analyse and identify the DONORS links with
Fiji First Party in coming days, and the perks and privileges they received like Board memberships, tax concessions, contracts, etc, etc, etc. How husbands, wives, sons and daughters from same families donated individually $10,000 each but combined totals ran into $100,000, and even one family donated over a million to FijiFirst Party

1 Comment

THE CHOSEN ONE: Frank names his choice, and er, its NOT Khaiyum. Graham Davis: "Inia Seruiratu – PM’s old comrade in arms in military and one of the government’s heaviest hitters – is his designated successor."

17/9/2020

2 Comments

"The tragedy of Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum is that when I first came to work for him in 2012, I had lunch with his father, Sayed Khaiyum, and told him that I hoped his son would one day become the first successful Indo-Fijian prime minister of Fiji. (Mahendra Chaudhry clearly wasn’t a success at survival). At the time – dazzled by the AG’s more attractive qualities – I meant it. But I eventually came to the opinion, observing him up close, that you cannot lead the nation unless you can take the people with you. And with his hubris, lack of judgment, obsession with control and vindictiveness, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum has sowed the seeds for his own destruction. He must not be allowed to take Frank Bainimarama’s reputation and his revolution with him." - Graham Davis, Grubsheet Feejee, 17 September 2020

By Graham Davis

THIS is a story that will be read with intense interest in Fiji, not only by the Fijian people but foreign diplomats and development partners, who will finally get an answer to one of the most frequently-asked questions about the country’s future direction – who will replace Frank Bainimarama as Prime Minister when he eventually chooses to stand aside. It is a question largely unspoken in the country – confined to private conversations and certainly not part of the public debate.

Yet having been in power for 14 years and reached the age of 66, the pressure is inevitably mounting on Bainimarama, like other leaders in his position, to announce a succession plan. Because nations that don’t have such a plan invariably suffer from a great deal of confidence-sapping speculation, investor nervousness and individual jockeying for power that is rarely ever in the national interest.

As we’ll see, even Bainimarama’s de-facto number two, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, doesn’t appear to be aware of the Prime Minister’s intentions and neither, presumably, do other civilian cabinet ministers. But the Prime Minister has certainly made his choice clear to those he trusts most – his military colleagues. That revelation coming up. But first some background to this extraordinary saga that demonstrates that the jockeying for power is already underway in earnest and has been for some time.

A year ago – in September 2019 – I was part of a substantial Fijian delegation in New York accompanying the Prime Minister to the World Climate Summit convened by the United Nations Secretary General, António Guterres, as well as the annual session of the UN General Assembly immediately afterwards. By then, I had left Qorvis the year before and was engaged by the Pollination team of climate consultants to write the Prime Minister’s multiple speeches and interventions for the various sessions he was attending not only as Fijian leader but as the former President of COP23 – the global climate negotiations. Because it had a significant climate component, I was also delegated to write Fiji’s customary national statement to the UN General Assembly.

On the eve of the PM’s speech, I was asleep in the town house rented by Pollination on the Upper East Side of Manhattan when I was woken by the mobile phone ringing at my bedside. The screen identified the caller as Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, the Attorney General and Minister Responsible for Climate Change (among his multiple portfolios), who was also in New York for the Climate Summit and was at a hotel elsewhere in Manhattan. It was just after 2.00am.

It had not been unusual over the years for the AG to call me at such an hour and at first, I thought nothing of it. But it seemed strange when he said he was in his hotel room with the current Qorvis staffer in Suva, Christian Theuer, and could they alter one seemingly innocuous phrase in the PM’s General Assembly speech. For a fleeting moment, I thought: “Why are you ringing me at 2.00am to ask me something that you and Christian can easily change?” But then came the real purpose of the call. Out of the blue, the AG said there was a plan by the iTaukei ministers in the FijiFirst government – plus one of the Indo-Fijian ministers, Mahendra Reddy – to try to install Mereseini Vuniwaqa – the current Minister for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation – as Frank Bainimarama’s successor and Fiji’s first woman prime minister. It was a statement that certainly brought me to my senses with a jolt.

Here was confirmation of what I had been hearing from deep insiders all year in the wake of the November 2018 election debacle– that the FijiFirst cabinet was split, largely along ethnic lines, between those Indo-Fijian ministers who owe their loyalty to the AG and the iTaukei ministers who had lost confidence in him and who along with the Military Council, wanted changes in the government.

The AG’s reference to Mahendra Reddy being part of this group indicated that this disaffection extended, in one instance at least, beyond ethnic lines to include the current Minister for Agriculture, Waterways and Environment. Reddy has never been part of the AG’s inner circle of hand-picked Indo-Fijian MPs and the AG has always regarded him with suspicion and distrust.

It all gives the lie, of course, to the government’s public denial in the media last week of Grubsheet’s recent account of the cabinet being divided. On one side, there are those Indo-Fijian ministers who owe their positions to the AG and still support him. And on the other, the iTaukei ministers and, evidently, Mahendra Reddy, who – as I understand it – are unanimous in wanting changes to the government’s direction and certainly don’t want Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum to ever be in a position to succeed Frank Bainimarama as prime minister. So I don’t know about you, Dear Reader, but that sounds a lot like division to me.

I was intrigued by AG’s bizarre disclosure to me in the early hours of that New York September morning that this group allegedly wanted Mere Vuniwaqa to succeed Bainimarama. Vuniwaqa is an outstanding individual – a former acting permanent secretary for justice and state solicitor who happens to cover all the political bases. She is iTaukei and it is clear from the last election result that the future political battleground for control of government in Fiji is the vanua. She is a woman and whatever male prejudice might get in her way, would clearly capture the public imagination and be an inspiration to every woman in Fiji. She is articulate and highly educated, with degrees from the Australian National University and University of Tasmania – a lawyer who has already held high office. And above all, Vuniwaqa is not a divisive figure in any sense. She is universally popular for her open and friendly manner, her professionalism, her natural humility and dignified bearing and her ability to mix easily with all sections of the community.

So that despite the ungodly hour, a light bulb came on in my head when the AG told me the iTaukei ministers and Mahendra Reddy had decided that she should succeed Frank Bainimarama. What a good idea! With the right team around her, Mere Vuniwaqa would be political gold. Someone capable of almost immediately addressing the FijiFirst government’s main problem – its hubris, lack of humility and disconnection with political reality and popular sentiment.

Yet clearly, the AG and those cabinet ministers supposedly putting Mere Vuniwaqa forward were unaware that nine months before – after the 2018 election – the Prime Minister had already designated a successor. And here’s the monumental twist. Because it isn’t Mere Vuniwaqa at all. For all her personal attributes and undoubted vote-pulling power, she is not Frank Bainimarama’s first choice to succeed him, any more than Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum is his first choice either.

This week – on the back of Grubsheet’s revelation of the Military Council’s call for changes to the government to reduce the influence of the AG – we reveal the name of the person the Prime Minister has designated to succeed him. The answer to the question on many lips in Fiji and capitals around the world came at the Military Council meeting 21 months ago in the wake of the disastrous 2018 election result that I reported on last week. Someone in the room asked: “Prime Minister, who is going to be your successor?” Frank Bainimarama uttered one word – “Inia”.

So for the first time, the rest of Fiji is learning that Inia Seruiratu – the PM’s old comrade in arms in the military and one of the government’s heaviest hitters – is his designated successor. Not Sayed-Khaiyum or Vuniwaqa but Seruiratu – the current Minister for Rural, Maritime Development and Disaster Management and Minister for Defence, National Security and Policing. Perhaps best known to most Fijians for coordinating the response – wearing his disaster management hat – to Cyclone Evan in 2012 and then the big one, Cyclone Winston in 2016, that killed 44 people and caused damage equal to one third of the nation’s GDP.

The revelation that Seruiratu is leader-in-waiting will be another blow to the AG coming after Grubsheet’s Military Council story last week – the effective end of his dream of becoming prime minister. And it will also shake to the core, those MPs who owe their positions to the AG and the legions of others who owe their positions to his direct patronage in the civil service, state institutions and on the boards of public enterprises. Because one thing is certain. The two men couldn’t be more different in style and substance. And the winds of change are certain to blow through the Fijian establishment when Inia Seruiratu eventually takes over.

For Mere Vuniwaqa, it isn’t reason for disappointment but encouragement. Because she is bound to benefit from a Seruiratu prime ministership and will be free of the yoke of the AG’s rivalry. Indeed, she would make a great deputy prime minister and attorney general to Seruiratu and because of her relative youth, would be in a prime position to achieve any ambition she might harbour to eventually become Fiji’s first female prime minister. It will also be a relief for much of the government generally, aside, of course, from those MPs who owe their positions to the AG. And it will be a relief for much of the country, a large proportion of which would have been gripped by dismay and apprehension had they learnt that the PM’s choice was Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum. Yes, he is that divisive.

But why was the AG ringing me at 2.00am a year ago to tell me it was Mere Vuniwaqa when the PM had named Inia Seruiratu nine months before? He clearly didn’t know what had transpired at the Military Council meeting or he wouldn’t have been peddling the Vuniwaqa option. Did he suspect that I had knowledge of this “plot” to thwart his own ambition to succeed as prime minister and was testing me at my most vulnerable in the middle of the night? As it happens, it was the first I’d heard of it and I told him so. But I had long sensed the AG’s suspicion because he certainly knew that I’d been agitating for change behind the scenes in the aftermath of the 2018 election 10 months before. Not about the leadership but about in the manner in which the FijiFirst government was conducting itself and the anger and resentment towards it in the community.

It wasn’t a matter of personal preference but political imperative. As I’ve said before, I have nothing personal against the AG. On the contrary, I have a great deal of respect for his ability and especially his work ethic. It was the Fijian people, not me, who had made their pronouncement on the government’s performance at the election by taking it to the brink of defeat. I was certainly keen for the leadership to respond appropriately to the message the country had sent it – to change its prescriptive and arrogant behaviour or face almost certain defeat at the next election in 2022. And with the attendant risk that many of the Bainimarama government’s reforms – the revolution that we had all worked so hard to implement – would be rolled back.

In my own mind, the AG had failed to respond to that message in the immediate election aftermath by blaming the result on the “lies of the opposition and the Fiji Times”. And one incident in particular indicated to me – and a great many other people – an astonishing lack of judgment and disdain for the mood of the electorate and many of his cabinet colleagues. Already shocked by his poor choice of the election date, his conduct of the campaign and how this had so obviously cost the government votes, the Suvavou House siege was – in their minds – a genuine act of madness.

The AG’s notorious Suvavou House “Pyjama Party” in 2018

29 days after the election on December 12, 2018, the opposition parties – SODELPA and the NFP – tried to serve legal papers on the government as part of their protest over alleged irregularities in the conduct of the election. The AG immediately ordered those cabinet ministers who were in the country to gather at his office on the ninth floor of Suvavou House on Victoria Parade – and the tenth floor above – to avoid those papers being served. Suvavou House quickly became known as Hideaway House. The lifts were disabled and the bailiffs were turned away. And so began an astonishing standoff – with the bailiffs and opposition MPs down on the street outside – that lasted for two days and sorely damaged the government’s already battered reputation.

As the siege dragged into the evening of the first day, followed by the next day and the next night, the cameras recorded bedding being brought into the building so the imprisoned ministers could get some sleep. The AG’s extraordinary explanation to the media was that the 48 hour gathering was “an urgent strategy meeting”. It was a lie of Trumpian proportions. And the sight of cabinet ministers detained on the AG’s orders and being forced to cancel their existing schedules turned FijiFirst into a laughing stock. One memorable Facebook meme read: “It’s after 10pm – do you know where your government is?”

Saneem making quick exit from Suvavou Hideaway House

It wasn’t just the government. Eyebrows were raised when the supposedly independent Supervisor of Elections, Mohammed Saneem, was photographed leaving the building. What was he doing there? Yet the tactic of avoiding the bailiffs ended in farce anyway when a judge allowed the opposition to legally serve the papers by publishing them in the media. The architect of that farce had been the AG. The Prime Minister was absent from the country at COP24 in Katowice, Poland. And it had all been for nothing – a monumental miscalculation on the AG’s part that fuelled the already strong public perception that FijiFirst had lost the plot.

Cabinet ministers emerged from the building sheepishly facing some very tough questions about why they had allowed themselves to be humiliated by the AG. And privately they were deeply angry about his conduct. More than anything else, the AG’s notorious Suvavou House “Pyjama Party” triggered the resentment against him by a significant number of his cabinet colleagues that lingers to this day.

At the time, I was watching all of this with mounting concern from abroad, having accompanied the Prime Minister to Poland. He and I had already spoken at length about the election outcome and what needed to be done. Yet as the days mounted and the fallout from the Suvavou House debacle spread, there was still no sign of a change in the AG’s overly strident and cocky public demeanour, let alone any sign of contrition. On the contrary, he seemed determined to maintain the arrogance, to crash through with a burst of publicity centred on him – not the Prime Minister – that was clearly designed to deflect public attention away from the debacle but was actually having the opposite effect of drawing attention to his lack of judgment.

So on December 20, 2018, I sent the Prime Minister the following Viber message. Certain personal references to third parties have been redacted, along with the PM’s response. But it was blunt and to the point.

“Bula Vinaka PM. Further to our conversation the other day, I think the personality cult that has been built up around the AG in the Fiji Sun and the government Facebook page has become a big liability for us. Here we are on the ropes politically and the AG is dominating coverage on Facebook. You are the leader and easily the most popular vote getter in FijiFirst and that should be reflected in the government’s social media coverage. In any event, it is abundantly clear that the AG has become a lightning rod for voter dissatisfaction and the smart thing to do is to reduce his public exposure, especially at the present time. I spoke the other day of the need for humility in the face of our near defeat but there is no evidence of this in the AG’s public demeanour. In fact, the opposite appears to be the case. Concerned to hear even rusted on FijiFirst supporters tell me the government will lose another poll after the Suvavou House debacle. They say we treated the people like idiots with the AG’s explanation for what happened and they don’t like being lied to. I am saying all this to you in confidence and in the expectation that you will not tell the AG of my concerns. I have a great deal of respect for him but it has reached the stage where he will not hear any criticism and I have already been marginalised for being “too negative”. My number one concern is that everything must be done to protect your political position and the revolution you led. And I have reluctantly formed the opinion that the AG is eroding our position at the very time when it urgently needs to be reasserted. We need to bring our best iTaukei ministers more to the fore. And we must show the people that they sent a message on Nov 14 and that we are listening, not act as if nothing happened and merrily maintain the arrogance”.

Regrettably from my standpoint, the Prime Minister chose to circulate this message widely, including to members of the cabinet. And he did so with my initials still at the bottom of it – GD. It didn’t take long for the saqamoli to drop. Senior people began approaching me saying “Graham, thank you for telling the PM what needs to be done”. Er, um, ah, yeah, great. Because it also didn’t take long for the message to reach the eyes of the AG and our relationship was never the same again.

Sometime later, the AG said that my reference to advancing the position of iTaukei ministers “went against everything we’ve been trying to do as a government”. He also said that if I wanted to stay working in Fiji on its climate campaign, I needed to “stay out of politics”. I agreed but had known the AG for too long to pretend to myself that this wouldn’t soon be the end of the line. Sure enough, the funding needed to keep me on the climate team was withdrawn soon afterwards and my connection with the government ended altogether. I am in good company. The AG’s list of the fallen since 2006 is longer than most small wars.

Almost a year on, the rest of the country now knows what the PM told the Military Council and barring a miracle, the AG’s ambition to lead Fiji is over. It will doubtless come as a shock to him and those around him, as well as those reliant on his patronage. But many more Fijians will welcome it because of the capricious nature of the AG’s unfettered control of government and his blatant manipulation of the institutions of state. In my judgment and that of others, he cannot lead because Fiji needs a unifying presence at the top. And there are few people in the country who are more divisive.

Frank Bainimarama’s choice of successor, Inia Seruiratu, is eminently capable of following Bainimarama’s lead in drawing the nation together. He has none of the AG’s increasingly presidential air and while he may not be as obviously articulate and clever, he is generally regarded as an outstanding individual, with a particular reputation for team building and ability and grace under pressure. This has been tested not only in times of natural disaster in Fiji but during successive tours of duty on UN Peacekeeping missions in the Middle East and with RAMSI in Solomon Islands.

Hailing from the sea level-threatened village of Kumi in Verata, Tailevu, Inia Seruiratu was educated first at the Ratu Kadavulevu School and is a graduate of the New Zealand Command and Staff College and Massey University. He has always been one of Frank Bainimarama’s most trusted colleagues and has filled a variety of cabinet posts, including agriculture, rural and maritime development, the aforementioned national disaster portfolio, fisheries and forests and more lately, the senior positions of foreign affairs and now Defence, National Security and Policing – the big three when it comes to ensuring the security and safety of every Fijian.

On the world stage, Inia Seruiratu has also been Fiji’s High-Level Climate Champion, following his French and Moroccan predecessors when Fiji assumed the presidency of COP23 to advance the global climate action agenda. As such – and in his role at Foreign Affairs and Defence and National Security – he already has a global reputation as a straight talker, especially about the climate threat, and experience in international negotiations.

As if to prove the adage that behind every great man usually lurks an even more formidable woman – as in the case of Mary Bainimarama – Inia Seruiratu’s wife is Colonel Litea Seruiratu, who has reached the highest rank of any woman in the history of the RFMF. The Director of Force Development and Commandant of the Officer Training School, Colonel Seruiratu is also a respected military academic and strategist – a graduate of the Centre for Defence and Strategic Studies at the Australian National University. The couple – who have three children – have a reputation for integrity and are respected across the political spectrum and wider community.
The only downside of a Seruiratu prime ministership may be the perception that yet another military man is emerging as Fijian leader when there’d doubtless be a widespread preference for a civilian this long after the 2006 takeover. But were Seruiratu to choose Mere Vuniwaqa as his designated deputy prime minister and attorney general, it would go a long way to addressing some of these concerns. And in many ways, Seruiratu and Vuniwaqa would be a dream team for the task that FijiFirst now faces of rebuilding its reputation in the country and especially in the vanua, where the next election will be decided.

As for the timing of any changeover, Frank Bainimarama has the authority in the government, the military and the wider community to choose the moment of his own departure. But in the meantime, many of his supporters believe that he needs to send a strong signal to the voters of Fiji that FijiFirst has learnt the lessons of the last election and has embraced a change of direction to make it less vei beci and less viavialevu in its conduct. There is nothing to stop him from enunciating a succession plan now. But if he sticks with the AG, it is almost certain that his place in history will be sullied by defeat in 2022 and the ignominy of having not known the right time to make the changes that were needed.

The tragedy of Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum is that when I first came to work for him in 2012, I had lunch with his father, Sayed Khaiyum, and told him that I hoped his son would one day become the first successful Indo-Fijian prime minister of Fiji. (Mahendra Chaudhry clearly wasn’t a success at survival). At the time – dazzled by the AG’s more attractive qualities – I meant it. But I eventually came to the opinion, observing him up close, that you cannot lead the nation unless you can take the people with you. And with his hubris, lack of judgment, obsession with control and vindictiveness, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum has sowed the seeds for his own destruction. He must not be allowed to take Frank Bainimarama’s reputation and his revolution with him.

Next time: The glaring conflicts of interest on government boards in Fiji.

(Fijileaks: https://www.fijileaks.com/home/hide-and-sneak-from-bailiff-backfires-two-high-court-judges-outfox-khaiyum-and-his-24-puppy-ffp-mps-hiding-inside-suvavou-hideaway-house-on-9th-floor-pretending-to-be-conducting-top-strategic-meeting)

2 Comments

STRESS from screaming at Opposition in Parliament, 'Are you telling me, YOU don't need underpants' saw 'Fiji ke Raja' lying in his underpants in Suva Private Hospital for two days this week: 'Very High Blood Pressure'

15/9/2020

2 Comments

And his FFP supporters, the ordinary poor, dying in Government run hospitals, and others told to go and get kidney dialysis PRIVATELY

2 Comments

GO AWAY: Bamboo Travellers Lodge in Wailoaloa CHASE the LOCAL beachgoers and block their access to the BEACH most weekends, but locals claim that they have every right via public access path to beach

15/9/2020

2 Comments

Fijileaks: We have confirmed that Bamboo Travellers Lodge security guards and staff have no right to prevent LOCALS from going to Beach

2 Comments

RUNNING WITH THE HARE AND FINANCING THE FFP HOUND: Why does FFP keep taking donations from AJAY RANIGA, the husband of Electoral Commission Member KAVITA, and why does he keeps donating to FFP?

15/9/2020

1 Comment

A BITTER PILL FOR THE PUBLIC TO SWALLOW:
As for the Ranigas', they are free to make donations to FFP but when one of them is an Electoral Commissioner, LAW and MORALITY dictates that the couple MUST have no financial connection with FFP because of the Perception of BIAS regarding the functioning of the Fiji Electoral Commission, and in the conduct of holding general election. AJAY Raniga's financial donations are in compliance with the Political Parties (Registration, Conduct, Funding and Disclosures) Act 2013. But in 1999, the British Law Lords condemned one of their very own, Lord Hoffman, of acting as 'a judge in his own case' by failing to declare his close links with Amnesty International when he sat with four other judges to decide whether the then Chilean dictator, Augusto Pinochet, was immune from arrest and extradition. Hoffman was criticised for flouting the basic principle that 'justice must not only be done but must be seen to be done'. One of the law lords, Lord Hutton, said public confidence in the integrity of the administration of justice would be shaken if Lord Hoffman's deciding vote that General Pinochet could be prosecuted was allowed to stand. Hoffman had failed to disclose that he was chairman of Amnesty International Charity Ltd, the fund-raising arm of Amnesty International, although Amnesty had been allowed to intervene and was in effect a party to the appeal. The Law Lords were not suggesting that Lord Hoffman was actually BIASED in the Pinochet case. But his links were so close that he was disqualified by law from sitting as a judge in the case. Furthermore, the link was compounded, giving rise to perception of bias, because LADY HOFFMAN, worked for the international secretariat of Amnesty International. One of Pinochet's lawyers, Clare Montgomery QC, had argued that that there was a "DUTY" upon Amnesty International and Lord Hoffman to disclose their connection.

In the case of the RANIGA's, neither of them have revealed AJAY RANIGA's financial links with the FFP. And, Kavita Raniga, is yet to respond to our questions: was she, or is she, aware that her husband has been making financial contributions to the FFP? As usual, neither Aiyaz Khaiyum, as general-secretary of the FFP and Minister for Election nor Mohammed Saneem, the Supervisor of Elections, disclosed Ajay Raniga's financial donations to FFP when Kavita Rangia's name was revealed as a new member of the Electoral Commission in 2017. Both had the LIST OF FFP PARTY DONORS on them. As for the two mediocre lawyers running the Elections Office, Khaiyum and Saneem, it is not worth wasting our energy commenting on them.
After all, Khaiyum, as that Indian Muslim Maulana declared, is the 'Raja of Fiji'.
Someone who has observed Saneem in action, recently summed him up to us: *'Saneem is the AG's b** boy. I was shocked at how subservient he was. Like a little schoolboy.'*
KAVITA RANIGA MUST RESIGN FROM THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION

Fijileaks: Last year FFP raked in $220,000 in donations from BIG BUSINESS and Ajay Raniga, on 16 August 2019, donated $5000 to FFP. Under Fiji's 2013 Khaiyum Constitution and the 2014 elections decree, the Electoral Commission is an independent body tasked with supervising the Elections Office, which is responsible for preparing the VOTE. His wife, in February 2017, was elected a Commissioner to the Electoral Commission. Ajay Raniga is FFP fundraiser and a board director of Tourism Fiji. He is also Sunenergise founder. Ajay and Kavita Raniga operate a chain of stores under Budget Pharmarcy of Nadi and have other business interests as well. According to leaked FFP bank statements, on 7 August 2014, and before the election, Ajay Rangia had donated $10,000 to FFP. It has also been alleged that shortly after Kavita's appointment, her husband organized a fundraiser on Denarau Island at the Bombay Lodge Curry House and Beer garden. In attendance were Frank Bainimarama and Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum, including over 50 leading local businessmen. And yet Mohammed Saneem, the Supervisior of Elections, is doggedly pursuing the National Federation Party and its financial donations. While debating on the Companies Amendment Bill, Khaiyum said recently that someone from FijiFirst wrote to the Registrar of Political Parties because FijiFirst had their list of donors published and they wanted to find out if NFP and SODELPA are compliant. We have not seen the FFP donor list? Where was it published?
For Heaven's sake, as we have pointed out over the years, Saneem did not have the requisite qualifications when he was appointed in March 2014. We wrote: "Preferably, applicants must have at least 15 years’ experience in conducting elections and must be able to demonstrate that they have the skills and capacity to conduct national elections in one day using best international practices" - Minister for Elections Khaiyum, 16/9/2013; now Khaiyum says none of the 13 applications met the criteria set out; Australia and New Zealand, he says, told him to appoint Saneem
Why was the job not re-advertised?, we had asked but typically the Minister for Election refused to answer our questions

“Two days later, while the verification process [w]as ongoing, the Attorney-General, who is also the registered officer and general secretary of FijiFirst party, revealed in Parliament NFP’s donation list for 2018 and confirmed that he had sought the same from the Elections Office. Why was the list given to him if it wasn’t correct as alleged by Mr Saneem and needed verification?"
NFP leader Biman Prasad

National Federation Party leader Prof Biman Prasad has assured the people of Fiji that there is no fraud, financial malpractice and mismanagement in respect of its collection of funds and expenditure. He made the assurance yesterday in response to questions from this newspaper.

Prof Prasad claimed this was also confirmed by the fact that the Registrar of Political Parties had withdrawn his complaint made earlier to the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC) regarding an allegation that the party received funds from a company of which bank transactions had been rectified at that time.

“I can assure the people of Fiji, especially NFP members, supporters, stalwarts and well-wishers that there is no fraud or financial malpractice, contrary to the perception that may have been created by the lengthy press release by the Registrar of Political Parties/Supervisor of Elections (Mohammed Saneem) on Thursday in respect to the party’s 2018 audited accounts.

“We have verified some of the alleged breaches raised by Mr Saneem and strongly dispute them.
“We have also referred these for expert advice and opinion.

“At the same time, we will appoint another auditor as required by the Registrar of Political Parties and get the 2018 accounts re-audited.

“Once that is completed within the time frame provided by Mr Saneem, then we will make further comments on the so called alleged breaches that Mr Saneem claims we have committed.

“However, we wish to question the Registrar of Political Parties, since he asked for the list of donors on 19th August for five years from 2015 to 2019, obviously trying to rectify his oversight in not asking for them since 2015.

“The Registrar of Political Parties only gave us one week to comply and stated failure to do so would result in the party being suspended.

“The lists for five years were provided on 26th August. Two days later, Mr Saneem asked for immediate possession of receipt books, later giving us three days to give them to him as it was impossible to do so immediately.

“We were also given a week to supply details of fundraising, which we duly did.

“But on Tuesday, September 1, Mr Saneem, in a media statement, when pointing out alleged variances and the need for further verification, said an announcement will be made once the corrections and variances are addressed for members of the public to access the most correct accounts of the party.

“Two days later, while the verification process as ongoing, the Attorney-General, who is also the registered officer and general secretary of FijiFirst party, revealed in Parliament NFP’s donation list for 2018 and confirmed that he had sought the same from the Elections Office. Why was the list given to him if it wasn’t correct as alleged by Mr Saneem and needed verification?

“We will reveal in detail what fully transpired between the party and the registrar once the entire process is completed.”

Meanwhile, there were media reports last evening suggesting the Fijian Elections Office had referred NFP to FICAC once again.

There was no official communication of this to The Fiji Times when this edition went to press last night.

He [Saneem] says the statement by Fiji Times reporter in their article is false and reflects poorly on the writer’s credibility as a journalist and on the Fiji Times as a source for reliable news. Saneem further says after seeing the article this morning, the FEO communications team verified and ascertained that the press release was sent to Fiji Times yesterday.

1 Comment

<<Previous

Forward>>

ONE MAN COLLECTOR:And received on behalf of FijiFirst Party a total of $515,000 in 2016.The financial vandalism wreaked by 'Crony Capitalists' MUST stop in Fiji. We will also reveal the DONOR to FFP who put up the party billboards

7 fishing companies to receive the $3.2M Tuna Support Fund, FijiVillage, 7 October 2017

Fijileaks to Fiji Media: "Go and ask Bainimarama if he was Inciting Sedition Against Khaiyum, citing Fijileaks. He can look up the Laws of Fiji, which are on his bookshelf (photo)"

Father Barr Passes Away. Archbishop Peter Chong: "We thanked Fr. Barr for his service and gift to Fiji. We helped him pass from this world to God'. Mercifully, Father Barr was not dragged and deported to CHINA

The Donors List explain why Bainimarama is so dependent on Khaiyum

THUMPS UP: Shailesh Kumar [Patel], described as [Founding FFP Member] donated $70,000 to FFP Head Office in 2014

DARK FINANCIAL KNIGHT: FFP Treasurer and current acting Fiji Pine Ltd CEO VIMLESH KUMAR who raked in thousands in donation for FijiFirst Party

(Fijileaks: https://www.fijileaks.com/home/hide-and-sneak-from-bailiff-backfires-two-high-court-judges-outfox-khaiyum-and-his-24-puppy-ffp-mps-hiding-inside-suvavou-hideaway-house-on-9th-floor-pretending-to-be-conducting-top-strategic-meeting)

And his FFP supporters, the ordinary poor, dying in Government run hospitals, and others told to go and get kidney dialysis PRIVATELY

Fijileaks: We have confirmed that Bamboo Travellers Lodge security guards and staff have no right to prevent LOCALS from going to Beach

editor@fijileaks.com

ONE MAN COLLECTOR:
And received on behalf of FijiFirst Party a total of $515,000 in 2016.
The financial vandalism wreaked by 'Crony Capitalists' MUST stop in Fiji. We will also reveal the DONOR to FFP who put up the party billboards