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RABUKA'S RESIGNATION LETTER to SODELPA: "A final word, Mr Secretary General, one cannot save a leaking boat by changing the Captain or the Engineer; one must fix the leak (no pun intended)"

2/9/2015

24 Comments

 
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"You are aware of the circumstances that led to my rejection as a Candidate for Party Leader, as well as a Party Candidate in the 2014 General Elections, as conveyed to me by the then President of the Party, Ratu Silivenusi Waqausa. I was told that my record as Coup Leader of the 1987 Coup would jeopardize the Party’s chances in the Elections, and the Party Leader and now Leader of the Opposition, Hon Ro Teimumu Kepa, the Party’s Youth Wing and the Party’s Women’s Wing strongly objected to my being Party Leader and also my being a Candidate.  Ratu Waqausa also stated, in the presence of a very good friend and comrade in arms during our Army careers, that the Hon Leader of the Opposition, also threatened to resign from the Party, if I was allowed to contest the Elections as a Party candidate.. I have not changed – I am still the person who led the military takeover of Parliament and changed the government in 1987.  Interestingly, the Hon Leader of the Opposition’s late husband served as Attorney General in the post-Coup Government from 1987 – 1992.  Other Party candidates in the 2014 General Elections and Party Officials were under my command in the Army from 1987 to when I resigned in 1991..."
Sitiveni Rabuka to Sodelpa general secretary; see Full Letter below:

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Dear Secretary General,

It is with a very heavy heart that I write this letter to you in your capacity as Secretary General of the Party I had wanted to join to further my political service to the people of Fiji and the country I love.

I also find that I have no other alternative but to write to you in regards to the Page 1 article in today’s (Monday 31 August) Fiji Sun newspaper headed ‘Rabuka eyed for SODELPA post?’, and other matters.

I was approached by ‘phone by Hon Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu, who, I believe, was recently elected President of SODELPA, at 1458 hours, Friday 28th August, informing me that there is to be a Special General Meeting of SODELPA at the Epworth Hall on Saturday 5th September 2015.  He also informed me that I would be nominated to be Vice President of the Party.  He did not inform me that my nomination will require an amendment to the Party Constitution to allow for a third Party Vice President, nor did I know if there are other Vice Presidents of the Party.  As you know, I have not been active in any of the Party matters since I was barred from contesting the Elections last year.

To implement this course of action intended at the Special General Meeting would tantamount to ‘tailor-making’ the Constitution of the Party to suit an agenda, namely my inclusion as a Party Official.

If the Party was to do this, then it would weaken its own arguments against the Fiji First Party and Government, whom the Party alleges changed the National Constitution to suit their own individual and group situations and requirements.

You will be aware that I am now not a Financial, or Card – Carrying member of SODELPA.  I did not pay my Candidate’s Nomination Fees before the General Elections of 2014 when my application to stand under the Party banner for that General Election was rejected.  I contributed to some candidates’ campaign because I thought those candidates would serve the people of my village, Tikina and Province well because they understood the needs of my area of Navatu and Cakaudrove, and I also believed they could contribute constructively to the development of our nation.

You are aware of the circumstances that led to my rejection as a Candidate for Party Leader, as well as a Party Candidate in the 2014 General Elections, as conveyed to me by the then President of the Party, Ratu Silivenusi Waqausa.

I was told that my record as Coup Leader of the 1987 Coup would jeopardize the Party’s chances in the Elections, and the Party Leader and now Leader of the Opposition, Hon Ro Teimumu Kepa, the Party’s Youth Wing and the Party’s Women’s Wing strongly objected to my being Party Leader and also my being a Candidate.  Ratu Waqausa also stated, in the presence of a very good friend and comrade in arms during our Army careers, that the Hon Leader of the Opposition, also threatened to resign from the Party, if I was allowed to contest the Elections as a Party candidate.

The final decision, you will recall, was officially conveyed to me by Ratu Waqausa in the presence of one of the members of the Selection Panel, Mr Sekonaia Tui Mailekai, after Mr Laisenia Qarase had excused himself to attend to another pressing business.

I accepted the final decision that was conveyed to me, and expressed my regrets that those members of the Party who opposed my joining the Party and contesting the Elections under the Party banner, had not forgiven me for 1987.  I also conveyed my regrets that the Youth and Women’s Wings that champion ‘non-violence’ found it acceptable not to object to my former son in law who brutally beat up my daughter before divorcing her and marrying a woman who became a senior member of the Party’s Women’s Wing and its PR/Media Cell.

I also regretted that the Party did not consider my participation in the corporate leadership of our nation between the years 1992 and 1999, when I was Prime Minister, and particularly my leading the Government Members of Parliament to work in a very cordial manner with the Members of the Opposition, many of whom were victims of the Coup I led in 1987, to reach an unprecedented accord in the promulgation of the all-embracing Constitution Amendment Act of 1997 – the Constitution SODELPA now wishes to champion and bring back into operation.

I do not know if the claim that the Hon Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu had called for the Hon Ro Teimumu Kepa to reconsider her position as Leader of the Opposition after leading SODELPA to an Election defeat in the 2014 Elections, as made in one of the dallies a few days ago is factual or not, but, The Hon Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu made a similar call for me to resign the SVT leadership when he called on me with Hon Ratu Inoke Kubuabola (then a member of SVT), to take personal responsibility for the SVT loss and resign as Party Leader.  I accepted their call and resigned which paved the way for Hon Ratu Inoke to become Party Leader and Leader of the Opposition in 1999 until Speight’s Coup of 2000.  I eventually resigned from Parliament after I was elected Chairman of the Council of Chiefs because it was a ‘Public Office’ and it contravened the Constitution to be both – a Public Officer and Member of Parliament.

Now that I have been invited to attend the SGM, and accept nomination to be a Party Vice President, although I am not a Financial Member of the Party, I wonder what things have changed:

·         I have not changed – I am still the person who led the military takeover of Parliament and changed the government in 1987.  Interestingly, the Hon Leader of the Opposition’s late husband served as Attorney General in the post-Coup Government from 1987 – 1992.  Other Party candidates in the 2014 General Elections and Party Officials were under my command in the Army from 1987 to when I resigned in 1991;

·         I am still the person that led SVT to defeat in the 1999 General Elections;

·         Have the Party Youth Wing and the Party Women’s Wing changed their stance on my participating as a member of SODELPA?

·         Has Hon Ro Teimumu Kepa changed her views about my becoming a member of the Party she founded?

These, General Secretary, are some of the issues that SODELPA needs to sort out before getting me involved in Party matters.

Changing the Party rules or its Constitution in order to get me into the Party will not change the views of Party members opposed to my membership of the Party.  If anything, it could further divide the Party and erode the support it currently enjoys.

With respect, I feel that the Party should have been on a Consolidation & Growth journey since the end of Elections last year.  The Officers and Members of the Party should have been visiting their supporters and growing their numbers within Fiji in order to grow the Party support base and consolidate its support among the constituents.  The Party should not risk losing the support of those already in the Party by including someone that some existing members find objectionable.

A final word, Mr. Secretary General, one cannot save a leaking boat by changing the Captain or the Engineer; one must fix the leak (no pun intended).

With the foregoing and if I have not officially done so before, I herewith tender my resignation from SODELPA, and wish you well in your future endeavors.

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Fiji First Party 2/9/2015 05:45:22: Comment approved by Fijileaks Comments Moderator

No citizen is insignificant in a true democracy. Even Rabuka.

It was Rabuka who triggered the death of democracy in Fiji in 1987. True, that we as a nation are yet to re-emerge from the resulting darkness of that tragedy - but maybe Rabuka has now seen the light. The forsaking of the Sod Party, by Rabuka, is the first right step.

Remember, the worst of the racist onslaught on the Indo-Fijian community in Fiji, was at the hands of the ‘vote-bought elected’ reign of SDL Qarase 2001/2006. Even the era of Rabuka pales in comparison.

The image of Rabuka (at the time of his political exit -1999) is one of a moderate / mediator. Rabuka ‘honored’ his pledge to have his imposed 1990 Constitution reviewed within 5 years from the 1992 elections. Rabuka’s govt. committed genuine passion / resources towards the Constitutional Review process. The Reeves CRC enjoyed independence, respect and acceptability from all the People of Fiji.

It has been rightly said that the Reeves CRC “had a ‘healing’ effect on those who felt their ‘sense of belonging’ in the country of their birth abruptly and rudely fractured by the 1987 military coup d’état.” [Fiji First Party 12/9/12 Ghai CRC Submissions] It was the Reeves’ CRC which in Rabuka’s words delivered “an unprecedented accord in the promulgation of the all-embracing Constitution Amendment Act of 1997…” [above].

It was we the PEOPLE of Fiji who took ownership of our 1997 Constitution and it belong to us the People of Fiji.

Commodore Bainimarama abrogated the Peoples’ 1997 Constitution during the chaos and mayhem of the GS 2000 attempted coup. Challenged by a (dispossessed /battered) dalo farmer from Muaniweni, Chandrika Prasad, then a refugee at the Girmit Center in Lautoka, the Court(s) ruled that the Peoples’ 1997 Constitution, vested with the ‘will’ of the People of Fiji, a symbol of our nations’ Soverienty – and it CANNOT BE ABROGATED. It is, as yet, a standing legal dictum which has not been over-ruled.

As an experienced and senior citizen of Fiji, Rabuka has all the rights, to have a say in our prevailing political dilemma (which off course is also of his making) and perhaps Rabuka can show us a peaceful way out of the entrapment /enslavement of the People of Fiji from -the FRAUD Khaiyum’s 2013 Constitution of Fiji.
24 Comments
Dekho Socho Samjho
1/9/2015 10:22:08 pm

From being at the height of personal glory, he's now Mr Nobody.

What a fall.

Reply
Bahuki
1/9/2015 11:02:01 pm

In my opinion, Rambo has no idea that he's done enough in politics and needs to give way to new people in parliament by permanently retiring for good. I hear the SODELPA youth wing had their worries about him due to his dark past of starting the first coup.

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Chiku
2/9/2015 01:21:04 am

Rabuka is the father of coups in Fiji. He has a dark past which he now acknowledges albeit belatedly.. If he is to be kept out of Fiji politics on account of that past, then the question is who are the people wanting to keep him out?
What were these people doing at the time of Rabuka's coup?
Were they part of the return to democracy movement then?
Or, were they backing Rabuka then?

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Forgiven
2/9/2015 01:57:29 am

Rabuka for a man of class....some of your rhetoric's sound like that of a bitter person. You are in my mind a great leader so please do not tarnish that image. You demand forgiveness and recognition from others. Please do the same too. Meanwhile you can't help taking a dig at people for example your former Son In Law can you and that woman who is someones daughter too mind you! Come on....regain your esteem. You've tarnished their image for too long when your daughter has own closet too eh?

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Saamjo
2/9/2015 02:33:00 pm

Many of Rabuka's racist/ military thugs have wormed their way into Bainimarama's " multiracial I ", " new" , Fiji.

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Good on You Rambo
2/9/2015 02:21:38 am

You have shown dignity by resigning officially.

This is the same SODELPA initially with de-facto Leader Qarase who I remind you who had stabbed SVT on the back for his own glory by forming SDL with a vote buying FHL $20m grant and Agri Scam.

Good to stay away from SODELPA as they no longer have the bank cheque they had before to buy votes. That cheque book is now with Fiji First, hence indeed SODELPA is a sinking ship!!!

If SODELPA MP wee to lobby within their constituencies, all their pay cheque will disappear.... Isa...

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RAMBO & SVT
2/9/2015 02:33:42 am

I read some peoples belief that SVT lost because they shook hands with NFP. WRONG.

They lost because educated Fijians wanted a change of Govt for new ideas with new policies, hence they out voted in a team effort via 3 separate parties.

As for Indians dumping NFP it was not about Indians not supporting SVT or Rambuka. It was Indians not supporting Jai Ram Reddy because he rejected poor farmers cry for emergency drought grant when during floods same Govt was quick to find funds to send rations to villagers on the mountains that never even got affected.

Start your own Social Democrat Party party for next election.

You will do better than SODELPA, NFP and FLP.

Last time they wanted to get rid of you. This time they do not know how to get rid of Fiji First hence will vote for you.

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Aaram Se link
2/9/2015 04:38:10 am

Rabo is only looking for an opportunity to make a comeback,in my view he will not make it-The Fijian population does not trust him,the Indians have not been able to forget the dark days of 1987.In any event his coup damaged the nation the most.Had he been hanged in 1987,there would not be any other coup in Fiji.He briefly appeared in 2000 as a mediator but he had more than that role.I am sure,but was shown the door by both Ligiari and Ratu Mara.He has nothing else to offer.He fell from the top,it does pain him -his efforts to return to the corridors of power is an uphill battle..He should retire now and pray faithfullyand harder for being spared his life for what he did in 1987.He is insignificant,and retirement is the best option.

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Fiji First Party
2/9/2015 04:45:22 am

No citizen is insignificant in a true democracy. Even Rabuka.

It was Rabuka who triggered the death of democracy in Fiji in 1987. True, that we as a nation are yet to re-emerge from the resulting darkness of that tragedy - but maybe Rabuka has now seen the light. The forsaking of the Sod Party, by Rabuka, is the first right step.

Remember, the worst of the racist onslaught on the Indo-Fijian community in Fiji, was at the hands of the ‘vote-bought elected’ reign of SDL Qarase 2001/2006. Even the era of Rabuka pales in comparison.

The image of Rabuka (at the time of his political exit -1999) is one of a moderate / mediator. Rabuka ‘honored’ his pledge to have his imposed 1990 Constitution reviewed within 5 years from the 1992 elections. Rabuka’s govt. committed genuine passion / resources towards the Constitutional Review process. The Reeves CRC enjoyed independence, respect and acceptability from all the People of Fiji.

It has been rightly said that the Reeves CRC “had a ‘healing’ effect on those who felt their ‘sense of belonging’ in the country of their birth abruptly and rudely fractured by the 1987 military coup d’état.” [Fiji First Party 12/9/12 Ghai CRC Submissions] It was the Reeves’ CRC which in Rabuka’s words delivered “an unprecedented accord in the promulgation of the all-embracing Constitution Amendment Act of 1997…” [above].

It was we the PEOPLE of Fiji who took ownership of our 1997 Constitution and it belong to us the People of Fiji.

Commodore Bainimarama abrogated the Peoples’ 1997 Constitution during the chaos and mayhem of the GS 2000 attempted coup. Challenged by a (dispossessed /battered) dalo farmer from Muaniweni, Chandrika Prasad, then a refugee at the Girmit Center in Lautoka, the Court(s) ruled that the Peoples’ 1997 Constitution, vested with the ‘will’ of the People of Fiji, a symbol of our nations’ Soverienty – and it CANNOT BE ABROGATED. It is, as yet, a standing legal dictum which has not been over-ruled.

As an experienced and senior citizen of Fiji, Rabuka has all the rights, to have a say in our prevailing political dilemma (which off course is also of his making) and perhaps Rabuka can show us a peaceful way out of the entrapment /enslavement of the People of Fiji from -the FRAUD Khaiyum’s 2013 Constitution of Fiji.

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King Rat
2/9/2015 06:27:18 am

In the current political hiatus in Fiji, Rabuka is suffering from what psychologists would describe as a 'relevance deprivation syndrome'. hats why he keeps apologizing publicly, and making waves out of matters that dont have any national significance eg his daughter being beaten up by her former husband who is connected to a former SODELPA politician etc.

Rambo is, once again, guilty of reducing the argument to his own self and family circle...i.e. he is personalizing issues with himself at the centre. His self-centredness has not changed since 1987!!

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Chi ku
2/9/2015 10:55:51 pm

I agree with Fiji First Party's comment on Rabuka. I would rather have Rabuka as a leader, even a ruler any day compared with Bainimarama and Khaiyum, whose greed for power and privileges have no bounds.
Rabuka was naive, even rather ignorant when he allowed the defeated Alliance Party politicians to manipulate him into carrying out his coup in 1987. Once in power he educated himself on the values and norms of democratic good governance and made an effort to do the right thing by the people Fiji viz the making of the 1997 Constitution.
By contrast Bainimarama and Khaiyum has done everything to undermine democracy in Fiji after parking themselves in power since the 2006 power grab- including the trashing of the 1997 constitution and the imposition of the fictitious " we, the people of Fiji " 2013 Constitution.

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So there...
3/9/2015 02:35:42 am

So there Rambo if a Muaniweni dalo farmer can do it –So can YOU!
Go resurrect the Peoples’ 1997 Constitution – and redeem yourself.

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Rustam
2/9/2015 05:14:25 am

But wait... let me quote from the horse's mouth :

"I have not changed – I am still the person who led the military takeover of Parliament and changed the government in 1987." (Rambo -above).

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Coupist Thugs
2/9/2015 06:02:42 am

Rabuka,Speight and Bai's coups accelerated Indo-Fijian migration and they are now thriving around the globe.

In the guise of itaukei supremacy they have relegated them to spectator status with zero improvements to their education and economic status.

These shameless thugs i agree should have been hanged.Today we have supporters of these thugs sitting on both sides of the House, what a legacy!!!!

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Tomasi
2/9/2015 09:48:04 am

Thank you Victor for your tireless and valuable efforts to share the truth about important issues that affect our lives. Thank you friends and fellow citizens for sharing your views. It is truth that enlightens our minds, comforts our hearts, liberates us from the bondage of ignorance and gives us the power to see, to change and to make things better for others and for ourselves.

Rabuka continues to think he is an important factor in trying to resolve Fiji's national challenges. Yes, he is right, but he is also wrong in his approach. As he himself boldly states, he is still the same person he was in 1987. The nation has suffered so severely from his selfish and evil actions. He is so blinded by his ego and pride not to realise that the nation has never forgotten him, neither forgiven him. In order for him to be a positive force for change in any capacity, he must sincerely seek forgiveness by demonstrating genuine repentance.

Here are three principles of repentance Rabuka and all of us may need to remember:

Repentance must be public.
Repentance must be thorough.
Repentance should lead to restoration.

I pray that Rabuka shall chew on that before he harms himself further by falsely thinking that the nation needs him. The truth is that he needs the nation, but the nation foes not need him, until he publicly and thoroughly repents of his 1987 actions. Only then will there be a restoration of his own peace of mind, self integrity and peace and restoration with others might begin in earnest. Vinaka.

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Rustam
2/9/2015 11:59:22 am

What good thoughts Tomasi, I am totally with you. And yes, the effort that goes into Fijileaks is much appreciated by its readers.

Rambo has been called by many names - but never a "Puppet".

Now that's something a lot of us free thinkers respect and that's a good start for Rambo.

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Kavita
2/9/2015 04:10:42 pm

To be fair , Rabuka did make a public apology to the sufferers of his coup in 1998. When you compare the skill sets to be a leader of Rabuka and Bainimarama, Rabuka stands taller.

Rustam is very right, Rabuka has not acted like a " Puppet". And he has every right to seek involvement in national affairs. He did not keep changing the laws to remain to power and ensured proper functioning of the institutions that supported democracy.

Tualeita
2/9/2015 01:01:52 pm

What really is Rabuka's point in his mentioning that he still is the same person who led the coups in 1987? In his request (or even demand) for forgiveness for his actions, was he just seeking forgiveness without really regretting those actions?

The very first step towards gaining forgiveness for our wrongs and transgressions is to feel deep sorrow for the harms and hurts we have caused upon those whom we have abused; many more times the pains we have caused upon others.

The other thing too about seeking forgiveness for our wrongs is that the onus to forgive is not on us the sinners but on those from whom we seek forgiveness and God who commands us all to forgive lest we be not divinely forgiven for our own misdeeds.

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Jason
2/9/2015 03:38:08 pm

EXACTLY! TRUE REPENTANCE REQUIRES DEEP AND ABIDING HUMILITY.

rajend naidu
2/9/2015 05:06:13 pm

Editor,
Harry Davis reminds us (ct 2/9 ) that " In our time,military force has had a terrible track record. The war launched by a " coalition of the willing " in Iraq and Afghanistan stand as terrible examples ..."
We of course know from our first experience of military force following Rabuka's coup just how terrible military force can be on its own people..
We must never forget that. And the subsequent military coups including the last one by Fiji's " benevolent " military dictator Frank Bainimarama should help keep that memory alive.
Sincerely,
Rajend Naidu

Reply
On-Song
2/9/2015 08:24:41 pm

So much Rabuka talk and how he should repent, apologise and ask for forgiveness.....from the many who seem most unlikely to forget or to forgive him in return!!! As stated, he remains the same person who enacted the coup in 1987 to mean that whatever changes that may have occurred over the ages, he is still Rabuka in person. More useful to analyse him for who he was then, how we see him now and what he can be tomorrow. My dad lost his job because of Rabuka and his coup, but as collateral when the bakewa exercised their new-found macawa powers; the same kind witnessed in today's National vereverea leadeship!!! The stigma remains with Rabuka, but he's still better than the whole bunch in SODELPA

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rajend naidu
3/9/2015 10:30:18 pm

Editor,
In his review of today's main news in Australian newspapers on ABC breakfast Professor Laurie Zion of La Trobe University's Journalism School said in reference to the Canberra Times article New York Times attacks Prime Minister Tony Abbot over ' Stop the boats' policy as " unconscionable " in a scathing editorial that many politicians today had no historical memory of the refugee crisis that enveloped Europe after WW2 . That was a real tragedy because their reaction to the current migrant crisis wth the thousands fleeing the war in Syria is without perspective, without a deeper grounding.
We must never let our historical memory slip away if we are to be guided to do what is right .
Sincerely,
Rajend Naidu

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POINT MISSED
4/9/2015 04:00:40 am

It appears "Rabuka saying he is still the same person who did the 1987 coup" is put out of context.

His letter was to SODELPA. It was SODELPA top two that did not want him in the first place. And since Ro Kepa insisted to resign from SODELPA if Rambo was made the leader and even candidate for SODELPA she would resign.

Now the same person found it o.k. to call out for Rambo that he says he is still the same person ...so what has changed from SODELPA's stand last year to now... as that has not changed.

This comment therefore is an internal argument within and not an interpretation of the comments otherwise.

Now there is a fragmentation in Fijian politics. Any I-Taukei will be fighting a losing battle against Fiji First as they got the $$$$$ that others don't.

No more anti Indian slogan can buy I-Taukei votes as the more racist stand taken by SODLPA the more support Fiji First will get.

Their stupidity is Fiji First's gain... and Rabuka is right.

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Miss Mel
6/9/2015 06:51:22 am

Yes I wholeheartedly agree with Kavita , On-Song and Point Missed. Guys you aremisinterpreting Rabuka when he says he is still the same person - of course he is still the same person then and now .. he hasnt changed but he is more wiser and yes he has the right to want to be involved in the nation's affairs. If we want him to apologise which he has done then we must also learn to forgive. Rambo, start your own party, prepare for next election and stop wasting time wif SODELPA.

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