Fijileaks
  • Home
  • Archive Home
  • In-depth Analysis
    • BOI Report into George Speight and others beatings
  • Documents
  • Opinion
  • CRC Submissions
  • Features
  • Archive

SODELPA: Secrecy, Tyranny and Dictatorship - The Balance Sheet!

26/5/2014

2 Comments

 
PictureDr Baba
By Dr Tupeni Baba for SODELPA

It was Robert Heinlein who is attributed with well - known statement about Secrecy   which goes like this:

          “Secrecy is the keystone of all tyranny. Not force but secrecy….

           censorship. When any government or any Church undertakes to

           say to its subjects, ‘This you may not read, this you must not see,

           This you are forbidden to know’ the end result is tyranny and    

           oppression, no matter how holy the motive”


Secrecy is about the lack of disclosures or the suppression of information about the truth and it is designed to keep people in the dark about some decisions or information that   normally should be available to citizens in a democracy. Secrecy   leads to censorship   in the newspaper for  example, and  in other forms of media like  radio, TV,  and in  various forms of expressions like public meetings, open debates, films  etc.

Heinlein says that secrecy is related to tyranny which is about cruel, unjust or oppressive use of power or authority and is usually associated with tyrants or people who obtain complete power by force. Military dictators are tyrants in that sense.

Over the last few weeks, for example, there has been questions raised about the salary of Ministers especially of the Head of the Regime, Mr Bainimarama  and his Attorney General. It is said by no other than the former Prime Minister, Mahendra Chaudhry in the column of the Fiji Sun last week that the salaries  of all Cabinet Ministers  were public knowledge. This was so until it  this was removed from the Treasury and given to a Suva Accounting Firm managed by the Attorney General’s Aunt,  Nur Bano Ali.

The issue of interest here is that the salary suddenly became a secret, and  it  disappeared from public view. In its disappearance, it infringes the principle of transparency and there is speculation that it has been increased to well over a million dollar a year for both Bainimarama and the Attorney general.

In its disappearance from public view, like most other  information that have been removed from public view, there is suspicion on the part of the  public  or citizens that it is linked to some attempt  by the Dictatorship   to pervert the public interest   and instead, promote its own.

The reply  by Mr Bainimarama that his salary was going to be revealed at a later date  has prompted Mr Chaudhry to say that that Mr Baimarama  must provide also an audited accounts of his salary and it should be certified by the Auditor General and the Permanent Secretary of Finance. Mr Chaudhry added that it must also be backdated  to early 2010,  which was the period when Cabinet Salaries were handled by the Treasury.

There are also various examples of secret deals which have been questioned by members of the public because they run counter to   procedures   based on the principle of transparency .There has been for example, many accusations of very senior appointments in the Public Service made by the Regime which breach the procedures of the  Public Service. These procedures, according to public comments, has  enabled the Head of the Regime to appoint his relations such as his   brother in law to being a Permanent Secretary of Works despite his criminal record.

There have been other appointments for the members of the military to senior posts in the public service and the secrecy of the procedures here and the manner in which they have been done  have created distrust, as these are not in accordance with transparent procedures set down  which safeguard the interest of  the Public Service itself and the appointees.

Recently for example the political parties have challenged the appointment of the Supervisor of Elections   and the thrust of their criticisms was based on the procedures adopted   and in particular his qualifications falling short of what was advertised. This also raised questions according to the political parties the power and the independence of the Electoral Commission.  As if this was not enough, the revelation that the Attorney General himself was also the General Secretary of the proposed Fiji First Party of the Regime added further complications. This is bound to create a lot of distrust from the perspective of all the political parties which will continue to affect the credibility of the AG and his role in the whole elections. It also throws a lot of questions of the provisions of the Electoral Act which provides for consultations between the Electoral Commission and the AG.

All these issues and the negative vibes that come out of them will affect in more ways than one the image and credibility of the Regime in its attempt to get elected. In my view all these negativities will undermine the efforts of the Regime to provide a clean image which they have been trying very hard to promote. Next week , we will deal with the issues of Censorship, Tyranny and Dictatorship.

Picture
Secrecy exposed: Aiyaz Khaiyum secretly registered Fiji First party domain name and e-mail account as far back as 2009; during his own PER decree.
2 Comments
scoundrel in politics link
26/5/2014 02:25:23 pm

There is but one and only one reason for the secrecy surrounding Bainimarama's salary.
He is a THUG RULER!!

Reply
Bainimarama Family
26/5/2014 06:43:54 pm

He appointed his brother-in-law to permanent secretary of Works despite his criminal records is that only a criminal family member can be allowed to handle the China Rail handout of millions into Hong Kong Bank Accounts for giving them roading contracts well above the market price.

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Contact
    ​[email protected]
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture