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TOUPEE(ING) over Tupou's Treachery: Mick Beddoes offers alternative explanation why this traitor and fifth columnist inside NFP was chosen to lead HOPE - she has what it takes to dislodge Bainimarama's FijiFirst Party

6/3/2017

21 Comments

 

Fijileaks: HOPE is already resembling Baba's New Labour Party; Draunidalo's views put her firmly in SODELPA camp - she has betrayed NFP with no plan or hope for Fiji; how can one place faith in a political opportunist who knew damn well that the one person FijiFirst has always regarded as an electoral threat was NFP leader Professor Biman Prasad. By defecting and shamelessly agreeing to lead HOPE she wants to wreck Prasad's political career and deny Fiji a possible Indo-Fijian Prime Minister, and wants HOPE to portray NFP as a party lacking ethnic diversity - "a kai India" party. What hope is Draunidalo offering anyone apart from what we got from her when she sat in the Parliament? Ponderous, colourless interventions and a stream of empty platitudes. Followed by suspension after she lifted the lid on the simmering racism that lurks below her carefully crafted public persona of a colour-blind progressive. The anti-Muslim bashing of Aiyaz Khaiyum has been extended to undermining Professor Biman Prasad. Anyway, combined with the political poison of the racist and nationalist Sitiveni Rabuka as Sodelpa leader, Fijileaks think FijiFirst has been handed yet another gift with this defection. Because Draunidalo will be seen as a wrecker with no plan and hope - a bad dose despite Beddoes trying to wrap her in a political wool as the best HOPE could get as new party leader

By Mick Beddoes (Facebook)
ROKO TUPOU DRAUNIDALO – THE LEADER FOR OUR TIME

When you consider the line-up for top leadership in Fiji today, the pickings are thin. Ro Teimumu, admired by many, has announced she won’t be contesting the next general election. So it’s not hard to see why, almost by default, many may still tick Bainimarama.

But that will soon change. Roko Tupou Draunidalo has agreed to accept leadership of the proposed HOPE party. By agreeing to accept the proposed party’s request to be its leader, Roko Tupou presents Bainimarama with a new political challenge. 

Roko Tupou is strong, fearless, smart and compassionate. She is a skilled lawyer, understands the parliamentary system and how democracy works. Bainimarama has only a very foggy idea of these things.

Above all, Roko Tupou is not afraid to speak truth to power. In this case the power is of the ruthless and authoritarian kind passed down from a military dictatorship. Roko Tupou knows to her cost what it means to take on Frank and his team of fearful sycophants. But that has not deterred her one bit. She is determined and focused and will be right in Frank’s face if she has to be. But with a smile, I suspect.

Some would say she has a steep hill ahead when the proposed HOPE Party is not yet registered. An almost impossible climb maybe?

Take into account that the Fiji First regime has entrenched itself in every facet of governance in Fiji and that its handout program, commonly known as ‘vote buying’, is already underway. The Opposition have done little to consolidate their position over the past 2 ½ years, mostly because of internal disloyalty, friction and indecisive leadership; assaults by Fiji First on the democratic apparatus of parliament.

Media freedom is compromised; military officers hold the office of President, Prime Minister, Military Commander, Commissioner of Police and Commissioner of Corrections Services. The list goes on. Frank and his colleagues control Parliament and have their key people as heads of many statutory authorities and organizations. Political parties have no confidence in the Election Supervisor who is said be a relative of Elections Minister Khaiyum (I await a confirmation or denial from him which I will be happy to print). 

The big corporate donors to the Fiji First campaign funds in 2014, having been rewarded with big contracts, are keen for the ‘cash to keep flowing’. I believe they have already started paying out big bucks to ensure their Government gets in again for the next four years. A couple of them took the money meant for cyclone victims, but failed to deliver the goods. 

And as if all this were not bad enough, the fear factor among citizens remains ‘high’ and with good reason. The threat of another coup if FF loses is already being circulated. 

Roko Tupou on a mission impossible? Yes and no! In the end we are the ones who have a choice to make. 

We can succumb to the might of the Kai-Bai regime, throw our hands up and say ‘GIVE UP, forfeit our principles and moral integrity and join the usurpers of our democracy. 

Next we have to start turning a blind eye whenever there is human rights abuses or an act of revenge or the persecution of someone who dared to push back. 

Finally we start to accept nepotism, cronyism, favoritism and conflicts of interest as the new moral standard, and agree with everything they say and let them do as they wish with Fiji and our future.

Or, we can put a bit of steel into our spines, stand up and be counted and, with all the other law abiding citizens of this country, ‘push back’ and regardless of the odds do all that we can to win over all those Fiji First voters of 2014 who have since realized the error of their decision and increase our support base generally. 

We must put the truth and the facts before the nation and encourage them to hold fast and not abandon what is right and just. We must maintain our respect for the rule of law and do what is required to bring to account all those in power who have breached our laws, regardless of their station or status, so that like all of us, they too must pay the price for the decisions they made.
​
Roko Tupou is up for this fight. We say the battle can be won, the question is, are you ready to help her win it!
21 Comments
Gulong
6/3/2017 08:24:46 am

For the first time in history a rat has left a ship in full sail to swim to one that will sink the moment she joins it, it's now for Biman and his team to step up and prove to the voters they are the alternative government.

Reply
Spot-On
6/3/2017 09:43:31 pm

...and Dream-On...

Reply
Gulong
7/3/2017 01:21:16 pm

True ''Dream On.' about Professor Biman Prasad never before in history was so much expected but so little was shown

Chiku
6/3/2017 01:45:58 pm

I have no problem with Mick Beddoes critique of the Bai -Kai regime. In fact I agree wholly with it. I however have serious reservations with his prescription of Tupou Draunidalo as the leader to topple the regime. And, I don't think the Hope party presents the people with any real hope of a serious challenge to the status quo.
Moreover, Draunidalo needs to explain why she felt she had to quit the NFP and join Hope to take up " this fight " against the regime.

Reply
Walker
6/3/2017 10:57:09 pm

Mick says "The Opposition have done little to consolidate their position over the past 2 ½ years, mostly because of internal disloyalty, friction and indecisive leadership; assaults by Fiji First on the democratic apparatus of parliament." and who were these indecisive leaders? Ro Teimumu the Opposition and SODELPA Leader and the NFP Leader....lo and behold Roko Tupou Draunidalo! and the mind boggles as to how a change in name and party will change Mick view of "indecisive leadership". It is also worth noting that the Chief Advisor for most of this time was none other than Mick Beddoes!

Reply
Mick Beddoes
7/3/2017 11:45:01 pm

Correction: I was advisor for 15 of the 30 months to date, Also under Ro Teimumu's direction,I restarted talks among opposition parties during my 15 months, there are 6 opposition parties some with 2 leaders and SODELPA has 3, but of course you would pick Ro Teimumu and Tupou as being the ones I was referring to as indecisive, when in fact they are not. As for the assault on the Fiji parliament by FF ask any opposition MP and they'll tell you.

Reply
Rajend Naidu
6/3/2017 11:18:42 pm

Editor,
Who To Believe?
The new US President Donald Trump says the old US President Barack Obama ordered surveillance of Trump by bugging his phone and office during the last US elections.
Obama says this is a false accusation. He did no such thing. The Director of National Intelligence and the FBI also say this did not happen.
Trump has not produced any evidence to substantiate his accusation. He now wants a Congressional investigation to come up with the evidence!
For me and I guess for many clear thinking Americans and others around the world it's not a hard choice to decide who to believe.
It's not Donald Trump.
Yeah, some national leaders are such compulsive liars it's hard to believe and trust anything that comes out of their mouth.
It's a disgrace to have such people as the leaders of a nation - any nation.
Sincerely,
Rajend Naidu

Reply
Refugee
6/3/2017 11:58:14 pm

...."What hope is Draunidalo offering anyone apart from what we got from her when she sat in the Parliament? Ponderous, colourless interventions and a stream of empty platitudes." Certainly the quote of the year, Fijileaks.

Reply
splashViti
7/3/2017 12:18:01 am

"Draunidalo needs to explain why she felt she had to quit the NFP and join Hope to take up " this fight " against the regime".

Agree Chiku. For those of us who voted her in the last elections, it'll be good to hear from the Lady herself as to why she did what she did, since feigning ill health proved to be a little white lie in order to get out of that partnership. So what did she think was their irreconcilable differences?

“... [T]he more people’s standpoints I have present in my mind while I am pondering a given issue, and the better I can imagine how I would feel or think in their place, the stronger will be my capacity for representative thinking, and the more valid my final conclusion, my opinion”
~ Hannah Arendt.

Reply
Rajend Naidu
7/3/2017 11:02:02 am

Editor,
The more things change, the more they stay the same...
" When Christopher Columbus landed in America it didn't turn out well for the native Indians " (Stephen Hawkins , SBS 7/3 documentary on the universe ).
When Donald Trump landed in the White House it didn't turn out well for immigrants and refugees, especially Muslims ( Trump's Travel Ban, Part 2, 7/3 ).
Yes, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Sincerely,
Rajend Naidu

Reply
krishna
7/3/2017 01:47:32 pm

NFP is better off without that waste of space Tupou but still not good enough. And let’s just hope Biman does not try his Labasia lingo in FBC again. And what exactly has NFP done towards attracting members from Fiji’s greater cultural diversity...? As the bigmouth Beddoes correctly points out.

The FLP unfortunately is pigheadedly led by a seasoned chor convict daaku. End of the Story.

ALL other parties, it seems are just bigoted RACISTS –in waiting.

So the bad kismet kai-india of today, sorry to say, in the interests of their self-preservation, must LOVE the BaiKai –as the ONLY realistic and pragmatic party to VOTE.

If the only criticism against Bai/Kai is that they are STEALING. Then I say let them. Everyone else did and will do. But at least Bai/Kai are not RACISTS.

Reply
Alibaba
8/3/2017 03:04:00 am

Those of us who actually know Topou are actually quite pleased that she has left the NFP. She is a sloth to put in mildly. Her skills as a lawyer is marginal at best and she has nothing really of value to contribute to Fiji. In fact as a supporter of NFP i was taken a back by her statement that ethnic Indians have to help natives take their country back. As much as i dislike Frank and ASK i never really saw them as taking the country away from the i-taukei. There are far greater issues of national importance than the perceived threat to i-taukei rights that needs to be dealt with and a shallow well disguised racist is better of with Mick.

Reply
Rajend Naidu
8/3/2017 03:57:03 am

Editor,
Pot Calling Kettle Black
Turkish president Erdogan accused Germany on Sunday of " fascist actions" reminiscent of Nazi times in a growing row over the cancellation of political rallies aimed at drumming up support for him among 1.5 million Turkish citizens in Germany ( Reuters 7/3 ).
That's charge many have levelled at Erdogan himself. He has increasingly been behaving like a dictator. He is currently embarked on a scheme to change the constitution to concentrated more power in his hands. The UN and AI have said the proposed constitutional reform undermines democracy in Turkey. Democracy in Turkey has already been under threat with Erdogan throwing journalists, academics and opponents and critics in jail.
Today's Germany is a progressive Western democracy which has provided refuge to immigrants and refugees fleeing persecution. It recently took in over 1000 Yazidis fleeing violent persecution at the hands of religious zealots in northern Iraq.
No Germany is not behaving in a manner reminiscent of Nazi times.
President Erdogan should look in the mirror when he talks about fascist behaviour.
Sincerely,
Rajend Naidu

Reply
Rajend Naidu
8/3/2017 07:41:05 pm

Editor,
Dictators Are Mere Mortals
But when they are in power they play God - often with other people's lives.
Here is a reminder of what a dictator really is : Former Panama dictator Noriega is in critical condition today after brain operation ( DW News 9/3 ).
I wonder what goes through that dictator's head now ?
I am pretty sure all that strutting about with power is the last thing on his mind.
There must be a lesson here, a reminder, to other dictators still strutting about with power.
Sincerely,
Rajend Naidu

Reply
Rajend Naidu
8/3/2017 08:52:02 pm

Editor,
Confusing leaders
Early this morning I caught midway an interview being given by Nikki Haley,the US ambassador to the UN. I heard her say " ... We are not dealing with a rational person. He is not a rational person. He has been acting irrationally. He is not thinking clearly..."( Aljazeera 9/3 ).
I thought she was referring to the US president Donald Trump!
She was in fact referring to the North Korean dictator and the threat he was posing to South Korea and to peace in the region with the latest round of missile testing.
I wonder how I could make that mistake...
Sincerely,
Rajend Naidu

Reply
Welcome Home
9/3/2017 08:30:12 am

Quite agree on the muddle concerning perceived rationality of incumbent male leaders in some worrisome locations. With regard to leadership and what Good Leadership entails in this late stage of two decades since 2000: how might it be possible or conceivable that not one of the prominent women referred to have had any noteworthy arguments or proposals concerning the dire threats and risks suffered by so many of their female compatriots? Is Silence a rational response? Is it still permissible or culturally desirable to submit to culturally imposed norms in the light of such obvious and justified grievance? 90% of abuses of Fijian women and young girls we are reliably now told take place in homes or connected compounds. The Laws of Fiji must now be applied under the Crimes Decree as imposed in 2009 with full parliamentary approval and coherence. The very least to be expected by those of us who have lived, witnessed and seemingly fruitlessly fought for almost thirty frustrating years for equity and freedom from fear for Fijian Females and their families. International Women's Day 2017 requires this bare minimum assurance: Fiji will stand united to protect the dignity and integrity of families and children. Mothers will be honored and respected in their role and Fijian men and boys will make the mindset adjustments necessary to modify their behaviour.

Reply
splashViti
9/3/2017 09:16:52 am

Still no clarity on Tupou's defection to HOPE, I'm afraid. While I await your full analysis Fiji Leaks on your allegation of racism levelled against the Lady, let's have your take on the Madam Ambassador's pronouncement before the Human Rights Council in Geneva on 1st March re 'institutionalised racism and the indigenous population being a 'privileged caste'.
----- --------

Fiji's 'privileged caste'

Nasik Swami
Thursday, March 09, 2017

RACISM was institutionalised in Fiji to such an extent that it instilled "a privileged caste".

This was told to the 34th Human Rights Council regular session by Fiji's ambassador to Geneva, Nazhat Shameem.

Ms Shameem said racism in Fiji was often disguised by assertions of a community's self-identity and in particular in relation to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).

"However, in Fiji, the indigenous people are in the majority and we are talking here about a majority community with proud and active culture and a history of strong representation," she said.

Ms Shameem said the rights of the majority in a democracy whether indigenous or not must not be used to suppress the rights of the minority and vulnerable communities. "And to this end, Fiji has embarked upon a path of substantial equality which requires a level of gender, disability and cultural competence and the ability to understand that poverty and disadvantage exists in all cultural groups."

She said with Fiji being the chair of the Conference of Parties 23rd (COP 23) meeting in Germany later this year, the country was aware of the important relationship between human rights and climate change.

Social Democratic Liberal Party (SODELPA) vice-president Ro Kiniviliame Kiliraki said such a misguided statement smacked of prejudice and a deliberate misunderstanding of the grievances of the indigenous community in Fiji and is contrary to the position in international law on the rights of indigenous peoples.

"Shameem oversteps her position as a civil servant and ambassador by parroting the political line of FijiFirst, to characterise the grievance of indigenous Fijians as racism, an epithet freely thrown around by those who seek to disenfranchise the indigenous people of Fiji," Ro Kiniviliame said.

"I call for an unreserved apology and her resignation as ambassador."

Fiji Times 9March

Reply
Chiku
9/3/2017 02:32:40 pm

Fact : poverty and disadvantage exists in ALL cultural groups in Fiji.
Fiction : that the indigenous population have been installed as a "privileged caste" in Fiji.
Fact : the only privileged caste in Fiji are the coupist who have installed themselves in power via a military coup and a subsequent fraudulent " democratic " election and their cronies who hail from all cultural groups and have a special/privileged standing with the thug rulers in Fiji.
Nazhat Shameem is a prominent member of this " privileged caste " in post coup Fiji.

Reply
Tomasi
12/3/2017 05:36:31 pm

Well said Chiku. Vinaka

Reply
Rajend Naidu
9/3/2017 02:47:34 pm

Editor,
Rule of Law Applied With Equal Consideration Regardless of Status
The top court in South Korea is to rule on the fate of the impeached President on Friday. The ruling has been expedited because the term of one of the judges is about to expire.
The Impeachment Charges include :
1. Acting against the rule of law and democracy
2. Abuse of presidential authority
3. Infringement of freedom of press
4. Dereliction of duty to protect the lives of citizens
5. Accepting bribes and extortion
( source : NHK world Japan, 9/3 )
I wonder how many of those charges apply to some of our mob in power?
Sincerely,
Rajend Naidu

Reply
Rajend Naidu
10/3/2017 03:33:31 pm

Editor,
A Victory For Democracy
South Korea's top court, the constitutional court, upheld the parliament's decision to impeach president Park Guen-Hye and in so ruling proved to the world that South Korea is a true democracy - with an independent judiciary which is not under political sway.
There is one law for all, including the president. The country's first female, democratically elected president was impeached because she strayed from the norms of good democratic governance by allowing herself to be influenced into corrupt, dubious dealings by a close business friend.
Power has been held to account in South Korea's democracy.
Power is not always held to account in other democracies or countries purporting to be democracies.
And, power of course is not held to account at all in a dictatorship.
We know this from first hand experience in post coup Fiji.
Sincerely,
Rajend Naidu

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