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UNFOLDING DEBATE: Ignoring Sitiveni Rabuka's coup past will condemn SODELPA to irrelevancy at the polls. His own admission that it was the Cakaudrove clan which put his name up for leader will ignite TRIBALISM 

27/6/2016

13 Comments

 

And here is another assessment of Rabuka by a veteran former Fijian journalist JALE MOALA, who as editor of Fiji's Daily Post, had locked his Indo-Fijian staff members upstairs for safety and the native Fijian staff members guarded the front doors to protect them as the looting and arson raged outside during the George Speight coup in 2000. Moala was one of many journalists who had fallen foul of Rabuka's 1987 racist coups

"Rabuka is a real paradox. We'll see him try to reinvent himself to justify his election as party leader -- charming and seemingly compassionate -- but when things don't go his way we'll see something else, after all this was the coup leader who started off determined to stamp his mark on the stage, only to melt in the hands of Jai Ram Reddy and
came back full circle."

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By JALE MOALA

As the new leader of Sodelpa what do we expect Sitiveni Rabuka to bring to the political landscape? Same old same old or something new. A bit of both because there are two sides of Rabuka that are completely contrasting and when these two sides collide we get a Rabuka that is inconsistent and confusing. Let me point to one very early example 50 years ago.

As a student at Queen Victoria School, Rabuka was a high-achiever, obedient and loyal, qualities which made him the school headboy in 1967, led him into a successful military career and made him a double sports international for Fiji. However, back at QVS in 1967, when a dispute arose between the students and the principal, Rabuka took the side of the students as they threatened to bring the school to a standstill in a strike. Even when the dispute was resolved Rabuka still turned up the next day at the school assembly to read the scriptures wearing sun glasses.

We have seen these two sides of Rabuka throughout his political career; on a good day he'd call for national unity and on a bad day he'd warn Indo-Fijians to follow the example of Sonia Gandhi in India; immediately after his first coup in 1987 he sought and received the endorsement and blessing of the Great Council of Chiefs and later when he was outmaneuvered by Ratu Mara he turned against the chiefly system and promoted the concept of meritocracy as the gospel of the future.

Rabuka is a real paradox. We'll see him try to reinvent himself to justify his election as party leader -- charming and seemingly compassionate -- but when things don't go his way we'll see something else, after all this was the coup leader who started off determined to stamp his mark on the stage, only to melt in the hands of Jai Ram Reddy and came back full circle.

If you are expecting smooth sailing you might be disappointed.

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THE TABUA MAN: Sitiveni Rabuka's favourite 'magic' tool - the tabua!

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13 Comments
Cakau Chief
27/6/2016 02:42:13 pm

Jale Moala, just shut up you bloody Lauan

Reply
Tailevu Commoner
27/6/2016 10:05:04 pm

Hey cool it you wannabe 'Cakau Chief'. Jale is merely expressing an opinion that others want to hear. Go crawl back under your rock, 'qalo mai'.

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Janeman
27/6/2016 05:42:38 pm

Rabuka is as paradoxical as Fiji is complicated. He is not the only one. Mahen chaudhry was champion of poor while milking the system on the side for his own benefit. Jale Moala has been away from Fiji for too long - after what we have been through no one expects smooth sailing regardless of who is the leader. The likes of jale moala are still rooted in the past whereas the rest of Fiji is surging There is some evidence that rabuka has seen the error of his ways. He has grown up and matured. He is hated by some indigenous nationalists because he embraced multiracialism. He is definately a better option than the motley crew vying for sodelpa leadership. They were either overt racists or like gavoka, closet racists with silver tongue who are good at arousing ethnic feelings with emotional speeches in parliament. Rabuka will be a breath of fresh air after the rubbish being spewed by the likes of karavaki which is taking the party nowhere. In fact this was a very smart decision by the sodelpa management board.

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Tukai Tave
27/6/2016 11:14:08 pm

With you Janeman. Rabuka is indeed a breath of fresh air! So much to comment but this may not be the forum for all the good things about Rabuka. Go for it Rabuka, its time the Tovata do something before our nation is lost forever!

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Janeman Two
27/6/2016 05:49:36 pm

It seems all those supporting Sitiveni Rabuka fail to grasp one fundamental point - we can't demand that Frank Bainimarama be held to account and answer for his treasonous crimes of 2006, when SODELPA have now made another coupist their leader. No right thinking Indo-Fijian will welcome Rabuka and dislodge Bainimarama.

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Tamana
27/6/2016 06:41:32 pm

Sa Dina Janeman. One of the racists who hates rabuka is Pita waqavonovono who resigned from sodelpa after rabuka was elected and is warning of mass defections from sodelpa. Sowing dissension and creating sense of instability in the hope that there is an uprising. These are dangerous characters who do not care about the country and will sacrifice its peoples' wellbeing for their own political agenda and personal gain. Victor beaware: do unwittingly get into bed with these treasonous people.

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Fijian Prince link
27/6/2016 11:26:29 pm

I hope Pita Waqavonovono is not joining Bainimarama's Fiji First Party.
Or He and Mick will form a new political party.

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Welcome Home
27/6/2016 06:51:49 pm

With a reported attempted suicide in Fiji every 36hours, you can cast aside the "charm and seeming compassion". It is a worthless and meaningless Blot on a Blasted Landscape. Going to market on a Saturday morning early near Saweni, a body hangs by a rope from an acacia tree. A lasting horrific memory of the mostly unseen, unrecorded desperation of close on sixteen years or more. What a fearsome legacy to bequeath for the Future of Fiji? It is high time the numbers are ascertained of forfeited lives and a study is made for close analysis: a suitable Memorial erected and a commemoration observed annually for these pitiful and unnecessary deaths. They rightly and justly haunt us still. Who shall be held accountable? At least now they are being acknowledged publicly and this has to continue.

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Ed
27/6/2016 08:13:03 pm

The only and defining difference between Rabuka and Frank Bainimarama is that the People forgave Rabuka and gave him amnesty - 1997 Constitution. This amnesty was given unanimously by the representatives of the Citizens in Parliament. Frank Bainimarama has received no such amnesty from We the People. Rabuka critics forget this. So who am I or you to argue against the will of the People.

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Pita
27/6/2016 09:09:37 pm

Bill Gavoka is no racist. How can he be when he's late mother was a Rotuman. He is a product of a multi racial Union. He has proved himself in the tourist industry and is a far better debater than Rsbuka will ever be. He was the logical person to take over from the RTD as party leader
But the Vanua Levu mafia in SODELPA like Anasa Vocea, Naiqama Lalabalavi, Nawaikula and that trouble-maker Buli whatshisname, all those who represent the sentiments of the Gsunavinaka Report, were bent on wresting power from RTD,
This is history repeating itself. Kubuna saved Cakaudrive and Vanua Levu from Ma'afu and the Tongans. After slaying his General Josateki Wainiqolo at the battle of Wairiki in 1862 the Tui Cakau joined his arch enemy Maaufu to undermine Cakabau and his efforts to build a new Fiji nation. The quest for short term power and treachery has always been the hall mark of Cakaudrive. We can see that today in the antics of its sons like Kubuabola, Naiqama, Rabuka and the Gaunavinka Report crew

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King Rat
27/6/2016 10:29:50 pm

No doubt about it; this was a Tovata conspiracy right from the beginning.

The Gaunavinaka Report was the catalyst to destabilise the leadership of the RTD and instal the cabal from Tovata (CBM + Lau) at the helm of the 'So Help Me God' party.

Another coup 'feather' in Rabuka's cap. Tupou D is right; a leopard does not change its spots.

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Socho
28/6/2016 05:31:24 am

I wonder what happened to that tabua Rabuka presented to the Queen? Has it ended up in a pawnshop somewhere?

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King Rat
28/6/2016 10:36:58 pm

It was given back to Rabuka who keeps it in his knapsack with the other tabuas he has which he likes to pull out like a rabbit from a magicians hat when the going gets tough.

Word on the streets is that there will be a tabua heading Micky Beddoes way soon so as to get him to rejoin the 'So Help Me God Party'.

Stand by Micky! Start practising your 'ciqomi ni kamunaga' spiel....and please do so in the Ca'audrove dialect as that is now the lingua franca of those at the helm of this ethno-nationalist party.

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