Support the Readership Drive. See left column.
Fiji-NZ impass broken. Thank goodness this unnecessary delay in restoring some diplomatic presence, caused by Fiji's nomination of Neumi Leweni, is now over.Mere Tora, who served as First Secretary in Wellington in 2004, has been accepted as Fiji's First Secretary and Acting Head of Mission in Wellington, and MFAT career diplomat Phillip Taula as First Secretary and Acting Head of Mission in Suva.
Australian journalists to put the world right. It seems The Sydney Morning Herald and the Melbourne Age in identicaql articles are now trying to persuade the Australian government to get Sri Lanka suspended from the Commonwealth. Who do these guys think they are? Prosecutors, jurors and judges in a Kangaroo Court? An Australian Sri Lankan takes them to task, and in doing do reveals parallels to how the same media cover Fiji. But the newspapers did not print his story. Link.
PM urges Fijian landowners to renew land leases. Link.
Qarase's corruption trial. Former PM Laisenia Qarase and his counsel Qoroniasi Balewas called before the High Court on Friday. The Fiji Independent Commission against Corruption alleges Qarase acted outside his powers when he authorized the use of extinct mataqali funds from the Native Lands Trust Board for investment purposes. The case was adjourned to February 26th . Former Divisional Commissioner Central, Inoke Devo, appeared briefly in court charged with corruption and abuse of office. His case will be heard on March 2nd. Link.
Almost half of Australia's aid budget is spent on its own experts, several of whom earn more than PM Kevin Rudd, and Jenny Hayward-Jones says the thrust "is really motivated by Australia's desire to be elected to the UN Security Council."
Link.
Destination Suva. Plans which including international flights to Nausori and sprucing up the capital's appearance, are underway to make Suva the "metropolitan hub of the Pacific."Link.
The European Union's Centre of Development for Enterprise to serve the South Pacific will be located in Suva. It is uderstood Apia, Port vila and Port Moresby were also considered. Link.
PM launches Foundation for the Education of Needy Children. Says charity good but not enough. Link
PM promises Rakiraki and Ba cane farmers he will return to ensure services improve. The farmers has been especially critical of the Lands Department and the Native Land Trust Board (NLTB).Link.
21 comments:
Not reported was that the papers served on Qarase were for a 23 Feb court appearance and he was not informed of the change in date to last Friday. Even the FICAC lawyer admitted this in court and said it was an excusable non appearance.
BASA
I do believe your illustration depicting the guy in shorts is rather queer and a more manly representation of the male psyche would be approriate.
Rt Sai
Oh so now we have homophobes commenting.
After three years of rule by decree Bainimarama has done nothing to solve the land problem. His problem is that he's afraid to do anything because he fears a Fijian backlash. A real leader would draw people together to discuss the problems openly and frankly. Who knows what solutions could be found if we had such leadership.
Bainimarama's problem is his Moses complex. He thinks that leadership is all about coming from the mountain top with decrees carved in stone.
When Qarase formed his multi-party government he showed the kind of leadership we need but, unfortunately, he didn't have the courage to take this same leadership style to the question of land.
I'm amazed at the people commenting on this blog site who expect good things from a military dictatorship. Democracy has had many failures, but some successes in bringing progress and justice in countries like Fiji. Wherever they are, military dictatorships have never done anything except entrench corruption, injustice and poverty.
@ Corruption Fighter
Democracy generally is a better model than a military dictatorship. But this is not always the case and democracy has had some huge failures as well.
The Nazi Party came to power by democratic means and that was one of the worst outcomes of the 20th century. On the other hand military rule has assisted countries such as Turkey and maybe even Indonesia from sliding into race based Govts.
Democracy in Fiji has not delivered great progress since 1990 as it has been used by the elites to divide the country on the base of ethnicity.
CF.
You lot need to pull your heads out of your nether regions and start smelling the rose.
For change is just around the corner.
Stop walking around with blinkers on use your peripheral vision.
All Fiji needs to do is 2 things: 1. make proper use of all land i.e. take ownership of agricultural land for sustainable agricultural production for both import and export, and 2. get rid of crime! For 1. Let's go the China way - make Fiji a socialist society and for 2. introduce laws like they have in Saudi Arabia and Singapore where there's zero tolerance on even the smallest of crimes. In 5 years, Fiji will be richer, better off and more powerful than many other countries. That's the way to bring positive change for. And believe it or not, we're surely getting there. I can't wait...
Australia has really become a different country than I had always thought of before. If Australia continues with the current foreign policy, mark my word, within 10 years, it will just be as hated like the 8 years the United States was under George W Bush.
The racism-provoked deaths of Indians in Australia will have long term implications for Australia.
Australia is already viewed as a big brother bully by the Pacific Island countries. If Fiji succeeds in generating more revenue out of trading with the Asian countries than with Australia and New Zealand, mark my word, the rest of the Pacific will follow suit.
@ The Maxx..
Right now Australia is in easy street with a bouyant economy riding on the back of resource exports to China.
The Chinese do not take too kindly to other countries telling them who they should trade with. This is perceived as arrogance. Any attempt by Australia to put pressure on China to stop trading with Fiji is bound to backfire.
@ Qanibulu
I agree with what you just said about China not taking too kindly. I have a Chinese investor friend who told me exactly like you said. This is not just a Chinese investor friend in Fiji. He is well-connected to both the Chinese and Fiji government.
I think what is wrong with Australia's foreign policy now is that their current successes in a buoyant economy through resource exports to China is getting into their head. Also their lock on mineral resources in PNG and Bouganville in the Solomon Islands is also contributing to their thick headed foreign policy.
@ RS Thank you for your thoughts but I'm not sure your suggestion about where you think my head is positioned meets the high standards of decency on this site. And as to peripheral vision - bau rai ki ra....
Where we differ is you trust Frank and I don't. If I had the time I'd give you all the reasons not to trust him, but here's my top four.
1. Bainimarama was as involved in the events of 2000 as anyone. He is and always has been thick with Isikia Savua who was supposed to be the illegal PM in the Speight coup. The delegation to force Ratu Mara to resign as President included both Savua and Bainimarama. RFMF were up to their eyeballs in the Speight coup but Frank decided to sit on the sidelines and look for opportunities. When President Mara was overthrown Frank tried to make his move but didn't have the confidence to do it. He put Qarase in as a seat warmer. Bainimarama has never included Savua in his vow to bring the year 2000 conspirators to justice. As illegal PM Frank he even proposed give Savua a cushy appointment but abandoned the idea because he feared an outcry.
2. Frank uses people. They think they can use him because he's obviously not very bright, but he's an expert at reading people, understanding their weaknesses and using them for his own purposes. The one mistake he made was Qarase. He didn't realise that the quiet banker had the makings of a politician. When Qarase managed to build a strong political base in the Fijian community, Frank turned all multi-cultural. Anyone who's taken in by this pretend conversion is a fool.
3. The institution that keeps Frank in power is still firmly mono-cultural. Frank has made no attempt to change this culture. He knows what the culture of the organisation is. He maintains his power within the RFMF by keeping them all employed and well paid when everybody else is struggling. Look at all the officers he's pushed into top jobs in the civil service. This is worse than anything that happened under Rabuka.
4. Dictators do not make way for democracy - ever. They stay in power until they're forced out. So why believe that Frank is going
to depart in 2014 and have elections that could elect someone else.
5. By their fruits ye shall know them. So what has Frank done for anyone so far. All he's done is make promises which are hollow. Who remembers the promise that no military officer will benefit from this coup. It's clear for everyone to see that the opposite is true. His promise to save the sugar industry is an outrage. By knocking back all the EU aid for the sugar industry he may well have killed our sugar industry.
@ Corruption Fighter
What Bainimarama is doing goes far deeper for your small mind to understand but in order to understand, go back in time and learn every detail of what was happening to Fiji from the time Rabuka executed his first coup, to when he promulgated the 1997 constitution, to the coup of 2000, then to the removal of Qarase in 2006. Then also study a little bit about Fiji’s colonial history.
People like you will never understand nor comprehend why Fiji has to go through this period we are in today. You will also never understand the events of 2000 when Bainimarama asked Rt Mara to step aside so that the RFMF can takeover the leadership of this country under the circumstances at the time.
Within the military council during the height of the 2000 coup, Bainimarama already had a clique of enemy amongst the senior army ranks both inside and outside the army. That enemy was borne out of pure jealousy because those senior disgruntled army officers considered Bainimarama to be inexperienced and junior within the ranks of those who should assume command of RFMF.
Rt Epeli himself was not at fault for recommending Bainimarama to be the next commander. I think it was about 5 to 8 years ago when Rt Epeli talked about his reasons for recommending Bainimarama. It was to do with removing politics and political influence from the higher ranks of RFMF. Rt Epeli saw how much the rank and file within the RFMF senior officers were being influenced from the outside by the political elites especially from indigenous Fijian politicians and other corrupt opportunists like Duvuloco, who kept the racist rhetoric going through his Vanua Tako Lavo Party.
(continued next)
We must understand that during the lead up to the promulgation of the 1997 constitution and also the election of 1999, there were a lot of political activities by various pressure groups and political parties. All sorts of issues were talked about here and there that when Bainimarama assumed command of RFMF, he had to contend with the clique of enemy within the hierarchy of the senior military ranks and opportunists like Duvuloco who continued with their racist rhetoric but with a totally different agenda underneath. The whole charade was to create fear and anxiety amongst the population using wedge politics of race.
During the coup of 2000 and the subsequent move by the military council to ask then President Rt Mara to step aside so that the army can declare martial law and take hold of the crisis in a military sense, what compounded Bainimarama’s problem was that he had to contend with some of the disgruntled rank of senior military officers. Some of them were clearly sympathizing with the coupmakers while some of them were just plain jealous because of their ambition to the crown that Bainimarama wears as the commander RFMF.
(continued next)
To make matters worse for Bainimarama, the very person he appointed to be the interim PM turned around and betrayed him and the RFMF’s resolve to rid extreme racism masquerading as indigenous nationalism within Fiji politics once and for all. Qarase slapped Bainimarama’s leadership integrity in the face and demeaned the RFMF as the final guarantor of law and order in Fiji by first forming a political party while interim PM and then bring in the very people the RFMF do not want to be involved at all in anything to do with leadership of the country. Bainimarama considered these people enemy of the state and from then on, Bainimarama was at odd with Qarase until he had to remove Qarase from leadership of this country. The rest is history.
From my point of view, Bainimarama went through some very painful experiences that tested his oath of loyalty to the RFMF as well as to this beloved country Fiji. I’m honoured to be the first person to declare that he passed the biggest test of his life with flying colours.
I know that some people will say I am a coup apologist or Bainimarama lover but that’s far from the truth. After spending more than 20 years following the political events and developments in Fiji and the problems faced, I totally agree with the plan by the current RFMF leadership to remake Fiji and remove race once and for all from politics.
Bainimarama is not a dictator. He is just a military commander exercising his authority in a time of lawlessness and corruption. He is truly saving this country, not destroying it. He will succeed because he is right. Finally, we have a military leader fighting for justice for all. He is one of a kind and he will be remembered for generations to come as the savior and creator of modern Fiji.
@ The Max
Thank you for your very lengthy response. I seemed to touch a nerve.
You seem to be very well informed about the thoughts of our dictator.
Can you explain why he has not pursued Isikia Savua? Has his pension been cut? Do you deny that Bainimarama proposed an appointment for Savua under his government?
@The Max
Bainimarama will be remembered as the hitler of the pacific. Full stop. Winners write history and there is no way serial human rights abusers like bainimarama, driti and lewini will ever be remembered for other that what they are - military bullies who only fought a war against their own people!! Human trash!!
In his earlier posting Corruption Fighter mentions “…the promise that no military officer will benefit from this coup.”
Most of us also remember Mr Bainimarama’s declaration that anyone accepting their appointment in the 2006 interim government would not be allowed to stand in the next elections. That declaration was similar in spirit to the understanding under which the 2000 interim government was formed, in that no member of that administration would stand for election either.
Sadly for us all, that understanding was ignored by all but one of those in the 2000 government who went on to form themselves into the SDL.
The one exception? Mr Keni Dakuidreketi who, when he resigned as Minister of Sport upon the calling of elections, displayed an integrity demonstrably lacking in the others.
I wonder if all the present (and past) members of the 2006 interim administration will display the same integrity as Mr Dakuidreketi?
@ History repeats
Small minds like you will never understand that democracy also has it's failures such as in the context it existed and used in Fiji under a constitution and electoral system based on race. We have seen how this was used and manipulated in Fiji in the last 20 or so years.
What Bainimarama did removing the core issue that lies at the problem we have been facing in Fiji. Race has been used time amd time again to drive amongst the races in Fiji that in the process stifle development, create animosity amongst the races, and so forth.
People like you will only see from the narrow tunnel that a "democratically-elected" government was removed at the point of a gun. But that removal is justified in the context that democratic election in Fiji is just a fraud. Fiji has never had a truly democratically-elected government from 1987 to date.
Qarase's problem was that he cunningly and deceptively fooled the RFMF when he formed the SDL while still interim PM. Exploiting the undercurrents of the political environment at that time, he brought back to his government the very people Bainimarama did not want ever to do anything with leadership in any sphere of government in Fiji. Then throughout his leadership until the next election in 2006, Qarase solidified his base through wedge politics. The rest is history as we now know.
Bainimarama's takeover of government is justified because Qarase's deception cannot be allowed to embed itself in our national consciousness. The reason is that it will continue to perpetuate fear amongst races and subject half of the people of Fiji into second and third class citizens.
We need a level playing field and indigenous Fijians should not fear losing their culture, land, identity, etc. Creating a level playing will make indigenous Fijians work hard and use their resources wisely to better their lives. Relying on government all the time for handouts MUST end.
As an indigenous Fijian, I fully support the move by the current government to level the playing field for everyone. We need a total upgrade of the mind hence the review of all taukei institutions in the village, provinces, etc.
@ The Maxx..
Thank you for your comments.
I totally share your sentiments. I believe that fate put Bainimarama there in in the early days of 2000 - he was the only man for the job. He was the outsider with no prior connections, the "naive" navy guy who perhaps was brought into the fray to be the fall guy by those treasonous military dudes.
But Bainimarama to his credit learnt fast and read what was going on. It was a steep learning curve putting the pieces of the complicated jigsaw together, not knowing who he could trust. As time went by he saw how deep the rot went. Most people would have given up when exposed to the enormity and complexity of the problem which went to the very heart of Fiji society - this was not something that corrupt politicians backed by a cadre of lazy self serving high chiefs could work out within the existing political framework and constitution. The "democratic" process which preached politics from the pulpit and encouraged block race-based voting had entrenched undesirable political powerbases. There was no political solution. He had no other alternative.
But he followed his heart, never losing sight of his objective. I firmly believe Fiji is in good hands with Bainimarama at the helm. He sees the big picture and above all else has the welfare of his people in mind. He is not doing this for wealth, power or to satisfy his ego.
He simply wants to right all the wrongs of the last 50 years that have dragged his country into the mire and to the brink of civil war.
Yes I am a coup apologist. This is a righteous coup.
@ Qanibulu
That was also the view expressed by Navitalai Naisoro about Bainimarma. Navi said that the difference between Bainimarama and the other senior military officers of the RFMF back in 2000/2001 was that Bainimarama is too honest a person. He is not tied to any political party or politician.
You can read all about what Navi said in Peter Foster's blog www.fijitruth.org
the max...... you have summed up so sooo well, thank you!
Ranadi
Post a Comment