Mara Beat the Women and ...

... DRITI WAS WORSE. I've enquired further about Ratu Tevita Mara's claim that Bainimarama and his son beat three women (and Pita Waqavonovono)  at the Queen Elizabeth Barracks in late 2006.  The enquiries confirm my earlier report that it was Mara and Driti who beat the women, and not Bainimarama.

The women never lodged an official complaint but they told both Human Rights Watch and CEDAW (the UN Convention on the Elimination of all Discrimination Against Women) that they were punched by Mara, and forced to lick boots and to run around a field.  They also said that Pita told them his leg was broken and that he was raped by Driti.   All of the women said Bainimarama was not there!

My efforts to contact the women have not been successful but my understanding is that while they still stand by their story, they will not say so publicly because refuting Ratu Tevita's story would assist the Bainimarama Government that they do not support. I understand their predicament but by not refuting Ratu Tevita's story they are lying by omission,  and this  allows an important part of Ratu Tevita's bigger lie to go unchallenged.

Unchiefly Attack on Sharon Smith-Johns

I'd promised myself not to pay much more attention to the Ratu Tevita saga but this time he's well and truly revealed himself by crossing the boundary of good taste and common decency.

Sharon Smith-Johns is the Permanent Secretary of  Information.  This is what he said about her:

CCF Release: Concern about Growing Racism

Racism rears its ugly Head!
Click here to download. It should only take a second or so.

Thumbs Up. What a Good Idea

 Ratu Tevita continues to use slick marketing practices to promote his views, but still fails to produce the documentary evidence he promised to support them. What he is giving us is a daily trickle of information, appeals to the emotional and many repeats. He now says he'll release his own Roadmap in a few weeks. Why the wait?  Keeping an audience waiting in anticipation is another marketing technique.

But he is heeding these famous words of Joseph Goebbels: “The most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly. It must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over.”

Phrases like "return to democracy," "my beloved Fiji," "illegal regime,"   "sick Bainimarama,"  "scheming Sayed-Khaiyum."  One can only wonder who  is directing these up market flows.  He was never so erudite before. I wonder also who's paying for all this, and the costs of his intended Pacific tour.  Advertising doesn't come cheap.

His latest marketing gimmick is a thumb up sign if you want   —wait for it—  a return to "democracy" that includes restoring the power of the Great Council of Chiefs and the political power of the Methodist Church.  

For those who are not taken in by this appeal to a warped, race-based democracy; who, despite some doubts and misgivings, see more hope in the Roadmap, a new constitution, electoral reform and elections in 2014,  I'd suggest we also use the thumb up sign. 

So, to echo Ratu Tevita: "Fellow Citizens Who Want Democracy, I want to ask you all to do one small thing for me. Whenever you meet your friends, your family and your colleagues I want you to give a “thumbs up for Democracy”.

This blog urges you to follow his advice and whenever you meet your friends, your relatives and your colleagues — give them a "thumbs up for a better and fairer Fiji."   Ratu Tevita launched the thumbs up campaign. Let's join him. Spread the news.

Lockington's Everyday Fiji ... Life Goes On

SCROLL DOWN TO OTHER WEEKEND READING. 
♠ Leadership and the Economy by Biman Prasad  ♠ Turbulence in Paradise by  Rajendra Prasad ♠ Fiji Rugby and the NZ Government by Charlie Charters ♠ Why Review the FNPF Act (official release) 

Allen Lockington is a self-employed customs agent and business consultant who has regular articles published in Fiji. I thank Allen for permission to reprint some of them in this political blog. They remind us that life goes on, whatever the political situation. And it's good to know that.

FNPF Truth

There have been a lot of negative stories about the FNPF. 

Leadership and the Economy

Speech by Professor Biman Prasad, Professor of Economics and Dean of the Faculty of Business and Economics at the Lions Club Dinner on Saturday 28 May 2011 at the Peninsula Hotel, Fiji.

I thank you for the invitation to speak this evening. I am really pleased to be here and also to take the opportunity to speak to such a distinguished audience. It is not easy for people like us these days to find an audience of this stature to say what we want to say given the emergency laws and the strict media censorship that we have in Fiji. It is a delicate situation, to say the least.

Turbulence in Fiji

By Rajendra Prasad

Author of Tears in Paradise – Suffering and Struggles of Indians in Fiji 1879-2004.
 

Recent political developments in Fiji, following Lt Colonel Ratu Tevita Uluilakeba Mara’s defection to Tonga, has stirred observers, eager to see its impact on Commodore Bainimarama-led Government that came to power on December 5, 2006 following a military coup against the Qarase Government. Ratu Tevita Mara was third ranking military officer in the Fijian army and son of former President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, father of modern Fiji, who led Fiji as Prime Minister since independence from 1970-1987 and later became its President in 1992 but was deposed in the Speight-led coup of May 19, 2000 that also deposed the Chaudhary Government.

Fiji Rugby and the NZ Government by Charlie Charters

Charlie Charters worked in sports marketing for almost 15 years, includingat the Fiji Rugby Union from 2001-2004 and was the CEO of the first-everPacific Islanders Test team. He now works in North Yorkshire as a thrillerwriter, but has helped a number of young Fijian rugby players getscholarships to study in the UK.

As a matter of principle I think sporting sanctions targeting athletes are
WRONG. My overwhelming interest is that of the sportsman or woman. We only have a tiny amount of time on this Earth, and in the case of the athlete
their window to learn, to advance, to earn from their career, is but a blink
of the eye. Without exception the athletes effected by these sports
sanctions have no ability whatsoever to alter the course of events in Fiji,
so to punish them is symptomatic of lazy thinking.

Why Review the FNPF Act and Pension Scheme?

Official release.
FNPF is undergoing reforms that are in line with its corporate vision to secure members’ future by ensuring sustainable returns and delivery of excellent services. The Fund has adopted an integrated and holistic approach to these reforms that takes into account all aspect of its business including business processes and designs, investment, IT infrastructure and most importantly, its people.
A key component of the reforms is the review of the FNPF Act and the Pension Scheme to ensure the delivery of a sustainable, transparent and fair retirement

Click  here to download from Scribd.

Infrastructural Work Helps Empower the People

“Underdevelopment is a fertile breeding ground for suspicion and ignorance.  Access to proper infrastructure means empowerment.

Questions on Blogs, and Do They Represent the Voice of the Common People?

The Makings of a People's Constitution?

NPCAC Chairman Josefa Serulagilagi has urged Government to fast-track work on the new Constitution.  The Strategic Framework for Change Committee —working from the People’s Charter and the Roadmap— originally scheduled dialogue on the Constitution to start late this year or early next year when the work would be completed.  This blog has been one of many voices urging that dialogue be brought forward. 

Ratu Tevita and Coup4.5: Over the Limit, and the ‘Assassination’

I intend to limit my reporting on Ratu Tevita and Coup 4.5. I find many of his  accusations contradictory and unsupportable and see no reason to give his almost daily releases any more publicity.  There are other things to write about.

I agree with David Robie’s Cafe Pacific  that  called his carefully orchestrated releases a media circus:

“This entire saga has all the hallmarks of a carefully orchestrated virtual internet coup. At least, of the propaganda kind. One virtual coupmaster getting one-upmanship over the grand coup master."

Proposed Constitutional Commission Needs to be Representative

It's great news that work on the new Constitution has begun, well over six months ahead of  the Roadmap schedule.  I fully support this CCF release,  and would add this is where Australia and NZ could also add their support, by helping finance dialogue in Fiji and by providing constitutional legal and drafting assistance -- Croz Walsh.