The Tide is Turning
The province of Tailevu led by the powerful Bauan chiefs today presented a tabua to PM Bainimarama to show their support to Bainimarama's leadership and to the government of the day.
Speaking on behalf of the Cakobau family which included Ratu Epenisa Cakobau, Ratu George Cakobau, Adi Samanunu Cakobau and the other Tailevu chiefs, Ratu Tu'uakitau Cokanauto assured the PM that his [Bainimarama's] province is totally behind him to support what he has planned for the nation until the next general election in 2014.
Ratu Tu'uakitau (generally known as Ratu Tuki) told Bainimarama to be strong as he said that Rome was not built in a day and if there are elements within the government who are trying to rush changes in his leadership they should be told to try and be patient.
He said everyone wants a change and a better Fiji and his chiefs have decided to present the tabua today to show their son that they will stand with him in the decisions he will make. Based on Fiji Village; Photo: Fiji Village.
Note: It was from the northern part of this province, where the population is overwhelmingly ethnic Fijian and where most voters would follow the direction of their chiefs, that George Speight drew much support during the 2000 Coup. The apology therefore has even more significance.
30 comments:
Well, Croz, I'll believe it when I see it. These are some of the most perfidious people in Fiji, masters of the double cross. It may suit them now to apologise but it's only because all their plotting and intrigue has come to nought. If I was FB, I wouldn't trust any of these people as far as I could see them. Most of the Bauan chiefs are degenerate scum.
Everyone seems to understand Fiji except you and the quartet of shrieking mynah birds Croz.
The tide IS turning alright - Fijians are now uniting against the common enemy - and about time!
As Ratu Tuakitau told Bainimarama -"if there are elements" within the junta who are "trying to rush changes in his leadership they should be told to try and be patient"....beautifully stated....time for khaiyum to be brought into line as Fijians unite!!! He has become redundant - no longer needed - must be eliminated from the future of Fiji and its people.
You are a racist pig, The Tide is Turning, and have no place in the new Fiji. How dare you talk about "mynah birds" and the "elimination" of the AG! You miserable piece of veka. I don't care if this posting is removed. When you say "Fijians are uniting against the common enemy", it is code for Indo-Fijians. This is racial incitement and a complete disgrace.
Croz, we can expect a lot more of this kind of racist nonsense now that the treacherous Bauans are trying to creep back under Bainimarama's skirt. Their acolytes haven't even waited a day before portraying themselves and the regime as having common cause against the other races in Fiji. This isn't a genuine apology but the most cynical exercise in driving a truck through the government's multiracial agenda. It's the old coalition of the Cakobaus, the Qaranivalu and the Methodist Church out to make trouble. This is one instance when Bainimarama can say what he needs to say vakaturaga and go back to plotting the destruction of these malevolent throwbacks.
How can you be so naive, Croz, to regard this as a turning of the tide? Frank has said himself that the Cakobaus were the power behind George Speight. So we are perfectly entitled to regard them as the lowest of the low, people willing to trash the country for their own greedy ends. As if these guys are sorry? The only thing they're sorry about is that they didn't succeed in their coup of 2000. 150 years ago, they routinely tricked, clubbed and ate their enemies. They're still doing the first bit. And I remember Apenisa Cakobau saying a few years back that when it comes to Frank, he'd like to do the last bit too. FB needs to watch his back even more than ever.
Funny how the Cakobau's choose Ratu Tuki - the most articulate and civilised of their number - to deliver this "apology". With his own antecedents in Tongan royalty as the son of the late, great Ratu Edward, he's very much from the junior branch of the family. I'd be a lot more impressed if the apology came from the progeny of the last Vunivalu, Ratu George. But here we see the likes of Ratu Apenisa, Ratu George and Adi Samanunu lurking in the background. Does this mean they really do have a sense of shame after all? Don't bet on it. If you ever want to understand why the Bauans haven't been able to agree on a new Vunivalu years 20 years after Ratu George's death, take a look at the faces of some of these people. As much mana as a boiled vudi.
Yeah, well Ratu Tuki is the brother of Ratu Epeli Nailatikau, the president, so I don't think we can read too much into this. This is the branch of the Cakobaus that have been supporters of the new order all along. And they'll have been doing all they can to get their Bauan relatives to get with the program and drop their opposition to the regime. I agree that we need to hear from Ratu Apenisa and Adi Samanunu, in particular, before we draw any definite conclusion from this.
Croz
For your files.If you can remember this you will be one of the few in Fiji to do so - everyone gets it wrong. Ratu Tuki's correct name is Ratu Cokanauto George Tu'uakitau.
I've even seen it misspelt and back-to-front on a brass plaque!
Cornileus
Well the "apology" part of this has certainly escaped the two main papers in Fiji. The pro-government Sun has Ratu Tuki merely expressing support for the government on behalf of the people of Tailevu. And the Fiji Times doesn't seem to have reported it at all. Guess we shouldn't be surprised that Netani Rika would deliberately ignore this one. If the Bau chiefs have got behind the regime, it's yet another nail in his own coffin.
History repeating itself now. Why do we have coup culture in Fiji? Because the original Cakobau, Seru, came to power through a coup and since then it has become part of the culture in Fiji. So these crocodile tears should not melt anybody's feelings, as they will resort to the antics of their forbears at the slightest opportunity. Frank, leopards do not change their spots. Please be careful of these lot. They are all my cousins, the Liu Muris.
“We were born to unite with our fellow men, and to join in community with the human race.”
Cicero.
please confrim Croz...Ratu Tuki is the brother of the illegally appointed president?? Oh dear....you seem to have avoided reporting this.....would that not seem a bit of a conflict in any other context?? So only opponents appear to be selective eh??
Pragmatism is the main reason fr the recent rash of "apologies". The various military commisioners are traveling the countryside telling the villagers that no money will be spent in their area unless the offer their support to the Prime Minister.
The villagers are smart enough to get their names on the lolly scramble list. Their are major concerns being expressed inside the financial organisations as to the funding of these promises.
Frank will need to cough up the funds or he will be relegated to a long line of politicians promising the moon but delivering nothing.
BASA
Can someone from the Fiji Times clear up whether the lack of a report on the apology was the result of the paper choosing not to report it? Or did the report not get past the censors?
TuMa
What of the Fijian idiosyncrasy of telling you what you want to hear and not what we really feel?
TuMa, why wouldn't this have got past the censors? Surely an "apology" of this magnitude, given the daggers drawn for so long, would be something the regime would want publicised? Or maybe they don't want to give it any credence because they don't believe the Cokabaus can change? So maybe you're right after all. Fijian politics. Clear as mud.
Croz, I hate to be a pendant but would you mind not using the American spelling of words we all use? You have "apologize" in this headline when it should be apologise. Unless I've missed something and Horowhenua has been annexed by the Yanks. You're an academic and should know better.
@ What does this all mean? I was just asking. If we are to believe some of what Mr Rika says when he is overseas, each day the Fiji Times covers everything it has normally covered (politics included) and gets comments from everybody (including comments not favourable to Mr Bainimarama). The stories are written up and put before the censors. The censors say "you need to take out these comments". The Fiji Times refuses and so the story is consigned to the bin (or stored in a hard drive somewhere, ready for a book someone will no doubt write about censorship in Fiji).
TuMa
@ The Tide IS Turning... Why are so many anti-Government people such anti-Indian racists? Mynah birds indeed. How would you and they feel if some other racist called you all Kaikoso (muddy bottom-feeding bi-valve)?
@ Cornelius... Thanks. I've corrected the spelling.
@ sara'ssista. Once again, I do not see the point you are trying to make. Ratu Tuki made the apology on his own behalf and on behalf of chiefs quite unrelated to the President.
@ Croz the Yank ... The preferred English usuage according to my copy of the Concise Oxford Dictionary is -z but -s is also acceptable. Notice Croz is short for Crosbie. If I spelt my name with a -s, how would you pronounce it?
@ TuMua.. good question on the FT lack of coverage.
Other commentators... I'm sure Bainimarama will share your concerns but it's good news for the present, nonetheless.
@Planet of the Apes
You are absolutely right to call The Tide is Turning a racist pig, but you are kidding yourself if you think that FMF can be the architect of a future free of race in Fiji. The FMF is the most race based institution in the country.
Frank has fooled a lot of people into believing he's genuinely interested in creating a harmonious democratic nation where race no longer matters. But that was only an excuse for removing Qarase. The Frank believers have somehow forgotten that Frank installed Qarase in 2000 and endorsed his blueprint for a removing Fijian economic disadvantage. Frank can count and he knows the Fijian community has the numbers.
He's now working hard to build support among rural Fijians because he sees them as his bastion of support when the sugar industry collapses.
I cannot believe that otherwise intelligent people cannot see through this man who is so obviously unintelligent but very, very cunning.
@ corruption fighter
Your comment above just goes to show how little you know and how ilL-informed you are about what transpired through the years since the day Bainimarama installed Qarase as interim PM back in 2000.
Qarase was installed as PM by Bainimarama with a mandate to get Fiji out of extreme RACISM MASQUERADING AS INDIGENOUS NATIONALISM. Part of that mandate was for Qarase to ensure that no one who was involved in the coup of 2000 to ever be part of his interim government. Instead Qarase misled Bainimarama by telling him that it was better to get some of those coup perpetrators into his government so that they can be controlled from inside. But lo and behold, Qarase formed a political party and got those very same people inside his government once he became PM. This was why Bainimarama was seething with anger and wanted to remove Qarase right away back in 2003 but some of his senior military leaders advised him not to but follow the law. To make matters worse for Bainimarama, some of his own senior army officers were really sabotaging his leadership because of their own selfish agenda of wanting to wear the crown as Commander RFMF. This is why Bainimarama had all those people removed from the RFMF because they are no longer loyal to the RFMF nad have been compromised by corrupt politicians.
The last thing Bainimarama want is to build support for him amongst rural Fijians in order to stand in the 2014 election. What he is really after is for rural Fijians to be independent minded and stop being gullible to corrupt politicians who come around and brainwash them with lollies and ice cream.
As for you CF, I just don't understand how you can come here and say your bullshit. Come and comment here with all the facts and no made up innuedos. Or otherwise, go and get yourself some life. Please.
@Max
Isn't Frank the one running from village to village offering lollies that he cannot afford?
@ Anna
No. What Frank is doing is really what democratically elected governments should have been doing in the last 22 years since coup 1987. They should be improving the living conditions of people in the rural areas by telling them the truth and facilitating their quest to better their lives. Instead they went about filling their pockets and also their cronies. Take a look at Kadavu House, FNPF investements in Natadola and Momi. Consultanat fees of $6M without any real job done.
People like you who just go about trying to discredit Bainimarama will be made to eat your words come 2014 and beyond because the new prosperous Fiji is at hand. Mark my word!
Croz there is difference between not seeing the point and failing to look...an apology to the leader of a well armed military that has the nation hostage to it's whim with no oversight.Perhaps the military would like compensation for their suffering during this terrible time too. The fact is no-one can feel free to make any other statemant can they ??...go along to get along or get your head punched in...I think they may have has their fingers crossed...sorry. Apparently Fiji doesn't have 'conflict of interest' when it concerns the illegal presdient and military regime.
Croz - let me assure - anything not involving the Roko Tui Bau cannot & should not - be taken seriously.
@TheMax
You failed to mention that Bainimarama first tried to have himself made PM, before appointing Qarase.
And you talk about people involved in the Speight coup. Does this include Inoke Kubuabola, Isikia Savua or Jim Ah Koy? They all had shadowy links to Speight but now they're in Bainimarama's government.
The one person who's never been linked to Speight is Laisenia Qarase.
Bainimarama changed his tune to sing the anti-racism song but it's obvious he's now focused on building his support among rural Fijians. He'll need them when the sugar industry collapses and he cops the blame.
As I've said I don't understand how intelligent people on this blog can have any faith in a man who changes his story to suit himself but your faith is no puzzle to me.
@ Anonymous... I'm making a exception and allowing your anonymous comment to stand. Please use real or pseudnym in future.
I have enormous respect for Ratu Jone but my guess is he will make no public statement on Fiji until he feels what he says has a chance of producing an outcome to the country's benefit. He is not a person who speaks merely to stir things up.
He is, I think, against the Coup on what he sees as legal, moral and practical grounds but his speeches and writings suggest he would agree with much of what the Bainimarama government says it is wanting to achieve. A man of his talents, humanity and humility surely has a major role to play further down the road.
Yes, yes, Croz, Ratu Jone is the epitome of rectitude, constitutional and otherwise. He also happens to have been a miserable failure as a leader and chief. So spare us the hagiography. Ratu Jone could have done a lot more than just write about the indigenous mentality. He was in a position to actually forge attitudes and make a difference. Instead, he became one of the hand-wringers, those educated professionals who pontificate about the state of the nation at elite Suva dinner parties while doing sweet FA to stand up for anything at all And then, when the going got too tough, he left the country. I don't intend to join the ranks of Ratu Jone's adoring fans. At best, a clever and cuddly non event.
We all know that the Cakobaus were a principal force behind the Speight coup, And I don 't think there's any evidence at all that the Roko Tui Bau did anything to bring his wayward relatives into line. To be a real leader, you have to at least try to influence events and we have yet to see evidence that Ratu Jone did anything of the sort. Some people make excuses for his indifferent health. But he was perfectly capable of being vice president, a partner in Munro Leys and now - in self imposed exile - to dispense the law abroad. Brilliant but with no cojones at all.
Croz, we don't need humility in our leaders but resolve. Was Ratu Mara humble? No way. But he was a man of action who looks better with each passing year. Why haven't the Bauans been able to choose a Vunivalu? Because even they recognise that none of them is up to the task. This failure, after 21 years, to fill one of the most important chiefly roles in Fiji is a disaster for the vanua. And the Roko Tui Bau shares responsibility for this failure.
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