pn923. Making Sense of the Accusations and Rulings against Voqere Bainimarama

Sitiveni Qilohi &
Voqere Bainimarama

In October last year Magistrate Seini Puamau found former PM Voqere Bainimarama not guilty of breaking the law with regards to the accusation that he had stopped a police investigation about the University of the South Pacific in 2020.  Former police chief Sitiveni Qilohi was also charged. 

Salesi Temo

Seini Puamua

Earlier this month the acting chief Justice Salesi Temo overturned Puamau's ruling and found Bainimarama and his co-accused former Police chief Sitiveni Qiliho guilty. He ordered Puamau to sentence the accused. Jail sentences of up to five years for Bainimarama and ten years for Qiliho were expected.

Puamau could not reverse the Acting Chief Justice's verdict of guilty but in sentencing them on Thursday she ruled that Bainimarama was given "an absolute discharge," the lowest possible sentence, and the conviction was not to be registered.  In other words, she came as close as legally possible to her original ruling of not guilty. Qiliho was given a $1500 fine without conviction. 

Predictably, her ruling has been challenged and the case will be heard again on Wednesday, an unheard of short time after a ruling -- leaving effectively one working day, Tuesday, to prepare. Compare this with the case against dismissed former chief prosecutor Christopher Pryde who has been waiting for over a year for his appeal to be heard!

If we ask why the urgency, the answer is simple.

Government and its compliant judiciary are determined to "get" Bainimarama one way or another. And if these court cases are unsuccessful it is rumoured they have another 30 strategies up their sleeves. 

Holding on to power by just one parliamentary seat the unsteady government coalition of People's Alliance, National Federation Party and the ultra-nationalist i'Taukei SODELPA must discredit and decapitate Bainimarama's First First party, the largest single party in parliament, if it is to win the next election, likely in December 2026.

But there is another reason. Government needs to deflect public attention away from troubles within its own ranks. 

The best known is about Minister for Women and Children Lynda Tabuya who has been embroiled in an alleged sex and drug scandal with axed education minister Aseri Radrodro; others include alleged tax avoidance by NFP leader Biman Prasad which he denies, the past sexual merry-go-rounds by PM Sitiveni Rabuka, and the dubious and apparently illegal appointment of several judges.

In a democracy, the powers of Government and Parliament must be separate -- and be seen to be separate -- from those of the Judiciary. The Acting Chief Justice Salesi Temo was appointed by Attorney General Siromi Turanga and PM Rabuka. This is considered illegal because it contravened sections 117 (2) and 105 (2) (b) of the 2013 Constitution (See extracts below.)

It is worth noting that the Fiji Law Society opposed his appointment.

Temo subsequently appointed John Rabuka as Acting Director of Public Prosecutions and Alipate Qetelu as a judge. Both men had been found guilty of professional misconduct by the Independent Legal Services Commission and were therefore not eligible for appointment.

Graham Davis of Grubsheet has advanced another possible reason for the appointment of acting Chief Justice Salesi Temo. Government hopes he can find ways around the 2013 Constitution, passed by the previous Bainimarama government, which cannot be changed without a two-thirds majority in parliament and a two-thirds majority in a referendum. Neither is even a remote possibility.

In these unsettled times one wonders what would happen if Bainimarama is sent to jail. A large public protest and even military intervension are not off the cards.

One final word. Magistrate Seini Korosaya Puamau is an incredibly courageous woman. Few others would have taken the stance she has in present day Fijij. I hope the rumour she has resigned is untrue.

-- ACW

Extracts from the 2013 Constitution

117. Director of Public Prosecutions

2. The Director of Public Prosecutions must be a person who is qualified to be

appointed as a Judge.

105. Qualification for appointment

1. The making of appointments to a judicial office is governed by the principle that

judicial officers should be of the highest competence and integrity.

2. A person is not qualified for appointment as a Judge unless he or she- • Eligibility for supreme court judges

a. holds, or has held a high judicial office in Fiji or in another country

prescribed by law; or

b. has had not less than 15 years post-admission practice as a legal

practitioner in Fiji or in another country prescribed by law, and has not

been found guilty of any disciplinary proceeding involving legal

practitioners whether in Fiji or abroad, including any proceeding by the

Independent Legal Services Commission or any proceeding under the law

governing legal practitioners, barristers and solicitors prior to the

establishment of the Independent Legal Services Commission.