“Strive to the very end”, says the family motto on the coat of arms that Mick Beddoes displays proudly on his website. All of which means that dogged persistence comes naturally to Mick Malcolm Millis Beddoes, the businessman and politician who heads the United Peoples Party in Fiji. Grubsheet has labeled Beddoes the attack dog of the Three Amigos – the improbable alliance of himself, Laisenia Qarase of the SDL and Labour’s Mahendra Chaudhry in their current tussle with the regime over a new constitution. And true to form, Mick bit back when we criticised him for willfully elevating the national temperature by threatening to jail the military leadership over their 2006 coup.
In comments to the anti regime website, Coup 4.5, Beddoes took issue with our claim that the fallout was self inflicted, describing it as “ridiculous”. He said his comments were a response to “threatening” statements made by the military spokesman and land force commander, Colonel Mosese Tikoitoga. In other words “I didn’t start this, he did”.
But Mick, you just escalated it out of all proportion by threatening to send Tikoitoga and the entire military hierarchy to jail for life. Then when prime minister Frank Bainimarama muttered darkly about the day that happened being “the end” for those who tried to do it , what do you do? You and the other two amigos raised the stakes by saying you were “reviewing your stance” on the constitutional discussions. In other words, signalling that you might refuse to take part and elevating the national temperature yet again.
In his comments to 4.5 – which described Grubsheet as “the regime and Fiji Sun propagandist” – Beddoes let fly with a stream of personal criticism that steered well clear of addressing the concerns we’d raised. “Graham Davis is obviously a desktop journalist whose opinions are based largely on impressions gathered from people in Fiji who share his and the Fiji Sun’s prejudices and bias. Davis and the Fiji Sun are either ill prepared for, or simply afraid to engage in, any real and balanced debate on all of the issues that will arise as we start the journey back to constitutional governance”, he said.
Let’s get one thing straight, Mick. I’m not fearful of engaging in any debate. In fact I ran the last statement you emailed me – also personally critical – in full. But what I am fearful of are the consequences for the nation as a whole of your provocative and irresponsible statements. As I’ve written before, this is a time for cool heads and a determined effort by all people of goodwill in Fiji to restore the country to democratic rule. It is not a time to inflame an already delicate situation with the ludicrous taunt that those who currently hold power could be jailed for life when that power is returned to the people.
Let’s also get another thing straight – the reason you are adopting the stance that you are. I suspect that it suits you to threaten to withdraw from the constitutional discussions – complaining about “threats” and a climate of fear – because you don’t want a new constitution at all. You want the old one back – the 1997 version – because it renders you and the other two amigos relevant when a future one may not. Why? Because instead of relying on your existing power bases in the country – “general electors” in your case, i’taukei in the case of Laisenia Qarase, and a large number of Indo-Fijians in the case of Mahendra Chaudhry – you will have to build new ones. You will need to devise policies that appeal to all races and contest multiracial seats for the first time. And only candidates with a multiracial following will have any chance of succeeding.
Scary, isn’t it Mick? All the old political paradigms in Fiji – the ones you’ve all built entire careers on – out the window. So scary that the grandees of Fiji politics – Qarase, Chaudhry and Beddoes – are prepared to morph from career-long adversaries into the most unlikely bedfellows in a joint effort to retain the comfy old framework on which their political lives depend. Hold that thought, Mick, and let’s go one step further.
You know that elements in the military are sensitive about the prospect of any return to the previous order. Yet instead of assuaging their fears – the responsible thing to do – you provoke them. You give them visions of languishing in jail for the rest of their lives. Now, why would you do that? Is it because you hope they will overreact, reinstate the Public Emergency Regulations and censorship so that you gain some kind of personal political advantage? That the Three Amigos can proclaim to the world – ” see, they’re bullies who can’t be trusted, just like we said all along?” That Professor Yash Ghai and his team on the Constitutional Commission will abandon the process? That the return to democracy in Fiji is actually delayed? Because that’s what it’s starting to look like to some people like me.
I’m not a propagandist for the regime or the Fiji Sun, Mick. I propagate the notion of a stable, prosperous multiracial Fiji as opposed to the racism and corruption of the past. When you threaten the military, you are propagating conflict not stability. When you call for the retention of the 1997 Constitution, it isn’t for the good of the country but for the good of Mick Beddoes, Laisenia Qarase and Mahendra Chaudhry. It’s the way you all came to power in the first place, riding the communal wave. But it’s the politics of division – the old order – that has hampered Fiji’s development, not advanced it. And I happen to think that most Fijians have had enough.
This article has subsequently appeared in the Fiji Sun.
FURTHER READING ( ADDED ON JUNE 19TH): A withering critique of Mick Beddoes and his racial attitudes by the New Zealand academic commentator Crosbie Walsh.
a post from coupfourpointfive..excellent summation of davis the loser and mick the mighty..
Except for the reprintings in the Fiji Sun and C4.5, who reads Graham Davis’ writings anymore? What used to be a useful counter-perspective has long since plunged into a death spiral of dishonest spin. The guy actually seems to take pride in serving as the shill for an illegal, despotic regime that daily suppresses fellow journalists. That’s pretty despicable. Calamity can bask now in his notoriety, but it will hang around his neck like an albatross for the rest of his life.
Beddoes is twice the man Davis is. I can easily imagine how Davis would twist this observation into a wisecrack about Mick’s girth, because that is the kind of shallow person Davis is, as if Davis couldn’t afford to shed a few pounds himself. The real measure is their comparative probity, integrity and morality.
Beddoes stands up to and challenges the illegal dictator. Davis stands up for and apologises for the tyrant. For all his flaws, the former is the example of a man of courage. The latter is an example of a quisling.
Davis characterises the political atmosphere in Fiji as ‘febrile’. Well, if Fiji is febrile after five years of dictatorship under Bainimarama, it is because of the Commodore’s tyrannical and corrupt mismanagement.
Davis obviously wants to see a deal cut that would grant Bainimarama and co-treasonists amnesty and probably perpetuate their power. Mick’s approach is moderate and honorable. It rejects such a deal, recognising that Fiji can never return to the rule of law so long as a thug like Bainimarama holds a gun to its head. Bear in mind that Beddoes is only discussing life in prison, which is normally the minimum sentence for treason. Death by hanging is more the standard.
Beddoes’ remarks were hardly a taunt, but a signal that amnesty for Bainimarama’s treason is far from a foregone conclusion. And we would do well to support Beddoes in clinging to this principled position. Why concede to Bainimarama at the outset of discussions the chief object of his desire? Amnesty for Bainimarama only invites greater arrogance and intransigence on his part and encourages more treasonous coups in the future.
And what’s this nonsense about Beddoes’ remarks having prompted Bainimarama’s reaction? Beddoes’ remarks did not ‘prompt’ anything. Bainimarama has long sought a convenient excuse with which to ‘postpone’ the elections. He doesn’t want an election, and he certainly doesn’t want a referendum on his failed leadership.
The fact that Bainimarama is ready to grasp at any pretext should not deter the opposition from holding the regime’s feet to the fire. A coward like Bainimarama will do anything to escape from accountability, but men of courage should follow Beddoes’ example by insisting on justice.
s/ Dakuwaqa
Terry, how odd and faintly sad when the media advisor to the Prime Minister of Samoa is reduced to cutting and pasting the contributions of others from other websites onto Grubsheet. Don’t you have anything original to say of your own? Or are you still smarting from the humiliation we caused you by exposing your potty-mouthed racist rantings and predilection for chasing transvestites into nightclub toilets?
no, i think that poster summed it up real nice..i have nothing to add to it..and no, like i said, really don’t care about the bs you write about me..cause it aint true..hihi
Beddoes was once a solid politician.
But too much media attention has gotten to him.
Now we see he is in love with himself.
Trying too hard to maintain a tough guy image to impress his vote bank.
Result: engages his mouth before his brains.
His comments were ill-timed, stupid, unnecessary, unneeded.
Made to gratify his ego.
Will do nothing constructive for the country.
During a time like this, you need to be smart, circumspect, measured.
We do not barking dogs or Amigos or grandstanding.
Beddows comments were dumb, hollow and reckless.
I was once his supporter but unfortunately his ego is getting in the way of good sense and common sense.
Terry, you say it isn’t true but the evidence is here for all to see in previous postings. And your racism is so overt it’s been condemned by some of your Polynesian colleagues. Guess it’s no surprise, then, that you identify with the racial supremacists in Fiji. So who’s the real loser? You and them, big boy.
there is no evidence because it never happened..you took a post from an anonymous regime supporter on a revealing article I wrote (see http://www.coupfourandahalf.com/2010/09/talk-of-another-coup-revived.html) and tried to present it as fact..what kind of uneducated lowlife scumbag are you? and how dumb do you think people are?..you even went into my fb page and extracted photos from my personal album you piece of shat..christ..
A typical foulmouthed rant, Terry, from a bully who continually hurls boulders from his glass fale yet routinely spews venom when anyone dares to respond with a pebble or two. I’m told that like some problem child, you’ve been indulged for years in regional media forums in the interests of Pacific solidarity. But I’m here to tell you that this particular Palagi – as you insist on describing me – doesn’t believe in indulging second rate, racist thugs. Instead of muttering about your appalling behaviour behind your back – as I’ve witnessed others do – I’m going to call you on it. And if you don’t like it, tough.
PS Terry. What revealing article? That “a third coup in Fiji is imminent and that Ratu Tevita Mara is the man to watch”. It was revealing all right. Of just how gormless you are with a few Fiji Bitters under your belt.
Tevita Mara leading the revolution in Fiji?
Where did that come from?
Mara is an absconding debtor – he owes heaps of money to an engineering outfit in Walu Bay that worked on his ship.
He is also from Lau and his calls for a revolution would not be entertained by people from, say, Viti Levu and other districts who have had enough of the Mara dynasty.
Problem is that Tuilaepa and his advisor, Tavita, swallowed hook, line and sinker the one-sided garbage that Mara and Baledrokdroka fed them at their Canberra meeting. They men are former military men who condoned coups in the first place yet when their snouts were removed from the trough they cried foull and started to seek international support, which, only the Samoans seems to have offerred them (even the Tongans are suspicious of Mara even though he is living in Tonga courtesy of the King).
ooohhh..gee I’m so skurred..bainimarama’s number one arse kisser is gunning for me..oooohhh..
Terry, that’s rich coming from the hired arse kisser of the Samoan prime minister. The difference is that you are a servant. I choose.
the Samoan Prime Minister was democratically elected by the people of Samoa….Bainimarama is a dictator who seized power in a military coup asurping the democratically-elected govt of the day..you kiss his arse and attack his opponents for your own selfish reasons..mick beddoes is a hero and is in fiji to face the music..you are a coward who kisses the dictator’s arse from the comforts of Australia..you seem to suffer from the same delusional mindset Bainimarama suffers from..we are very different, I’m a servant of the people of Samoa, you are a piece of shat..
Terry:
Why don’t you and your PM take your case to Fiji and confront Bainimarama yourselves since you appear to care so much for Fiji, you nilly-livered curse to intelligence? Just be aware that Fiji’s economy is down right now so it won’t be able to purchase brains for you but it can afford toothbrushes to clean foul mouths.
@ Fondle Me
Fiji’s economy is down? Where did you get that?
Last time I checked Fiji’s projected economic growth this years was 2.7% (against the backdrop of the world’s sluggish economy – Greece and Spain to whit).
Export of bauxite will fetch $2 million a month – thats $24 million per annum. Then the mining of iron sand in Ba will fetch @ $70 million a year. Not to mention gold exports, fish, manufacturing goods, tourism etc.
Except for cans of palusami and a bottles of Noni juice, what does Samoa produce?
TAVITA
Why dont you let us indigenous Fijians talk about our government and foreigners like you butt out. We wont poke our nose into Samoas domestic problems because its none of our business. Why are you poking your nose into ours its none of your business.
Terry
Why are you swearing at Bainimarama and calling him names. What has the guy done to you or members of your family to make you hate him so much.
@Komai
Here is an ndependent view on the Fiji economy. Read and Learn
ADB’s Outlook 2012 report describes Fiji’s economic growth as “weak… held back by policy uncertainty and structural constraints” resulting in low levels of private investment.
Private investment level last year fell to a record low of 2% of GDP compared to an average of 11.3% between 2000-2005 and 7.5% between 2006- 2010.
The Bank further warns: “Business level is unlikely to be restored until progress is made on political reform. The drafting of a new constitution this year and the holding of national elections in 2014 will be crucial in this respect.”
It foresaw greater poverty challenges as a result of the weak medium-term macro-economic outlook – unless structural reforms were carried out in a “coherent and coordinated manner”.
In a brief summary heading the report, the Asian Development Bank noted that while tourism was performing well “… other leading sectors such as sugar and textiles, are struggling to compete internationally. Economic prospects are further clouded by weak global markets. Public expenditure is limited by high levels of debt and, longer term, structural reforms are essential for the economy to achieve its growth potential.”
It projects a 1% growth in 2012 and 1.2% in 2013 – lower than government projections – based on likely weak global demand, slow growth in bank lending, low levels of private investment and the effects of the floods in the first quarter of the year.
@ ADB
Great cut and paste job from ADB website!
I was simply regurgitating what the Reseve Bank of Fiji put out in their Press Release # 15 of 1 Jun 2012.
Since you are good at cut and paste jobs, try cut & paste folloiwng link onto your browser
http://www.reservebank.gov.fj/docs2/Press%20Release%20No%20152012%20-%20Revised%20Economic%20Projections.pdf
So tell me ADB (without all that economic claptrap that you obviously lifted from the ADB site), in presenting the figures and projections in the above release, is the Governor of the Reserve Bank (Barry Whiteside) fibbing?
ADB, while I welcome the dissemination of official reports on any matter – along with any opinion here that isn’t obscene or defamatory – this is not a forum for the re-posting of anonymous contributions to other websites. The purported investor referred to in your second posting isn’t named, there is no way to test his or her assertions, and so my view is that it has no credibility at all. It has been deleted.
Well that limits the contributions of those people who live in Fiji or who have family living in Fiji or who have major investments in Fiji.
The regime does not take kindly to critics and that is why so few speak out openly.
You don’t see it that way.
However perhaps you will let me repost the parts that are in the public domain.
The current rate of Fiji Bonds is 9% at least 2% above the level considered sustainable for a developed country. Fiji is far from a developed country.
The lack of a democratic government and the resulting transparency of an open Parliament is more than a minor risk as currently we get no warning about additional taxes that just turn up overnight without any chance of appeal. An example is the recent extension of the HTT to cover all our tourism related investments.
Any new investment in Fiji would require a risk premium of over 10%. This 10% would be on top of the normal return of at least 9% required on an investment in the Pacific. An 19% return is a dream.
There are no Government accounts and we continually hearing of additional loans being taken out by the government without any public disclosure of the interest rates or terms.
These loans have to be paid out of the public accounts and will probably require additional taxes and revenue generation that will cause a deterioration in the investment environment.
ADB, you call it fear, I call it a mask behind which to hide and make any statement, no matter how wild or concocted. It’s a question of judgement whether such comments are accepted. But “a major investor” speaking negatively about aspects of the economy ought to be willing to put his name to such comments if he is motivated by genuine concern. I’m not prepared to use these columns to spread unsubstantiated reports by anonymous individuals that could damage the economy and the jobs of ordinary Fijians.
How noble you sound.
Still the truth speaks for itself. Private investment is at 2%, less than 20% of what it was before the 2006 coup.
Investors are not speaking out with words. they are speaking with their money and not investing it in Fiji.
ADB, yes, the political uncertainty doesn’t help. So what’s your point? I know, there should be an immediate election based on the 1997 Constitution and an end to the “illegal rule” of the dictator. It isn’t going to happen and that’s a political certainty.
What all sides should be doing – in the national interest – is to ensure stability and smooth sailing to the restoration of democratic rule in 2014. That would improve the investment climate. Yet instead of confidence building from the so-called “pro-democracy” forces, we get either nihilism from the extremists or the brand of pessimism you’re peddling here.
You ought to be aware more than most that predictions of economic gloom tend to be self-fulfilling. Doubtless the Eeeyores like you will bay all the way to 2014 but let’s hope that for everyone’s sake, people stop listening and investors of the “glass half-full” variety appear on the horizon. A more democratic Fiji – of equal votes of equal value – and where all citizens are treated equally is bound to have a certain attraction.
Komai:
Thank you. Agree with you 100%. I know the economy is on the rise. Just a slip.
@ Fondle Me
See my response to ADB above
Cheers
I don’t have point other than to point out To Komai that the econonomy is far from being on the up.
But as for the future and the elections I hope they will make a difference. It is well documented that when there are long periods of democracy in Fiji we have substantial growth. When we have coups we have no growth. We have entered the longest period, in out short history, of no elections and surprise surprise we have also entered our longest period of zero economic growth.
Elections should bring about economic revival but only if they are seen to be free and fair and the results respected by all parties including the military.
But for the investment climate to improve we need to see the following:
Independent Judiciary that can challenge Government decrees and or legislation
Consistent law making
No retrospective taxes
A Minister of Finance who understands the subject
A Military that has returned to barracks and only opens it mouth at parades and discussuoins on external security issues