They don’t call Sitiveni Rabuka “The Snake” for nothing. Apart from arguably being the most Machiavellian* politician in Fijian history, the Prime Minister slithers around in his public positions so much that it is sometimes impossible to discern what he stands for from one moment to the next.
This reptilian dexterity means that he often runs rings around his opponents and the domestic mainstream media, which has developed the habit of merely reporting what he says however contradictory it may have been in relation to his previous position the day before.
The latest slither has been to support the notion of the coming election being delayed until a new electoral process is formulated – something that would inevitably take a year or more as new constituency boundaries are drawn – and then backtrack when this is resisted across the political spectrum and even from within the Great Council of Chiefs.
Suddenly, after holding out the prospect of him remaining in office for another year, he changes his tune and tells CFL-Fiji Village that he is going to stick to the current constitutional timetable of the election being held before the end of the first week in February. (see below)
What’s the true position? Who knows? Because history tells us that the Snake is just as likely to slither back to his previous stated preference or slither off in another direction altogether. It’s the way Rolex Rambo has managed to survive in politics for 38 years, con people at various times into believing his protestations that he “has changed” and run rings around would-be challengers like the hapless Mr Goldfinger – Manoa “Leave FICAC to me” Kamikamica.
He has even persuaded many people – including the estimable Nilesh Lal at the Centre for Democracy and Dialogue (formerly Dialogue Fiji) – into believing that the draft constitution produced by the Constitution Review Commission will be what is presented to the parliament. Nilesh has crowed that 17 of the 20 CDD submissions were incorporated into the new draft. But will that still be the case when Rabuka’s cabinet subcommittee is finished with it?
The Prime Minister says the subcommittee has spent the past two weeks “making changes” to the CRC draft. What are they? We will find out soon enough. But you can make a lot of changes to any document in two weeks and counting and we already know that some of the CRC’s recommendations are definitely not to the Snake’s taste or any of his hard-line nationalist supporters.
Grubsheet readers may have wondered why I have made so much of the prospect of a Christian state being declared or certainly an end to the secular state provisions in the 2013 Constitution. As it happens, the CRC draft constitution provides for the state to treat all religions equally, avoiding the term “secular state” but adopting the same principle of neutrality.
But will that survive the Cabinet subcommittee review when we know the Prime Minister’s preference is for a Christian state and that’s what the CRC itself says many of its submissions on the issue favoured? The same applies to its recommendation for a common and equal citizenry – everyone equal irrespective of ethnicity. Will that survive Rabuka’s review?
We know what the Prime Minister thinks from his submission to the Yash Ghai constitutional review commission back in 2012, which has been canvassed anew by Victor Lal at Fijileaks, who published the original document. In relation to the Christian state, it’s all there in black and white:
Has Sitiveni Rabuka changed his opinion in 14 years? Highly unlikely. Just as he hasn’t changed his position from 1987, when he and his supporters placed Christianity – specifically the Methodist Church – at the centre of their two coups to the extent of shutting down any commercial activity and driving picnickers away from beaches.
Does anybody seriously think that when so many of the mostly iTaukei, mostly male, submissions to the Constitution Review Commission also called for a Christian state that will be the end of it? It is literally an article of faith for these people, Rabuka included. Anyway, we shall see if the current “neutral” recommendation survives.
You can read Sitiveni Rabuka’s entire submission to the Yash Ghai Commission by clicking on the following link:
In it, you’ll find another striking submission from the man who continues to refuse to tell us who gave him his $150,000 solid gold Rolex.
While acknowledging that even in 2012, corruption was a big threat to Fiji, Rabuka wasn’t in favour of an independent FICAC to deal with it.
How is this going to manifest itself in the changes being made by the cabinet subcommittee to take to parliament? Again we shall see.
Yet while the popular image of the Prime Minister is that he is woefully inconsistent, on the big issues and especially indigenous paramountcy and Christian paramountcy, he has been very consistent indeed.
Slithering here and there to get what he wants, when he strikes it is invariably with deadly precision. Yep. The Snake. Which is why history tells us that no-one who cares about racial and religious equality can genuinely sleep soundly while Sitiveni Rabuka is moving stealthily through the grass.
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The Master of Ambiguity.
*
And for those of you who couldn’t be bothered reading Rabuka’s full submission to the Yash Ghai Commission, here’s an extract of what he said about the relative merits of a secular or Christian state…
But the triumph of optimism over pessimism over at the Centre for Democracy and Dialogue.
It’s called accentuating the positive. Or wishful thinking, depending on your point of view.
(Click on “CC” in the right hand corner of the following clip to remove the inaccurate and annoying subtitles).
Spot on GD.
Most of us who have been commenting in these columns agree on one thing.
Sitiveni Rabuka cannot be trusted. He hoodwinked the Fiji people at the election, or more accurately, he benefited from the dissatisfaction from Bai Kai era. But if he thinks he can continue to fool the people of Fiji all the time, he is gravely mistaken.
It behoves us all to compile his litany of lies, back flips, contradictions, inconsistencies and above all call out his fundamental genotype. Not a very exciting monograph which can run into volumes! He is a fundamentalist Christian, ethnonationalist often bordering on being a racist.
The ‘vulagis’ should not take solace from anything he says. His action since 1987 speaks louder. He has taken people like Chaudhry and Reddy for a ride, Biman Prasad is a piece of cake or a lamb chop in comparison.
The guy has no conscience or ethics and one cannot expect any fairness or justice from him even as a so called ‘leader’. Even the Pacific and international leadership recognise him for being mean and all about himself and indigenous supremacy.
He will use you and then abuse you. Let us not let him get away with it this time. He is already campaigning, the key reason he stayed away from Palau and now UNSG. He is trying to appease outwardly while remaining anchored firmly in his right wing ideals.
Anyone remember September 25, 1987?
Rabuka staged the second coup…phuck, and he’s still around!!
Unbelievable!!
Mr Rabuka, just a small reminder that history will judge you by what you leave behind, not by what you say from one day to the next.
In 1987 you led the two coups that ended Fiji’s reputation as a model of multiracial harmony. You opened the door to the coup culture that followed, and the country is still paying for it. Fiji lost trust between communities, lost investment and lost many of its most skilled citizens. Every coup since has followed the path you set.
You now have a rare chance to begin putting that right. The Constitution Review Commission has recommended removing coup-related immunity, a two-term limit for the Prime Minister and a military focused on external defence. You have stopped short of backing the repeal of immunity. A Cabinet subcommittee working to your direction has spent two weeks changing the draft before it reaches Parliament. The draft treats all religions equally and makes every citizen equal. Fijians deserve to know whether those principles will survive your review. They also deserve a clear answer on when the election will be held.
So I ask you plainly: what lasting results can you point to for Fiji, beyond the damage that began in 1987?
At this stage of your life, the most statesmanlike thing you could do is step aside with grace. Leave a real succession plan and let a younger, well-educated generation with a wider view of the world lead Fiji towards peace, progress and prosperity. Fiji should be a respectful and respected nation where every citizen belongs equally. Do not use a narrow parliamentary margin to rewrite the country’s foundations around one man’s convictions.
If the current path continues, you risk leaving Fiji weaker and more divided than you found it. The people are watching, and so is the world. Coups can be pardoned, immunity can be written into constitutions and history can be spun, but at the Pearly Gates there is no immunity clause, Mr Rabuka. Reflect on that while you still have time to make amends.
May God Bless Fiji (MGBF)