Aseri Radrodro is totally without shame and so is the party that continues to support him even though he is a proven domestic violence abuser, lied about his “brutal” sexual entanglement with Lynda Tabuya and now thinks he can defy the Prime Minister’s decision to sack him as Minister for Education for disobedience and insubordination.
Grubsheet can scarcely believe that the SODELPA General Secretary, Viliame Takayawa, would have the temerity to say that the party is being treated by Sitiveni Rabuka as “a submissive woman to an abusive partner”. What an astonishing analogy!
Aseri Radrodro bashed the Prime Minister’s daughter – his former wife – to within an inch of her life and Sitiveni Rabuka found her semi-conscious in the family home, bruised and bloodied. And the SODELPA General Secretary talks about the Prime Minister being an abusive partner? It is genuinely obscene.
SODELPA barely got across the 5 per cent threshold at the last election and is the runt of the Coalition government, wielding any power at all only because its three MPs, including Aseri Radrodro, hold the balance of power. Three out of 55 MPs in the Parliament is not a mandate from the Fijian people to inflict chaos. Yet SODELPA now sees itself entitled to bring the government to its knees by defying the Prime Minister’s decision to remove Radrodro from the education portfolio when he is patently unfit to be in charge of the future of the nation’s young people. Or in charge of anything, for that matter.
As Savenaca Narube points out, it is the prerogative of a prime minister in any other democracy to pick and choose his ministers. Yet in Fiji, the Prime Minister, and the nation, are held to ransom by a thug and his gaggle of sponsors in the minor party of the Coalition who see themselves entitled to threaten national stability and confidence at the worst possible time. To the outside world, the Fijian government now presents itself is a rabble of competing personalities and interests. And it is becoming a genuine concern among Fiji’s economic movers and shakers why anyone would want to invest in Fiji or lend it money when the future direction of the country is so unpredictable.
To save a man who is not worth saving, the party that holds the balance of power is seemingly prepared to bring down the whole house of cards. SODELPA wants Sitiveni Rabuka replaced as Prime Minister by Manoa Kamikamica. And if it doesn’t get what it wants, it is threatening to bring down the government altogether, presumably with a no-confidence motion in Rabuka that would see SODELPA side with FijiFirst in a parliamentary vote and the Coalition would be gone.
What planet do these people inhabit? Not this one that’s for sure. Indeed it is quite reasonable under the circumstances to assume that it is the Planet of the Apes – a troop of unruly primates threatening to trash the furniture to save a woman basher, a lying philanderer and someone so arrogant that he thinks he can defy the head of government and the man whose daughter he almost killed. Seriously. Who the hell do these people think they are?
Incredibly, the SODELPA management has instructed Aseri Radrodro to keep turning up at the Education Ministry as if nothing has happened until it meets again next Friday. He has been dismissed as the minister. So if he does have the gall to show his face at the office tomorrow, he is clearly at risk of being arrested for trespassing.
If FijiFirst is to have anything to do with SODELPA in any future power play, it won’t be because of Aseri Radrodro. He is political poison and there is no way anyone who knows them thinks that Frank Bainimarama and Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum – who still control the biggest party in the parliament – would accommodate him. His presence in any FijiFirst-dominated Coalition would undermine all of the advances in women’s rights that took place under the last government and it simply isn’t going to happen. Aseri Radrodro has nowhere to go except into political oblivion where he belongs.
What Fiji desperately needs is a fresh election to end the current deadlock and its threat to stability and the health of the economy. While there can be a vote of no-confidence in the Prime Minister now that could produce a change of government if the PM loses that vote, there can’t be a fresh election under the terms of the Constitution until June – 18 months after the December 2023 election. And the way things are going, June can’t come soon enough.
Whatever combination of parties and people that emerges from a new act of choice has got to be better than this rabble. The Fijian people voted for change a year ago but not change for the worse. And the sooner they are given the opportunity to put an end to this circus, the better off the whole country will be.
As a senior officer of state – speaking on condition of anonymity – put it this morning, Viliame Takayawa’s statement that Radrodro should still go to the Ministry after the Prime Minister has removed him is tantamount to inciting a coup d’etat.
“If Aseri is stupid enough to turn up at the Ministry, he should be arrested. Takayawa’s statement is extraordinary. It’s simply not possible to be born that dumb. You really have to work on it”, this official said.
Manoa Kamikamica would actually make an excellent Prime Minister. He is the only Minister who hasn’t replaced his CEOs and Permanent Secretaries. Unlike his colleagues, Siromi and Baiman, Kamikamica is not on a witch hunt and is quite popular among both races. He is the change that people hoped for, a man with class and a man who is simply doing his job.
Both races? I beg your pardon but there are Fijian citizens of ethnicities other than indigenous or from the former British India, despite what John Rabuku might think about white people. Or Banabans, Kai Solomoni or any number of others.
SODELPA presumably wants Manoa Kamikamica to replace Sitiveni Rabuka on the basis that he would accept Aseri Radrodro staying on as Minister for Education when Rabuka would not. Let’s hear from Manoa Kamikamica if that indeed would be the case.
Whatever his ambitions, to his credit Manoa tells the Fiji Times today that Rabuka is the Prime Minister and has the right to do what he has done. When it comes to Aseri Radrodro, he should also privately tell the SODELPA management that it is “no banana” if they think anything would be different under him.
It is a sad day for Fiji and vindicates that the coalition party’s number one priority was to get rid of Fiji First Party and NOT to bring positive changes to the country. Whilst most lauded the change, what was missed is the “shaky ground” the so called political marriage was built on. It was just the matter of time before the coalition marriage would come undone as the focus would become political survival rather than positive and sustainable development. Political survival breeds “individualism” and eradicates any chances of teamwork which politically means always putting the need of the nation first. The current volatile scenario is not a surprise because the course was set on the wrong footing from the word go. The I’Taukei practice of “Vere vaka Bau” is very much alive and it ensured the coalition marriage was going to be torpedoed at some point. When will we I’Taukei learn? My mind boggles.
I hope there is a fresh general election but dont be surprised if its not SODELPA but NFP that disappears into political oblivion.
I and many others that I know wont be voting for Biman or NFP ever again. Maybe its time for other smaller parties to unite and form a party that holds a balance of power. I’d love to see Savenaca Narube in government.
I suspect the FFP may already be tempting SODELPA with promises and given Aseri was the lone wolf who voted against the coalition and wanted to side with a FFP coalition, there is a possibility this may still happen.
A snap election may be called and this will also be the end of the NFP because the Indian community has seen the treacherous nature of the lecherous and narcissistic Biman.
I just find it ironic that Rabuka used the issue of the FNU chairmanship saga that happened in April or some time close to that as the excuse for the dismissal. While not addressing the big white tusky elephant in the room of adultery and fornication as you have exposed as the reason.
Sodelpa then goes ahead to ask PM to step aside while not addressing the issue of said adultery with its member.
I strongly believe that SODELPA Mangement Board should just sack Radrodro and replace him with whoever is next in line (I believe it’s Ro Teimumu).
Radrodro should go. Viliame Waka who is a known FFP mole should go and everyone in SODELPA who could NOT give a word of reason and correct the issue of adultery!
RADRODRO’S PHONE WASNT HACKED, SOMEONE WHO KNEW THAT PHONE PASSWORD SCREENSHOT THE MESSAGES AND LEAKED IT TO YOU GUYS.
THAT IS THE EVIDENCE FOR DISMISSAL, but everyone is turning a blind eye!
Rabuka should just come out and mention the real reason for dismissal, and GS from PAP to do the right thing and also reprimand Lynda…and we all know how Lynda always has a trump card up her sleeve…definitely that is another story on its own.
And just as you said, “country being held to ransom” all because of what happened in room 233!
The silence of people like Richard “Fiji Water” Naidu is deafening on matters that he would jump up and down on if FijiFirst was in government.
What guarantee will FijiFirst get if Sodelpa turns its back on the coalition govt and comes running to them? Will they not eventually run back or join other parties when things don’t go their way? Sodelpa is known for its many complexities and personal agendas and would not settle in well with any political party. They will just bring chaos.The party has the least number of seats in the parliament and that’s a reflection of their lack of popularity with Fijian voters. But they still think they can overrule the decisions of the leadership of the leading party in the Coalition.