Simmering community resentment about the performance of the nation’s MPs has spilled over into the Parliament itself with a extraordinary intervention by the Speaker of the House castigating the nation’s representatives for their indolence and collective dereliction of duty.
It is bound to fuel a nascent but growing belief that Fiji’s problems are beyond the ability of the current government to resolve and that an intervention is required by the military under Section 131 of the Constitution to reset the nation’s course.
As the story goes, this would not be a coup in the normal sense but a lawful, constitutional intervention in defence of the security and well-being of the Fijian people involving the dissolving of the current parliament and the appointment of a government of national unity to deal with the multiple challenges of economic collapse, the narcotics trade and its calamitous consequences and a general breakdown of law and order and community discipline.
This is not some wild provocation by Grubsheet, as it will doubtless be portrayed by my critics. Reports are emerging that the RFMF Commander, Major General Ro Jone Kalouniwai, has been actively canvassing who might lead such a government as he comes under intense pressure to act. Quote: “He is looking for someone to lead. He just hasn’t identified that person yet”.
The Commander evidently doesn’t want to lead himself, as Frank Bainimarama did as commander in 2006. The idea is that an individual of impeccable integrity is identified who could assemble a group of technocrats* free of current political influences and with the experience and expertise to deal holistically with the nation’s multiple challenges.
- Why have we reached this point? Because of an abject failure of leadership across a broad front and a mounting belief in those quarters alarmed by present events that the “narco-state” is already upon us – that the corruption of the drug trade has seeped not only into law enforcement agencies but into the ranks of politicians.
- Why can’t Fiji simply wait until the next election in just over seven month’s time? Because the drift is too dangerous. And the chances of a strong government emerging after the election are next to zero, with multiple political parties lining up to contest it almost guaranteeing the increasing “Balkanisation” of Fijian politics – a bidding war for votes followed by prolonged horsetrading for power that produces an even weaker coalition than the nation is currently labouring under with the People’s Alliance, the NFP and SODELPA.
Even what we have seen thus far is ample evidence that the political class is failing – two deputy prime ministers, Biman Prasad and Manoa Kamikamica, facing trial for corruption and a breakdown of cabinet solidarity as Lynda Tabuya joins the unions in calling for a prescription for economic ruin – a $3 an hour increase in the national minimum wage when Fiji’s faces an unprecedented economic crisis because of events in the Middle East.
Why is the notion of such a radical intervention as suspending the parliament now gaining ground? Part of the reason is on the front page of today’s Fiji Times.
The Speaker’s intervention is direct evidence that the nation’s MPs are incapable of dealing with the current situation. Our elected politicians are missing in action and Fiji is drifting dangerously into waters that threaten to engulf the nation altogether.
And lest there be any doubt that this is a reflection of widespread community discontent with the nation’s MPs, here’s what ordinary people have been saying at the current public hearings of the Constitutional Review Commission.
And who is ultimately accountable for all of this? The fish – as the old saying goes – is rotting from the head.
Clueless, as in the Prime Minister’s total failure to cope with the magnitude of Fiji’s problems…
…and corrupt, in that he continues to refuse to divulge the source of his $150,000 solid gold Rolex watch, which is fueling wider perceptions that Sitiveni Rabuka is bent.
And then there is the appalling hypocrisy of it all – the latest being the Love Rat having the audacity to talk about arresting “moral fragmentation” when he is simply the latest Coalition minister to come to the attention of FICAC.
Moral fragmentation? You said it, buster.
There are already 233 reasons why you don’t deserve to be in the parliament at all. And here’s another one.
The truth is that whatever the legal position, there has been a complete breakdown of normal standards of conduct and morality under the Coalition, which now threatens a complete breakdown of Fiji’s ability to function properly as a nation.
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What Section 131 of the Constitution says:
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* Technocrat. A definition from Google AI:
A technocrat is an expert in a specialized technical, scientific, or economic field who holds a position of authority. Rather than following traditional political ideologies, technocrats emphasize data-driven problem-solving, objective empirical evidence, and operational efficiency in decision-making and policy.
The members of any new government, if this one is deposed, should all be from overseas. They should know exactly nothing about Fiji, Fijians and its traditions and culture. They must be totally independent. Before they depose the government, they should first depose the judiciary and the President.
Wouldn’t that be most satisfying, if this dickhead PM were removed at the barrel of a gun. We would have come full circle then, even though it will be some 40 years later.
I would like to see that please.
Graham, I think you posted this as a comment by mistake – didn’t you mean this as an update to your article?
Very droll. When I think an update is warranted, I can assure you that I’ll publish it in the usual manner.
As a matter of fact, the notion of bringing people in from overseas who know nothing about Fiji is something I don’t support and neither, I’d imagine, would most people. Though I understand the sentiment, given the apparent scarcity of incorruptible local talent or at least those with no conflicts of interest under the circumstances.
As a matter of interest, can anyone name someone outside politics who Kalouniwai could appoint to right the ship of state? I’m sure he’d appreciate any suggestions as well.
Bring back Aiyaz I say
I second that.
But deeply ingrained racism, personal and religious hatred stands in the way. People would rather let this country sink than get Bainimarama and Aiyaz, who can definitely bring about the much needed turnaround.
‘…right the ship of state…’ are words that might not sit well when referencing the Fiji military as rotund Humphrey will attest.
The Speaker of Parliament calling out the behavior of members of parliament for their conduct, attendance and their lack of commitment to Parliament and the people of Fiji says it all.
With the Government holding a significant majority they are the chief culprits to whom the speaker is taking aim at, which points to a lack of leadership and discipline. The people of Fiji are being failed by those they elected! The opposition, what there is of it, are no better, they have failed to hold the government to account and have on occasions been happy with mediocrity of this Government.
I said in another article the rise of the drug nightmare is aligned to the election of this Government and I stand by that. It will not end whilst Rabuka and his cohort remain in power.
Will an election, due in the next 7 months, solve the problems besetting Fiji, I doubt it as I don’t see any of the current parties having either the capacity or the people to undo what this Government has created. A coalition of parties will be no better than what is already there now.
Perhaps the mooted military takeover and an appointed Government is the solution!
The best prime minister that Fiji never had was Mr Savenaca Siwatibau.
I’m not sure if Mrs Suliana Siwatibau is still around? Maybe too old now.
Filimone Jitoko would make a decent interim prime minister.
GD, sorry to be a buzzkill, but Section 131 of the Constitution is not worth the paper it’s written on.
Your oft used picture analogy aptly applies: when pigs fly.
There is not one person untainted by the current currency of corruption to even attempt to fix the dire straits the nation finds itself deliberately driven to.
The quagmire is too deep, and the valley of trouble is filled with too many skeletons.
We cannot trust people who are part of the problem to fix the problems they created.
The nation is at a standstill. A never before seen impasse. Dysfunction has been the name of the game.
It is imperative that the general elections happen on schedule.
That is our only hope–even as hope springs eternal.
The government’s a mess, no doubt about it.
The Speaker’s blast at MPs, the corruption trials, the economic drift, all of that shows how badly the political class is failing. But the idea that the military should step in under Section 131 of the Constitution to “reset” things is just as dangerous as any coup we’ve seen before.
Calling it lawful doesn’t change the reality: it’s still the army stepping into politics, and history tells us that once they do, they don’t step back out quietly.
Section 131 says the RFMF is responsible “to ensure at all times the security, defence and wellbeing of Fiji and all Fijians.”
That’s about protecting the nation, not dissolving parliament or appointing technocrats.
Security isn’t the same thing as governance. If the military starts interpreting that clause as a licence to run the country, then every future government will live under the shadow of the barracks. That’s not stability, that’s permanent uncertainty.
Look around the world.
– Myanmar’s generals claimed they were acting lawfully in 2021, what they delivered was civil war and economic collapse.
– Pakistan’s repeated “constitutional” interventions by the army left democracy in tatters and corruption entrenched.
– Nigeria’s soldiers promised stability but gave the country decades of stagnation.
– Pinochet in Chile justified his takeover as saving the nation, but it brought torture and repression.
– Guinea’s military swore their rule was temporary in 2021, yet they’re still clinging to power.
– Indonesia’s Suharto lasted three decades under military backing, collapsing only after economic meltdown and mass protests.
Everywhere you look, military “resets” end in dictatorship, corruption, and ruin.
And Fiji knows this story too.
Since 1987, every time the military has stepped in, coup or not, the country’s been left divided, poorer, and less democratic. Even now, factions inside the RFMF are jostling for influence.
Handing them the keys under Section 131 would be like inviting the fox into the henhouse. Once they’re in, they’ll delay elections, silence critics, and entrench themselves. That’s not a reset; that’s a rerun of disaster.
Yes, MPs are failing. Yes, corruption is rife. But the answer isn’t to hand the country over to the military. The answer is to strengthen institutions, civil society, and push for elections, however messy they may be.
Democracy may be untidy, but it’s the only system that lets us change governments without guns.
I agree with you in principle. But the country’s institutions cannot be strengthened when they are controlled by the corrupt and appointments are made on patronage that then becomes entrenched and self perpetuating.
You are wrong to put Fiji in the same category as those nations to which you refer. After seizing power in 2006, Frank Bainimarama returned Fiji to parliamentary rule in 2014 under a constitution that guarantees rights for all citizens. He also improved service delivery and made fundamental breakthroughs like free schooling and a Bill of Rights for all citizens.
However much he didn’t like it, Bainimarama stood aside when he lost the 2022 election by a margin of one vote on the floor of the House. So contrary to what you say about the military never surrendering power, it has happened in Fiji before and the evidence is there for everyone to see.
Bainimarama’s failure was to take home his bat and ball in 2022 when he was forced into opposition instead of staying on to keep the bastards honest. Had he done so, FijiFirst – which won more votes than any other party in 2022 – would have thundered back into power at the coming election.
And if they had stayed in the parliament, Frank and Aiyaz might arguably have been in a better position to stave off arrest for their alleged abuses of power. Why? Simply on the basis that as sitting MPs, it would have been harder to prosecute them without accusations of a witch-hunt against the Opposition and a resulting outcry in Fiji and abroad.
In the meantime, whatever they might have done to weaken the nation’s institutions has accelerated under Rabuka, with a corrupt Chief Justice completely out of control and a properly constituted Supreme Court Commission of Inquiry seemingly about to be junked.
And you’re saying that democracy is working? That requires men and women of decency and integrity. And unfortunately even in the parliament, judging from the Speaker’s comments, people of decency and integrity are in perilously short order. And in the meantime, the fabric of Fijian society is being torn apart by the drug trade, whose tentacles are rapidly reaching every level of public life.
The word from the Camp is that ordinary troops deployed as part of the joint RFMF-Police Task Force are now being tempted by bribes and that is causing all sorts of concern in the upper reaches of the military. And if that is true, we are on a very slippery slope in which no-one can be trusted not to succumb to the blandishments of the drug barons.
My point is that this crisis is deepening at the same time as our institutions are failing and our MPs simply aren’t doing their jobs. Something has got to give. And it is highly doubtful that an election in which the vote is splintered even further and horsetrading and corruption reaches a new level is going to fix anything. The next Coalition is almost certain to be more unstable and ineffective than the current one and just as incapable of dealing with Fiji’s mounting challenges.
I want to begin by saying that I agree with you on many things, and I genuinely appreciate and enjoy your articles. I always look forward to reading them. Truthfully, having a stimulating back and forth with someone who doesn’t share my views is enriching, and unfortunately those chances are few and far between nowadays. So I value this exchange.
That said, this is one area where I cannot agree.
The government has failed badly, yes, but the idea that the military should step in under Section 131 to “reset” things is not the answer. The military is not equipped to govern a civilian population in peacetime. Their training is in defence and security, not in managing the complexities of an economy, a judiciary, or a parliament. When they’ve tried to govern before, the results have been intimidation, weakened institutions, and fear.
Between 2006 and 2014, ordinary citizens were taken into the Queen Elizabeth Barracks and subjected to beatings and threats simply for voicing their concerns. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch documented multiple cases of unionists, activists, and ordinary people being detained and assaulted during that period. Some of those people included members of my own family.
That period wasn’t about good governance, it was about silencing dissent.
Yes, Bainimarama eventually returned Fiji to parliamentary rule in 2014, but only after eight years of authoritarian control under a constitution written by the military itself. That’s not a clean handover; it’s a controlled transition.
And while he did step aside in 2022, that was one man, under pressure, doing so once. It doesn’t prove the institution itself will always surrender power.
Fiji’s own history since 1987 shows repeated interventions that weakened institutions and entrenched patronage. That’s why our institutions are fragile now.
You say the military surrendered power in 2022 when Bainimarama lost by one vote. But that was an exception, not the rule.
The broader lesson from history is that once the military is legitimised as a political actor, it becomes a permanent shadow over civilian rule. And let’s be honest: the military itself is not immune to corruption.
The drug scourge has also seeped into their ranks and funnily enough, Suva’s largest Red Zone sits beside the QEB. A recent,”show of force” at Topline was conducted in the area where no drugs are sold but the young “entrepreneur’s” who peddle wares closer to Mead Road were allowed to continue with business as usual. Make of that what you will.
Even the Commander, maintains only slim control over factions inside the military who want him out so they can take over. The internal politics in the barracks are just as messy as what we see in parliament.
Handing them political power doesn’t cleanse corruption; it risks spreading it deeper.
Yes, democracy requires men and women of integrity, and right now that’s in short supply. But elections, however messy, remain the only mechanism that allows peaceful change.
Military resets, however “constitutional,” always end up concentrating power in fewer hands. That’s not a cure, it’s a relapse.
The Speaker’s frustration with MPs is valid, but frustration is not a licence to dissolve parliament. The answer is to demand better from elected leaders, strengthen institutions, and hold them accountable, not to invite the barracks back into government.
So yes, Fiji’s crisis is real. But history shows that military intervention, however dressed up, only deepens the rot. Democracy may be untidy, but it’s the only system that lets us change governments without guns.
I too appreciate having an intelligent exchange with you on this and you make some very valid points. I am not a cheerleader for military rule and would be more impressed had the current Commander drawn a definitive line under the extrajudicial killings of the past. Instead he has presided over one – the killing of Jone Vakarisi – that is even more egregious than the heat-of-the-moment response to the mutineers of 2000 and then lied about the circumstances.
Where we differ is that you describe democracy – meaning the current order – as untidy when it is, in fact, dysfunctional. No-one is talking about “inviting the barracks back into government”. As I understand it, the notion on the table is that the military would intervene only to make way for a new civilian government capable of arresting the nation’s decline under the existing order and with a view to the eventual restoration of party political rule down the track.
Given the growing national crisis, I am not alone in wondering whether that might be a preferable alternative to the current dysfunction. But let’s see what happens. At the very least, let’s hope the threat of intervention persuades the government, and the Prime Minister in particular, to wake up to themselves and start governing a lot more effectively.
AI yawn
…the answer is to strengthen institutions, civil society….
Baloney sandwich filled with a steaming pile of bull crap. A pipe dream if not a pie in the sky.
Nothing can be strengthened –“institutions,” civil service, police, military, narcotics control, corrections services, parliamentry offices, odpp, AG, SG, high court registrar, high court led by Saleshni Temo, presidents office, pm’s office, ITLTB, investment climate, health ministry, HIV control, drug control, education minister, ministry, curriculum, teaching faculty, and a myriad quasi-government “corporate” bodies et al–nothing can be strengthened.
Not with the entrenched entho-nationalist kilavata, kaivata, totavata, vuvale, provincialism, racism, or bigotry.
All the above, plus non-merit-based hiring and appointments combined or separately, can undo the mass vandalism, thuggery, corruption,
‘vakavitalia,’ devil may care attitudes are now too far entrenched and pervasive to across the board to “strengthen institutions.”
Hear, hear. GD stokes this little BBQ of his every few months, but, quite simply, he doesn’t live here. And he doesn’t like how the natives run things, unless he’s being paid by the government to help.
I call things as I see them and what I see, albeit from a distance, is not a pretty sight. On any honest appraisal, I have a record of helping “the natives” in power when they are capable of “running things” and challenging them when I regard them as no longer capable of running things. Which is where we are now. And it doesn’t matter which side of politics it is.
What happens here is called political commentary and you can take it or leave it. And where I happen to live is neither here nor there. There are actually hundreds of thousands of Fiji citizens living abroad who have just as much right as the locals to comment on their nation of birth. And I am one of them.
ooah ooah oo oo
Drastic times calls for drastic (legal) solutions.
One wonders why a persistent element of society are so afraid of the military solution as defined in the constitution, albeit, as the natives often bleat and cry, a constitution “shoved down our throat.”
The truth is the possibility the shoe being on the other foot is an extremely uncomfortable thought.
Not if an Indo – or “Hindi” was PM, then off with s/he’s head! The sooner the better, would be call of ethno-nationalists in every corner. Save the nation! Save the itaukei! It has never been explained save who from whom/what.
They’d be mass protests, street marches, wild racists rallies, religious bigots screaming foul at every public square, followed by the military jumping the gun. Bigotry and hypocrisy at its best.
What more can be expected in a nation where the police commissioner was fired and rehired, where the attorney general is removed and reappointment, cabinet ministers are removed (porn queen, business class sports minister) and reappointed, where not one, but two(!) deputy prime ministers face criminal charges, where we have a pedo prez, and a rogue racist CJ, all led by a treasonous snake Sona Rolex-sorry-ass excuse PM.
The main problem we have is zero accountability that goes hand in hand with bad governance.
Here is the total decisions taken by this govt:
– tax holiday
– pay rise for MPs
– debt write off for students
– VAT up
If there have been other decisions or changes then pls someone post them as I can’t believe this is it.
Watch how nobody will take responsibility for this mess as it’s always someone else’s fault.
– Free pilgrimage to the holy land on Fiji Airways
– Opening an embassy in Jerusalem in the middle of a genocide being committed by Isreal
– reappointing the sexed up whore to be Information Minister
– reappointing the Sports Minister after whatever he did
– appointing a first class idiot as CJ
– appointing firts classless idiots in the office of the ODPP
– sweeping the findings of the FICAC Commission under the carpet
Enough said
Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka says he is fit to contest the next general elections.
He shared this with the media today outside Parliament when questioned on some people raising issues about his age and health.
Rabuka says his doctor says he is fit, and he is fit enough to contest.
The Prime Minister adds his party thinks he is still able to lead the party, and that is what matters, and the people will have to decide.
“A leader who cannot see the ruin he has caused is not merely unfit — he is dangerous. Fiji does not need another election where Sitiveni Rabuka tests his doctor’s note. What Fiji needs is a reckoning. When one man has broken almost everything and still believes he is the solution, the only answer left is the people’s decisive rejection. Enough is enough.”
This in answer to Farknuckle Rabuka suggesting he is fit to run again in today’s media outlets.
Khaiyum ain’t the answer either as someone suggested, he too didn’t realise when he went too far (arrogant) on many occasions, and became public enemy #1, the very reason FF lost, in there too long.
Maybe a mix of current statutory board members, interviewed by an international panel of professionals, can form an interim administration and operate within the existing constitution until elections are held again.
“A leader who cannot see the ruin he has caused is not merely unfit — he is dangerous. Fiji does not need another election where Sitiveni Rabuka tests his doctor’s note. What Fiji needs is a reckoning. When one man has broken almost everything and still believes he is the solution, the only answer left is the people’s decisive rejection. Enough is enough, boot the bastard out”
The majority of us kaicolos think the sun shines out of his manky starfish so are happy to have him as our messiah as long as it keeps the hindis as 3rd class citizens.
What will Fiji do without Rabuka!
The man is indispensable. Just ask him!
People still cannot get enough of him after 40years of nothing. It is a talent not many have – the talent to get people to want you to be still around to deliver nothing. Maybe it is the people who are stupid.
The PM is delusional. He needs to take the corrupt CJ, President and his incompetent cabinet and suck sugarcane.
Time’s up, you useless bunch of self serving corrupt bastards.
Luke Daunivalu would be a strong candidate for the prime ministership and could provide the leadership needed to move Fiji forward.
Hypothetically, would there be a remote possibility the FMF “installs” the present PM with a totally new interim Cabinet? Probably inviting a few other Political party leaders to form an interim Government? But time barred for 6 months or less to end of the year NE.
How about Turaga Tui Lau as interim PM?…..uh…or…uh…. even Charlie Charters, he seems to have his fingers in all the blooming pies, from Valavala Estate to now be a claimed guardian of the Fifth estate!
Homer Simpson in a mumu for PM? He’s not even one of the Simpsons from Savusavu. Pass. 🙂