In an astonishing assault on the “New Order”, the human rights lawyer, women’s advocate and Asian Development Bank staffer, Imrana Jalal, has alleged corruption at the pinnacle of the state involving the Acting Chief Justice, Salesi Temo, and the President, Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu, that is sending shockwaves through the establishment and wider community.
Jalal has made sensational claims in a Facebook posting that nothing has changed under the Coalition government in terms of cronyism and nepotism. She alleges that the President is manoeuvring to have his relative by marriage, Salesi Temo, confirmed as the substantive chief justice against the wishes of the Fiji Law Society and the women’s movement. Which if true, is an abuse of power unprecedented in recent history that the Prime Minister, Sitiveni Rabuka, must block if the Coalition is to retain any of its tattered credibility.
Imrana Jalal says in her Saturday posting that Temo is to be confirmed as chief justice “next week” (this coming week now that it is Sunday. ie before Christmas) and that the nation will be “saddled with him for decades”. This would be a catastrophe for Fiji given Temo’s woeful mismanagement of the judiciary and violations of the Constitution and must not be allowed to happen. It is an urgent imperative for the legal fraternity as a whole to join Jalal in publicly stating that Temo is unfit to be CJ and they will not accept his authority. And for opposition members of the parliament to also publicly take a stand against the appointment.
This posting has added piquancy because of recent reports that the Attorney General, Graham Leung, has been pressing for Imrana Jalal – a close friend – to be appointed to the substantive position of chief justice instead of Salesi Temo. Whether that is true or not remains to be seen. But Imrana Jalal has just thrown a bomb under the establishment with her allegation of collusion between the President and Acting CJ to bypass all convention and simply have Temo installed.
As Grubsheet has long reported, Salesi Temo is a rogue judge who has been at the root of a great deal of upheaval in the criminal justice system. And the notion that being related by marriage to Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu should entitle him to head the judiciary is an outrage. If the appointment goes ahead, Temo will be a polarising figure bereft of credibility for years to come and the reputation of the judiciary will be permanently tarnished.
Imrana Jalal’s intervention is highly significant from someone with an important constituency in Fiji not only in the women’s movement but the law. And it comes just before the Christopher Pryde Tribunal is due to deliver its report to the President on the allegations against the DPP of misbehaviour (tomorrow Dec 23), with speculation in legal circles that Pryde is about to be exonerated despite Salesi Temo portraying him as a thief. We must now be extremely apprehensive that Ratu Naiqama will save Salesi Temo from embarrassment by terminating the DPP irrespective of what the Tribunal judges recommend.
If what Imrana Jalal is alleging is true, it is Salesi Temo who should be on trial for misbehaviour. And if it is true that Ratu Naiqama – Sitiveni Rabuka’s chief – has been playing politics behind the scenes to secure the confirmation of Salesi Temo as chief justice, his position too is untenable and he must also go.
Read on and be genuinely shocked that this is the state of the nation two years into this rabble. It is a year since the Prime Minister reportedly assured the Fiji Law Society that because of his violations of the Constitution, Salesi Temo would not be confirmed as Chief Justice. What has changed? Temo’s relative, the Tui Cakau, is now the head of state. And as well as being a convicted criminal and someone who impregnated a 15-year old girl, Ratu Naiqama clearly thinks that appointing his cousin’s husband to head the judiciary is in his gift.
Fiji is becoming a full-blown banana republic whose institutions of state are being trashed by a clique who came to power at the last election by the barest of margins – one vote on the floor of the parliament. No right-thinking Fijian can possibly accept what is happening. It is corruption at the pinnacle of the state with a complete absence of integrity or shame.
For Sitiveni Rabuka, the choice is stark. Stand up to his chief, the President, or face the wrath of the electorate at the next election. The current degradation of our institutions simply cannot continue for the Coalition to have any hope of being re-elected. Rabuka must stop playing Pontius Pilate and pretending that he can wash his hands of responsibility for what is happening. The Prime Minister must intervene to steady the ship of state or he will go under with the rest of the government in 2026.
Allowing the President to seize executive authority to benefit a relative is an absolute scandal and a betrayal of Rabuka’s own duty as Prime Minister. And if this appointment goes ahead, it will be the end of his rumoured plan to go to the country early in 18 month’s time – which the Constitution allows – to catch the opposition parties napping and secure an absolute majority for the People’s Alliance.
Under Sitiveni Rabuka’s leadership, the very future of the nation and its institutions now lies in the balance. And it is time for Fijians of integrity and principle to take a stand.
We don’t know who the signatories of this letter are but we are bound to find out soon enough. Extraordinary and a clear sign that the government’s credibility and that of the State is disintegrating.
Imrana Jal’s current position at the Asian Development Bank. From her LinkedIn profile:
The President playing politics is an understatement. He is the master tactician behind the scene. Why else would a convict be escalated to the presidency. Looking at his health conditions, he may also become the first president to die during the tenure. A sick man both physically and mentally!!
The interesting thing, as Imrana Jalal points out in her post, is that the ACJ Temo is in fact confirmed and will be in next week. So, barring some sort of divine intervention – it looks like he’ll be the substantive CJ by Christmas.
It must be stopped at all costs. The man is evil.
What can be done to stop him? They have absolute power to do what they want in Fiji?
It is for the Fiji Law Society and other organisations, including the women’s movement, to issue public statements agitating against this appointment before it is too late. And for the opposition to tell the govt that they will not accept Temo as CJ either.
That will make his position untenable. The problem with the appointment of the President was that only Shamima Ali objected. Inia Seruiratu and other MPs acquiesced when they should have said “no way”.
The man was a convicted criminal and child abuser. And the fact that he is now at the apex of the state and degrading the nation’s institutions of state is a national scandal.
Ratu Naiqama, Sitiveni Rabuka and Salesi Temo are the terrible trio in an unholy alliance that is mounting an assault on the integrity of the state. And they must be stopped at all costs.
A dollar late and a day short.
Sadly Rabuka is on a short leash GD! Imrana is right . The President is the real power handler of the Coalition Govt. Whatever he says goes because he is the one that has the numbers in the current Coalition especially in Cabinet. Following the termination of Peter Wise- the brother in Law of Rt Naiqama from PS PMO. RT Naiqama issued Rabuka an ultimatum! Make me President or else! Remember there was supposed to be the appointment of the President in the October sitting but Speaker called it off and pointed to no water in parliament . So within the next two weeks- Naiqama got his men to visit the then sitting President with damning evidence of an alleged abuse of power by Rt Wiliame at the Labasa Holdings. Rabuka followed suit. The then President threw in the towel in exchange for the case never to see the light of day !!
By Speaker- Rt Naiqama taking those actions – he was reminding Rabuka whose men put SLR in the drivers seat!!
Rabuka will never be able to over rule Naiqama ! .
For as long as Naiqama is alive – Rabuka will have to toe the line !
It’s the sick attitude they’ve carried for the last how many years ! SLR is a sucker . Simple !
It’s a High Chief to Commoner relationship. Maybe talk to something that you understand.
Really, gcc?
So a high chief orders you to commit treason, mutiny, murder, rape, take hostages, rioting, create general mayhem and you must unquestionably follow the orders.
Got it.
Oh wait a minute. In this instant the high chief ‘leads’ by example.
Moron.
As a woman, I have no trust nor respect for Fiji Women’s and Jalal.
Where have these women been all this time?
They chose not to speak up many times so they have become irrelevant.
Not needed.
Not now.
Not ever.
Only speak when it suits them. The cocktail lawyers. In any case, anyway if IJ is given the CJ, that itself will make a mockery of the legal system. Just because you are a lawyer doesn’t automatically qualify you as a judge. She hasn’t had a litigation role for a long time ( or maybe ever) and which I think would be the most important selection criteria. But then again its Fiji, all about mates and you scratches whose back.
Our PM is without a brain. He has installed himself as the PM but remained a headless chicken wandering around mostly claiming “I wasn’t aware of that”.
There is nothing anyone can do to stop the rot in Fiji now. The tumour has spread and is terminal now. Only a freash new election will hopefully save us.
As for now, just sit back and rue what we have done in December 2 years back. Those who can, must make efforts to leave Fiji for the better future of their kids. This government and this PM has and always will be headless….without a brain.
Feeling brave? Why don’t you come and live here and continue your brave rants?
New hobbies beckon Graham. Write a book maybe?
Having been warned not to return by no less a figure than Fiji’s High Commissioner to Australia, that won’t be happening.
As for a book, I still don’t have an ending yet.
Don’t worry, COP Party will be in power and you will spend your sunset years under the ” vuniniu kala”, kaila !
I am in my sunset years. It’s just that I intend to slip under the horizon kicking and screaming rather than going quietly. 🙂
The bastards are already dragging me!😄
As PAP must go says, Rabuka will always bow down to rapist Lalabalavu, ALWAYS!!! And I totally agree with Selective memory, Imrana Jalal may be a good lawyer, but only in times of peace. When the going gets tough in Fiji, her tail goes between her legs!
Patricia Imrana Jalal is a hypocrite. Her gripe with the previous government was because her husband was charged by FICAC in its early days. He got off on a technicality. She got exposed in the process as she benefitted from the transactions the husband allowed to happen during his term as the CEO AFL.
Her other gripe. During Qarase’s time she became another masi polo, making ridiculous statements such as her speech at USP. She was doing so because there was talk that she would succeed QB Bale as the next AG. Because of Frank Bainimarama’s 5 December 2006 actions that ambition came to an end. The second gripe.
That essentially is it in a nut shell.
Btw Graham just because someone talks about human rights but basically in a very superficial way and shines only at cocktails and is able to flip her hair back really stylishly and says the right masi polo things doesn’t make one a good lawyer and more importantly an honest one.
Jesus Christ..get a grip! You sound like a case of sour grapes. Imrana has done a shit load for Fiji human rights , improving the rule of law and rights of women in Fiji and the Pacific . She has nothing to hide and is courageous enough to put her name on the line, unlike you and others who are happy to trash her with unproven accusations by hiding behind anonymity. Care to disclose your name and what you have done to improve governance and rule of law in Fiji? Nah I do not think so, because basically you are a coward.
Anje, agree with you about Imrana’s courage. Let’s see if others have the same courage to join her in speaking out against this outrage.
Her argument is valid. Unfortunately she’s forgotten that a very ethnically prejudiced government is in place, and they will stop at nothing to put an iTaukei in as the CJ, regardless of whether he is qualified or not; in this case, it being the latter.
The government will not be accepting Graham Leung’s recommendations because they need a CJ who will work in the government’s interests, rather then independently. Yes, let’s not ignore this anymore: The judiciary is not independent and is heavily politicised. It is a judiciary which is set up for the iTaukei and to allow the the government to pursue anyone it deems unfavourable to their cause.
Spot on.. they bend/ignore the law to suit their ethno nationalistic agenda…woe to Fiji and anyone who stands in their way!
Idiots like this lady (and there are many more like her – men and women) who sat back and were quiet when the rot was setting in just so that they could get rid of the previous mob ought to know that once the rot sets in, it will affect them as well one day.
These idiots did not say anything when Rabuka appointed his chief as Speaker of the house at the time – why? The Speaker had a well documented history of being a person of bad and shady character going back decades. Because all the idiots let the rot set in, he is now the king of the castle. He thinks Fiji is his whipping boy.
They did not speak up in the Malimali case and hundreds of other cases of abuse, corruption, nepotism, cronyism etc etc under this government let alone all the circus in the legal fraternity.
The same applies to the NFP and SODELPA who were meant to keep the bastards honest but joined and actively participated in the rot. These two parties will get their just desserts sooner than anyone thinks.
Back to the other idiots who sat back and did nothing for a long time like all the women’s movements, NGOs etc etc, now they are all jumping up and down when they should have done that a long time ago. Self-interest and self-servers are plain to see and they all are a pathetic lot. Fiji is all about one upmanship and revenge and hate. It is really a fcuked up society – big time. A lot of people do not realise it so they are all sitting back totally unaware. This oblivious characteristic is passed on to the next generation and that is why Fiji is what it is.
Fijians deserve what they get, in my opinion, because that is what idiots deserve.
Have the guts to post under your name – nah you will not because you are bloody coward who is happy to trash/slag/vilify everyone under anonymity. Fiji is where it is today because of people like you – let others do the heavy lifting and you and others like you seat back and criticise and moan! You call others idiots who let this happen…I gather you class yourself in the lot of so called “idiots” who did nothing to address the rot?
Who did you vote for Anje? Please do tell us.
Relevancy ?
The relevancy is that you deserve the people you voted for. Idiots voting for idiots, you know “birds of a feather flock together” and all that. Who do you think Imrana Jalal voted for? And you have the gall to ask me relevance?
I am not sure whether you are crying and regret voting this mob in or are you defending them? If you are one who voted for a well known idiot from 37 years ago hoping he may change things for the better, you are an idiot. How many are there in Fiji. One does not need to wait and see after the vote what happens. One should be perfectly aware that you can straighten the hair temporarily, but it will grow back fuzzy. You can colour the hair for a short time and it will grow back to its original colour. One cannot change one’s DNA, not you either. You should teach that to your kids, friends, colleagues etc.
Tell us, were you exuberant and ecstatic when this mob came in? Relevence, you ask? Let me put it another way. Are you one who now regrets voting for this mob?
@What Fijians deserve did not miss the target by much, if at all.
We have what we voted for. Too many beat the drums of change. Everyone knew what would happen, and voted for it anyway.
When a clown moves into the castle he does not become king. The castle becomes a circus.
Check ODPP, AG, FICAC, A/CJ, Parliament, State house, Weed ministry, Education, women’s violence and adultery ministry, Pio’s passport ministry, Just Us racist bastard, and many more ministries as examples. It’s a really big tent.
How can we forget the compliant media free media led by the emeritus baboon and the lawyer who has the means to grant 7-year tax break to billionares.
Deafening silence up to now from activists and influencers. @ anje, there are myriad reasons why people choose to remain anonymous. Focus on the content and respond accordingly.
Just because one may be out of reach of actual threat of thuggery doesn’t always make for bravery nor does anonymity always equate to cowardice. To each their own.
How is it unfair to note the lady is weeping too little too late. As others have said it is not unfair to question the timing and motivation. What is in it for her, and why state the bleeding obvious now? Is she bidding for her long-time friend the hatman neutered AG?
If Temo is against women, has past misdemeanours, is unfit to be a magistrate, is a shamed man etc, that would make him the ideal person to be appointed CJ under the standards set by this government under the leadership of a third-rate PM in a Third World country. Don’t people realise that by now?
The third-rate people of Fiji elected a third-rate recycled idiot from decades ago with a great deal of enthusiasm and exuberence if people remember. I mean, doesn’t that make the people of Fiji imbeciles- what else does it make them?
It’s good to see that activists like Shamima Ali
and Imrana Jalal, who have been ardent supporters of the Coalition government and Rabuka’s leadership, are now realizing what’s happening. Confirming Temo as Chief Justice will be the biggest letdown.
Well, what does one expect from a country where things are not happening ethically and in accordance with law, rules, and regulations.
We are in a country and under a regime that has its President an ex convict; a Prime Minister who carried out two coups in 1987 and was involved in the Speight’s coup and in a mutiny; an acting Chief Justice who is a rogue judge and sees himself above law; an acting Director of Public Prosecution who is not qualified to be in that position; a Deputy Director of Public Posecution who was ruled by the court as ineligible; a substantive DPP who was suspended for talking to Aiyaz Saiyad Khaiyum at the Japanese Ambassador’s reception and whose salary was ceased by Acting Chief Justice as Chair of Judicial Review Commission: a FICAC Commissioner who is under investigation and subject of a Commission of Inquiry; a government that has around 50% of cabinet ministers under investigation; an Attorney General, and a Minister for Justice who interfere with judiciary that lacks respect; and a Public Service Commission headed by retired and failed election candidates (one tipped to be a diplomat); and several appointments that favour itaukeis over other qualified persons.
Then we have appointments to boards, committees, diplomatic missions and municipal councils , that have Coalition parties’ failed candidates and friends; a government whose ministers spend more time overseas than in Fiji; a government that sends large delegations to conferences; a finance minister who has no answers to growing high cost of living and likes to quote statistics that doesn’t translate towards improving the quality of life of Fijians; and the list goes on.
Is this the change people wanted?
Ange Heffernan. I agree with you on one point. Yes indeed Imrana Jalal has done a lot in terms of human rights in Fiji and the Pacific. Totally! And I also disagree with you one other point about bravery. And that is Imrana is not as brave as you are and not the other way around as Imrana seems to potray! We all know how you put your life and your family’s life on the line following the 2006 Dec coup.
Imrana Jalal’s main problem is she suffers from delusions of grandeur. Why is an international civil servant who works for and inter-governmental organisation that of and for governments of the Asia Pacific region openly critiquing a member government?
She should be fired. There is a line that u do not cross when you are a civil servant . Imrana crosses it at will and with impugnity. She should come home and repeat her accusations.
Let it be guys. Fiji the way the world should be…lol…
Very soon they will eat each other, or ice will kill most of them
The subject individual ( IP Jalal) or anyone else in a similar situation who may be described as courageous, in my view is in a position to be ” courageous”. The individual is well established in their career and dare I observe , socially well heeled. So she is in a strong position to be (selectively) courageous with fear of much or any detrimental repercussions. Indeed there may possibly be some self gain.
It is courageous to stand as a mere mortal in front of an advancing military around tank. For a powerful individual with little to lose to be outspoken from a safe distance in my view is not as courageous. And I take nothing away from Ms Jalal but rather delving into what is meant by courage under discussion in this chat thread.
Hi GD, there seems to be a lot of mixed messaging about Imrana Jalal – good and bad. I think I recall her being a favoured candidate for CJ in one of your articles (however I could be wrong). Who is she?
I did some asking around and I hear that she has never worked a day on the bench and is an office lawyer who has never seen the inside of a court room. Is this true?
GD I find it funny that Patricia Imrana Jalal says in her comments on own her page that ‘the old government was actually worse but this Government is heading in a bad direction’.
This proves the point of an earlier commentary that people like Jalal are pissed off with Frank’s government because of her missed personal opportunities.
How can this person say that we had such deranged and incompetent people being appointed as Presidnet under Frank? As CJ under Frank? As DPP under Frank? The total chaos with the independent offices under Frank?
Big fat no but it is happening under Rabuka. And Jalal in her dishonesty and inability to accept fault says the Frank’s government was ‘worse and this government is heading in a bad direction’
‘Bad direction’? It’s completely screwed. It is directionless. It is completely destructive and tearing the very fabric of our society.
People like Jalal never will acknowledge the the racism that indo-fijians faced under qarase and now the even more heightened. They will never acknowledge the abuse of the commoners by the chiefs and elites. They will never admit the corruption. The growing gap between the rich and poor. Etc.
To speak out against such core issues and actually change the ingrain system takes courage. Not writing from a distance, sitting in cushy offices, sitting in cushy homes. And getting others to defend you.
Does Jalal work for ADB and/or World Bank?
She is also a trustee of the charitable organisation in Fiji that she is highlighting here?
Does this charitable women’s organisation not benefit from ADB and/or World Bank funds?
How does she manage her conflicts of interest?
Awkward much.
I wonder why Imrana did not make this complaint against Temo when he sat on the appeals by State against Frank and Qiliho and overturned the acquittals and discharges during sentencing. This was a man who she is claiming is unfit for judicial office but continued to remain in his position and sent litigants to jail.
I wonder why she did not make this complaint public when Temo misbehaved in judicial office by ridiculing and threatening Magistrate Seini Puamau publicly and in open Court for decisions she had delivered as a Magistrate. I wonder why Imrana has decided to go public with this complaint now.
Why now Imrana? Is it because you haven’t been given a cushy job by this Government? Is it because your bestie Graham Leung was appointed AG when you wanted the job? Is it because you weren’t considered for judicial office? Is it because you want to be Chief Justice? Or is it because ADB is running multiple investigations into certain allegations against you for making political statements?
You publicly admitted to shutting down political commentary on your Facebook page because of your position with ADB. Suddenly here you are, publicly lobbying to remove the Acting CJ – timing the release of your complaint at a time when he is to be confirmed for the substantive position by this Government. Why Imrana? Why not do it earlier?
Forget Frank and Qiliho for a minute – what about the scores of other individuals that Temo sent to prison? What about his comments against female lawyers that you despise so much? Why couldn’t you speak sooner?
You have made public a complaint against a judicial officer. This lowers the administration of justice in the eyes of an ordinary person. This is contempt. You can be charged. Lodging a complaint isn’t a problem. But shouldn’t everything go through due process? You are in contempt. You have scandalised the bench. You should face contempt proceedings.
Under normal circumstances, I would accept some of the points you make. But whatever Imrana Jalal’s timing or motives, these are not normal circumstances. The rule of law in Fiji is under direct threat from a rogue Acting Chief Justice who must not be confirmed in the substantive position under any circumstances. So I’m with her and anyone else who takes a public stand over this outrage.
Salesi Temo’s action in labelling the DPP a thief when Christopher Pryde’s superannuation payments were part of his contract signed by two successive presidents is enough for Temo to be suspended for misbehaviour himself. And his violation of the Constitution puts him outside the law and sets a very dangerous precedent.
It is inconceivable to me that Imrana Jalal would have written what she has written without first consulting the Attorney General, her life-long friend. So we can be sure that there is a great deal of angst at the top of government and the offices of state about what she says is Temo’s imminent confirmation as substantive chief justice.
Rest assured that there are going to be a lot more people leaving themselves open to a charge of contempt if this appointment goes ahead. If Sitiveni Rabuka and his criminal chief at State House want the state of the judiciary to be a running sore from now on, with all that would mean for pubic confidence in the rule of law in Fiji, then by all means proceed. But there will be grave consequences, not least for the People’s Alliance at the next election.
We need the spotlight to now fall on Salesi Temo’s shadowy past before he became a lawyer, including the allegation that he killed a man. Are we to have a killer as well as an outlaw as the chief justice of Fiji? Just as we have a convicted criminal and child abuser as President and head of state?
The time for silent compliance has passed. Which is why I commend Imrana Jalal for speaking out. I also invite Grubsheet readers to tell us – under the cloak of anonymity – what they know about Salesi Temo’s background that is not already on the public record.