In an astonishing story in Tuesday’s Fiji Times, the Deputy Prime Minister and NFP leader, Biman Prasad says he is “unfazed” by the findings of the Commission of Inquiry into the Barbara Malimali affair.
The man is totally delusional. Because at the heart of the Report’s findings is an examination of how Biman Prasad managed, by a whisker, to escape being charged by FICAC for giving a false income declaration to the Elections Office.
Justice David Ashton-Lewis details how Biman Prasad was to be charged on the very day the deputy FICAC Commissioner, Francis Puleiwai, was removed and Barbara Malimali was parachuted into the corruption watchdog.
Biman Prasad makes much in the Fiji Times story of how Barbara Malmali subsequently cleared him of wrongdoing.
WRONG. That isn’t where the matter ends at all.
The COI finds that Francis Puleiwei should not have been prevented from charging Biman Prasad and specifically recommends that the circumstances of what happened be revisited by an independent investigator.
At the same time, the Deputy Prime Minister is currently under active investigation by the Crime Investigation Department of the Fiji Police in the wake of the COI findings and they are reexamining all the evidence in the case.
So Biman Prasad is either delusional or is emulating his fellow Deputy Prime Minister, Manoa Kamikamica, in shamelessly rewriting the facts to spin a narrative that he is in the clear when he is not.
FACT:
It is definitely NOT the end. Biman Prasad and Manoa Kamikamica can pretend otherwise as much as they like but they are both up to their necks in allegations of wrongdoing.
Grubsheet pieces together the evidence in an upcoming article. And that evidence shows that Biman Prasad ought to be very fazed indeed.
Just a taste of the COI findings to come…
So stay tuned for yet another Grubsheet saga you won’t find in the mainstream media in Fiji, which is being deliberately manipulated by Biman Prasad and Manoa Kamikamica to hoodwink the Fijian people in a sinister perversion of the truth.
Biman : Mirror Mirror on the wall, who is the biggest cabinet “stud” of them all?
Mirror : only you my Hon Prasad.
Biman : phew, thanks Mirror, I honestly thought Aseri would be first and I would be second.
Mirror : no sir, only you look like a horse.
Fiji media are a disappointment. Cannot believe how low they have fallen.
Poor Professor his read the COI report wrong just as he has his economics wrong for the country too …
It’s all about context. But that can be hard to comprehend when an individual is hell bent out of shape to maintain power and believe their own narrative as opposed to the facts.
It’s ironic that he has turned out with the same attitude and demeanor his predecessor Minister of Finance (ASK) did. A power unto their own.
Humble yourself , open your eyes and ears , slow down and remember, Professor. The voters are still waiting for the price of lamb chops you promised the voters in Lautoka to drop on day 1 of you being elected … but it still hasn’t happened… go figure !?
How ironic or is it moronic that the professor has now become the very duplicate of a man he once detested and seethed about (ASK).
Is it the curse of absolute power ?
Time will tell all.
And unfortunately, I don’t think many of these elected officials and their nominees in public office like the Professor will figure that out till they are sitting behind bars in prison .
So lawyer up and hide behind the politics and so called economics for as long as you can. Because at the end of the day guess what Professor ? You are accountable and responsible for your very own actions … and nothing you say or do can hide the reality of the man that you have proven yourself to be.
The big difference is ASK did not have the pile of incriminating documentary evidence as the brilliant Professor .. oh dear me, it appears your days may very well be numbered, Professor.
Pack up and prepare to ship out. We see you and no amount of campaigning can take away the bitter taste of betrayal – of another official who promised accountability and transparency and instead served us a harsh 2.5 years of self serving interests and agendas.
“How ironic or is it moronic that the professor has now become the very duplicate of a man he once detested and seethed about (ASK).”
The “Professor of Betrayal” can be described as one who is ironically moronic!
What a clever man the good professor is.
He says FICAC has cleared him and that is where the matter ends. So it follows that the findings of a Royal Commission report which is what the COI is, has no relevance!
So all such investigations and reports in future should be shelved and ignored! Depending on who it names, I guess.
The professor should tell us what his views would be if such a finding was made against Bai and Kai.
The professor is such a beacon of light and strength that he is holding a solid coalition together and is unwavering in his resolve while the Titanic is sinking. There are magicians in Fiji. They can make the COI report and its findings disappear.
I do not understand how Biman, with his professional background falsified Statutory Declarations. Does Fiji get to choose which laws to follow and which ones not to just like Biman?
Given the numerous allegations against Biman, should he even be participating in the budget debate? What credibility does he have left? He continues to smile and speak as though nothing is wrong, while serious accusations hang over his head as per the COI report.
Perhaps Rabuka is simply using Biman to get the budget passed with the numbers he has—only to discard him afterward. Hope this is true.
Rabuka has shown time and again that he cannot be trusted. He uses people like Biman, who are willing to compromise ethics and morality for personal gain, rather than stand up for the people they claim to represent.
Biman’s actions are a disservice to the Indo-Fijian community. His presence in leadership is not just disappointing—it’s insulting.
Biman must be brought to justice.
In Biman, we have a Bandar (monkey) in charge of the national budget. He has just cut and paste ASK’s budget in large parts. ASK makes Biman look like a village idiot. A bandar.
Besides COI report there was the sexual harassment charges Biman was lucky to escape.
His ineptness as finance minister is criminal – robbing the poor to give to the rich, like Fiji Water, the Tappoos and others. He broke every pre election promise.
As soon as he attained power his aim was to get rich and he has appointed cronies to various positions for this very reason. He was the mastermind behind the salary increase and is the ringleader behind a proposed increase in parliamentary pensions that will burden the taxpayers further.
He is the biggest bastard in parliament. The worst finance minister in Fiji’s history. He has put Fiji citizens in further debt.
Hopefully he is stopped in his tracks before he can do further damage.
Baimaan is a lamb flap flapping clipped wings. We all methinkest that the Labasia doth protest too much. Maybe after this and a well deserved lamb neck stew as the meal highlight at Naboro, he may be chastened as he was at USP. We all should have known better the first time around when he shat his pants and spent one night as NFP leader before slinking back to cosy SSED at USP.
Comparing Biman’s allegation to ASK allegations needs correction and things put in the right perspective.
It is alleged that Biman failed to declare his financial interest in the statutory declaration before before the last election and that is an offence under the electoral laws.
On the other hand, in the first matter which is before the court is that ASK alleged to have paid former supervisor of election or better known in this forum as “Dobby the house elf”$50,000.00 just before the last elections without the approval of COC and this is an offence under the Crimes Act.
In the second matter it is alleged ASK failed to follow proper Government procedures on procurement matters and did a waiver which saw the country losing millions of dollars and the tender eventually got awarded to his preferred choice and for this he is charged under the Crimes Act.
In the third matter which is also before the court that it is alleged that ASK without authorisation allowed his personal guards to carry guns in the plane, thus risked the ATR aircraft, its crews and passengers and this matter is also charged under the Crimes Act.
I hope the allegations of ASK and BIMAN is more clear to the commentators now.
Vinaka.
Graham must be feeling real stupid for supporting Bee-man during the 2022 election.
Yes, I am feeling stupid and bitterly regret it. But I will repay his betrayal by campaigning strongly for his removal at the next election. Satisfied?
The thing is, we can’t trust anyone to get into government and do the right thing.
Graham, I don’t think you can repeat what you did in 2022, without being on Facebook. There is now only a fraction of the readership that you previously had. There was a time when all your posts were being shared on Facebook and that is no longer the case. The reality is that for most Fijians, Facebook is their entire world online.
Facebook may be the entire world for some people but for me, it is a sewer of which I am relieved to be free. I also don’t like being at the mercy of Mark Zuckerberg’s thought police at Meta, who censor material and are the reason I am no longer on Facebook. Whereas here I am the master of my keyboard. Within the confines of Australian law, of course.
I don’t think a quarter of a million visits a month is a “fraction” of what I had on Facebook in a nation of one million plus the diaspora. Yes I had 30,000 Facebook “followers” but who were they? Were they decision makers or opinion makers who ultimately decide a nation’s fate? That’s what I regard as more important.
I’m told that I am required reading where the decisions are made – in government, the opposition, the judiciary and the military. So it’s not how many people are reading it but who. A mass readership is one thing, a discerning and influential readership quite another.
Facebook is also ephemeral. Here today, gone tomorrow. The articles on this website remain as a permanent record and you can access more than a decade of material by plugging a name into the search engine on the right of my page. You can’t do that on Facebook.
I can also filter readers comments for defamation, racism or obscenity. Whereas on Facebook, I was constantly vexed by what might be left there in my absence and spent a great deal of time going back time and again to check the page. Here I have total control. And it is a lot less stressful.
So for the moment, I am quite happy being here away from the mob. Maybe I need to hire someone to re-post my stuff on Facebook. We’ll see. But with the best part of 18 months to the election, it is not my greatest priority. I hope this addresses your concerns.
An ethical Minister Prasad would have stepped aside just as Pio Tikoduadua did so investigations could happen without any interference whether direct or indirect. Guess some are hungry for the seat rather than doing what’s right.
The time when a coup is REALLY needed, it ain’t happening….. 🎶”Isn’t it ironic?” 🎶…as Alanis Morrisette says🙃….