Disturbing reports are reaching Grubsheet that the President, Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu, is refusing to act on the advice of the Prime Minister to release the Commission of Inquiry Report into the Malimali affair and order that its recommendations be implemented.
Some sensational developments are being alleged:
- That the Report has been leaked from the Office of the President to some of those who have been adversely mentioned and it is now in their possession.
- Victor Lal is reporting at Fijileaks that some of the “crocodiles in the pond” that Justice David Ashton-Lewis said he had been asked by the Prime Minister to identify are now lobbying frantically for further redactions beyond those that the COI has already made for it to be released to the public.
- There is a particular allegation that Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu is refusing to carry out a major recommendation of the COI – that the Chief Justice, Salesi Temo, be suspended and a Tribunal of judges established to try him for misbehaviour.
- Incredibly, the alleged reason for this refusal is that Salesi Temo is related to the President by marriage.
There is already a grave conflict of interest at the pinnacle of the state arising from the President’s relationship with the Prime Minister. Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu is Sitiveni Rabuka‘s chief. So that while Rabuka has the constitutional right to tell the President what to do, he does not have that right when it comes to traditional protocols in the vanua.
Is Ratu Naiqama exercising his right as the Prime Minister’s chief to refuse to carry out an instruction that he is constitutionally obliged to do? Is he stalling, countenancing the leaking of the COI Report to those adversely mentioned or impeding the process in any way?
Because if he is, it is contrary to the supreme law and is tantamount to mounting a coup d’etat – a rebellion against the state.
The President’s obligations are quite clear. He must take advice and has no power whatsoever to act on his own accord.
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The law is also unambiguous on another point. If Sitiveni Rabuka accepts the advice of the Ashton-Lewis Commission of Inquiry that Salesi Temo be suspended, Ratu Naiqama has no choice but to accede to an instruction to that effect.
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And if the President disobeys an instruction from the Prime Minister to suspend the Chief Justice, it is open to the Prime Minister under the Constitution to remove the President for misbehaviour.
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David Ashton-Lewis says he has been assured by the Prime Minister that ALL of his 72 recommendations will be adopted.
If one of those is indeed the suspension of the Chief Justice for misbehaviour and the Prime Minister conveys that instruction to the President, Ratu Naiqama has no choice but to obey him. Whatever his familial ties, there are no ifs, buts or maybes.
We will have a full blown constitutional crisis in Fiji if the President resists. He will have misused his powers unlawfully and effectively mounted a constitutional coup.
What happens then? Well, that’s when Section 131 of the Constitution suddenly has fresh resonance.
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Which is why if the current reports are true, Ratu Naiqama is playing with fire.
The military Commander, Major General Ro Jone Kalouniwai, has already had cause to go to the Prime Minister and tell him that he expects the Ashton-Lewis COI Report to be released and its recommendations adopted. He only has the power to do so because of Section 131. Which is why the RFMF is unlikely to countenance any notion – advanced publicly thus far by the People’s Alliance and the Unity Party – that the 1997 Constitution be reinstated.
Grubsheet understands that attitudes at the Camp are hardening and that the Commander is under pressure to hold the line, not only in relation to the COI Report but upholding the 2013 Constitution, not least because a return to 1997 means those who conducted the 2006 coup would lose their immunity.
So here’s a question of vital important for the nation as a whole. If the President is intent on defying the Constitution with his own coup, what is the risk that it might be followed by the real thing? Not a full-blown military takeover (necessarily) but the Head of State and Chief Justice removed because of unlawful conduct?
If these reports are true, the rule of law in Fiji already lies in the balance.
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UPDATED WITH TODAY’S FIJI TIMES COVERAGE
To his credit, the Prime Minister appears to be holding the line, sidelining his deputies who are reported to have been adversely mentioned and insisting that “many investigations” are underway.
Yet as always with the Prime Minister, there’s a niggling feeling about his true motives and intentions, encapsulated by a Grubsheet reader, “Cherie”, in a comment during the night.
At this moment nothing that happens in Fiji surprises me anymore. Our country has gone to the dogs and they are fighting tooth and nail to keep it to the dogs.
Cherie is right but that was the hallmark of Rabuka leadership in his SVT days.
He was always ambiguous and vague.
For whatever it is worth, that is why strong ethno nationalists moved away from him during the SVT days which led to the establishment of Tako Lavo party and the likes.
Rabuka always does not carry out things to the fullest extent. He will go a little way and stop and slither away like a snake. It is always play acting for him. This is will be true for the COI report as nothing will eventuate out of it unless public pressure becomes too great for him to ignore.
Does anyone for even one second believe that Rabuka has asked the President to release the report and that the President is refusing to?
The PM and DPMs, Temo and the rest are all in it together. The President is so weak physically and mentally that he probably not even aware of what is happening around him and Rabuka is using that to the hilt. They are trying to confuse the public and sniggering like the ghouls that they are.
The COI will not be released however, a permit will be given for the march in Suva. Just to divert attention and probably a riot thrown in for good measure. And a jail break for added masala.
Hence Section 131. When our other institutions fail, the RFMF’s role is to keep the bastards honest. And I am personally inclined to believe given recent events that it is absolutely essential.
Because to coin your own phrase, does anyone for even one second believe that anything would be happening if the Commander hadn’t gone to the Prime Minister and insisted?
We also need the RFMF to uphold the principle of a common and equal citizenry and a common identity and resist the indigenous paramountcy of the 1997 Constitution. Because to coin your own phrase again, does anyone for even one second believe that the rights of the minorities will be protected by anyone else?
What is the point of redacting names etc in the COI report when the recommendations state certain people should be suspended and investigated.
Won’t everything be plain obvious then?
Or this a Fiji Style circus going round and round trying to protect relatives and those who scratch each other’s backs. The problem is, the iTaukei know what is best for themselves, but then they get vulagis like the Commissioner, Bret Walker and others who put a spanner in the works.
The sit-down President does not appear to have left his “palace” in a while. I think we all know why. I doubt he has all his faculties but he is a rejected and failed high chief who deserves our respect even though he has always been an imbecile.
Wonder if he will go to the installation of the Tui Nayau.
Now that the Report is in the hands of the perpetrators, are we going to see a line up of ministers booking flights out of Fiji?
Or are the ‘Stop departure orders’ in place to prevent their expected departure?
I’m sure there aren’t many countries that Fiji has extradition treaties with, so they might struggle to get those responsible “taken to task” as they are fond of saying.
Just pointing out the ‘bleedin obvious’.
I am not sure if people have noticed, but whenever there is a crisis the PM does a runner.
He has done a runner again this week.
I distinctly remember his runner on 4 Nov 2000 immediately after they tried to kill Bai. I saw him shopping in Pitt St in Sydney.
He has been doing runners for 40 years and it seems to work for him.
“RELATED BY MARRIAGE” is cause for unceremonious removal in any other jurisdiction because they’ll just see it as nepotism, abuse of office, and a whole other long string of offences that can choke a horse(As MESAKE KOROI, the former Daily Post and SDL propagandist would say)
They need to be kicked out by force because there is absolutely nothing tangible that can be seen as progressive economic development, but a shit ton of wastages accumulated by pandering to the whims of entities that don’t do the nation any good.
And what about the palpable nonsense by the MERCHANT OF SNAKE OIL, the STRATEGIC GENIUS MINISTER FOR MISINFORMATION, Manoa “LONG-WINDED” Kamikamica, about the billions of dollars worth of pipe dream investments.
Snake oil and politicians, one’s a scam in a bottle, the other’s a scam in a suit.
DVC
If this is indeed the case, the RFMF Comm. will need to have a discussion with the diaper wearing President to remind him of his obligations and boundaries.
S.131 specifically allows for this and does not limit the RFMF Comm. from taking the necessary actions to safeguard the constitution and the people of Fiji. In such a case, it would not be impossible for the President to be removed, given he is seen as a threat to democracy, upholding the rule of law and the constitution and protecting the citizens.
Rambo also worries that if he sacks a few here and there, it could lead to the formation of a new group with a new PM. Forget party lines in Fiji…Anything could happen