Today is certainly a “red letter day” in Fiji – with three major events locally and one overseas that will resonate in the coming days and weeks and beyond.
1/ At 10.00am, the Minister for Finance, Biman Prasad, gets up in parliament to deliver the 2024-2025 annual budget. He is under more pressure than usual, with an unprecedented clamour for wage increases just as the nation faces some critical economic challenges.
See it live here. How astonishing that Lynda Tabuya is looking over Biman Prasad’s shoulder.
2/ Three foreign judges in the Supreme Court will give their “opinion” on whether the Coalition government can ignore the constitutional prohibition on the appointments of the Acting DPP, John Rabuku, and the judge, Alipate Qetaki, on the grounds that they were found guilty of professional misconduct.
3/ At 1.00pm Fiji time – if you can get access to CNN – much of the world will be watching as Joe Biden, 81, and Donald Trump, 78, go head-to-head in the first of the TV debates for this year’s US presidential election.
4/ And then at 4.00pm, the deadline set by the Supervisor of Elections for FijiFirst to alter its constitution expires and because the party has been effectively disbanded, it will be deregistered and all FijiFirst MPs in the parliament will become independents or be free to join other political parties. It promises a fundamental realignment of local politics.
Fasten your seatbelts, Fiji. One way or another, it’s gonna be a hell of a ride. And all this against the backdrop of a government yet again mired scandal – the Fisheries Minister, Kalaveti Ravu, having been charged with abuse of office and forced to resign.
It adds to the Coalition’s sorry record of a Minister for Women, Children and Social Protection who was found guilty by her own party of drug use, a Minister for Education – her lover – who almost beat his former wife to death in a domestic violence attack and a Minister for iTaukei Affairs who is in business with a convicted Chinese gangster.
When it comes to standards of governance in Fiji, the Coalition has set a new low.
And, of course, the tragedy is that we no longer have a viable opposition as of 4.00pm this afternoon, when the once mighty FijiFirst dissolves into a ragtag of independents who may or may not be bought off by Sitiveni Rabuka. A “government of national unity”? More like a government of national mayhem.
What is more, a Minister has been given bail after charges were laid by FICAC. But seeing this is Fiji, he can continue to be minister. We all know that in Fiji things are done the Fijian way – “the right way” and everyone should learn from Fiji. We are a special type of democracy in addition to being a special type of people. Fijians have a special place in God’s eyes, because we are good at 7s rugby…………….sometimes!!!
And we can solve all problems the Fijian way. Except we do complain a lot, even though we have all the solutions locally.
2018 Baiman was yelling minimum wage should be $5 per hour and most employers could afford it. Baiman than made his maiden within “100 days of forming government statement” pre 2022 election and once he formed government he backtracked. 18 months later Baiman will come up with a long senseless explanation and probably announce minimum wage as $5.20 which really should be $10 per hour.
Thank you for keeping us informed.
Your posts have been on point as always.
I hope the useless media in Fiji knows what questions to ask tomorrow.
Fiji has a lot of stupid and immoral people.
Let’s see what this budget does with Gnomic Naidu’s fiscal recommendations.
If FFP MP’s become free agents then NFP will be “the last of the Vulagis”
It’s not been 18 months where anyone has covered themselves in glory.
What’s next?
The sun will rise , the sun will set.
Birds will sing.
There will be high tide and low tide.
There will be a tomorrow.
Life will go on.
But the sun will set on Fiji First , the final chapter on the sunset clause.
How the mighty have fallen.
Everyone who has clamoured onto the disjointed pap wagon gleeful of the demise of FFP will be sadly disappointed, in time.
In time? For most people, the disappointment set in long ago. And it just gets steadily worse.
To paraphrase Churchill: The advent of a new dark age made more sinister by the personal greed of those who promised to lead with integrity but betrayed us.
Hope so , Any democracy needs a good opposition to hold the Government of the day accountable and is in effect Government in waiting.
If FFP comes back it needs to come back and built on a mandate that will serve the grassroots and not but to serve the interest of only two people who can pull the rug at any given time and sink the ship.
Fiji needs a strong and viable opposition.
What hope do we have for this budget, the PM had already stated that their extravagant pay rise is “ONLY $8.1 MILLION” and they couldn’t even afford that! Hence the budget assistance ……….”BANK LOAN!!”
These people are running the county, what hope do we have?
It’s going to very interesting to see what meager pay increases our teachers, nurses and those on minimum wages are awarded.
Graham, did you put the simple maths question for submitting a comment to confuse/stop those in the Fiji government submitting a comment, or to confirm people aren’t robots?
Watch the Pied Piper further betray us later this morning, will most likely be his last budget speech, thank goodness.
How much of the budget speech presentation will be dedicated to blaming the Bainimarama and Khaiyum govt. And the phrase ” for the last 16 years” ! It is a chorus repeated again and again, of blame and gloom.
Yes it does give some background but by now it is sounding like a broken record ….Sad Songs say so much .. sad songs they say …Elton John.
A new song please..a new song sheet.
Yes we already know that Fiji First caused the Titanic to sink, they caused the hole in the ozone layer and everything else wrong under the sun.
Now the coalition’s task is to refloat the Puamau! (Read Fiji)! Get on with it, supported by International salvage experts of the World….the Banks of Aussie and Kiwi, the IMF and World Bank and the ADB and China…how can we not rise beyond the reef.
This budget speech is like a Speech from the Throne
The hopeless government should think of stepping down. There is no new initiative. Same old. Same old.
New developments: DPP illegal now , with Pryde to be paid out….not reinstated.