Being found guilty of an “illicit drug scandal” by the Prime Minister himself hasn’t excluded Lynda Tabuya from being in contention for the job of attorney general after Siromi Turaga was forced out for posting a sex video on his Facebook page.
Thursday’s Fiji Times front page confirms rumours of recent days that Tabuya is in the running, though maybe Sitiveni Rabuka is just testing the waters to see what he can get away with.
Well, he can’t away with this.
Lynda is a notorious dope head – the Minister for Bonking and Weed who was trying to entice her then lover, Aseri Radrodro, to Room 233 at the Windsor Hotel in 2023 with the promise of “weed”.
The People’s Alliance later found her guilty of a “sex and illicit drug scandal” in a document that was countersigned by the Prime Minister but has been ignored by the mainstream media in Fiji.
I asked in the last article whether there are no depths to which the Coalition government will sink as it leads the country into a moral abyss. Answer: No. It has lost all moral leadership and that now includes seriously considering choosing an adulterer, drug-taker and pornographer to preside over the administration of the law.
Maybe it is a float, maybe not. Yet Lynda Tabuya isn’t just a moral pygmy but a God-awful lawyer. And if Sitiveni Rabuka thinks she will not only be an electoral plus in the AG’s Office in the election lead-up but be able to take carriage of his constitutional agenda, he is even more gaga than we thought.
Nothing surprises us anymore, Siti. Bring it on. And see where this gets you. It will be a gift to your opponents and a gift to me all the way to polling day.
At least Siromi Turaga had the decency and respect for his office to resign. Lynda Tabuya’s transgressions have been much worse yet she expects to continue to occupy high office in spite of her disgraceful conduct. And Rolex Rambo is only too happy to oblige.
Would be only fitting that Tabuya gets the job, Fiji’s been f***ed ever since Rambuka took over.
GD
On FICAC, the JSC should immediately appoint an experienced prosecutor to manage its affairs as an acting Commissioner, until the substantive post is finalized.
There are really serious issues that needs to be resolved through the appointment of a person of high calibre to this position, which is to serve the objectivity of this organization without prejudice and ill-will.
And whoever runs FICAC, it must not be used as a conduit to persecute political opponents as was rampant and rife during Khaiyum era.
And definitely it’s not Barbie Barbwire I am recommending.
Only someone who is sick in the head can appoint Lynda Tabuya as AG, despite her moral transgressions. Bring it on Rambo – what a mentor for our young women and Fijians, you moron!
I think the senile snake is writing a comedy series rather than governing a country.
He missed his true calling. Fawlty Towers meets Benny Hill.
Hahaha. Good one. 🙂
And
“Some mothers do have ’em”
The comedies and tragedies just keep writing themselves in Fiji.
Bring on the election.
From one porn addict to another, with weed thrown in for kicks.
What more can we expect from a bottle collector but such extreme stupidity, insane and unhinged behavior.
Batsh!t crazy.
Illicit drug user and had possesion of it yet was not trialed or charged. How can we have 2 rules in Fiji?
If she is the next AG, then she’s definitely slept with the right people.
Only in Fiji!
The current Constitution at s.96.sets the following qualifications for appointment as Attorney General:
(1) The Minister appointed as the Attorney-General is the chief legal adviser to the Government.
(2) A person is not qualified to be appointed as Attorney-General unless he or she—
(a) is admitted as a legal practitioner in Fiji and has had not less than 15 years post-admission practice as a legal practitioner in Fiji; and
(b) has not been found guilty of any disciplinary proceeding involving legal practitioners whether in Fiji or abroad, including any proceeding by the Independent Legal Services Commission or any proceeding under the law governing legal practitioners, barristers and solicitors prior to the establishment of the
Independent Legal Services Commission.
Whilst it does not say so the qualifications are almost identical to those required for appointment as a Judge.
You expect the person appointing (PM) would follow the doctrine that a judicial office selection is governed by the principle that judicial officers, such as the Attorney General, should be of the highest competence and integrity.
The conduct of Lynda Tabuya in my view would never meet that standard.
Appoint her at your peril Rabuka!
As the country awaits the final decision on who will be the next Attorney General of Fiji, there are clear indications that Minister for Information, Environment and Climate Change, Lynda Tabuya is one of the front-runners for the post.
Tabuya has confirmed to fijivillage News that she has had more than 15 years in post admission practice as a legal practitioner as required under the 2013 Constitution.
The Constitution states the Minister appointed as the Attorney General is the chief legal adviser
to the Government.
A person is not qualified to be appointed as the Attorney General unless he or she is admitted as a legal practitioner in Fiji and has had not less than 15 years post-admission practice as a legal practitioner whether in Fiji or abroad; and has not been found guilty of any disciplinary proceeding involving legal practitioners whether in Fiji or abroad, including any proceeding by the Independent Legal Services Commission or any proceeding under the law governing legal practitioners, barristers and solicitors prior to the establishment of the Independent Legal Services Commission.
Tabuya has served as a State Prosecutor at Fiji’s Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions where she says it resulted in the development of her skills in advocacy, legal analysis and the administration of justice, advancing to position of Senior Legal Officer prosecuting felony offenders from rape to murder; and has done legal work in America where her work as in-house counsel with the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis as well as in-house counsel in corporate and commercial law in American businesses broadened her professional experience and understanding of another legal system; and has been a law lecturer at the University of the South Pacific where she taught legal principles and helped prepare future lawyers.
Tabuya says her Bachelor of Laws from Bond University and Master of Laws from Washington University in St. Louis majoring in Constitutional Law underpin this practical experience.
She adds as Whip and Leader of Government Business in Parliament, she has worked directly with Parliament’s Standing Orders, legislative procedures and the management of government business.
While responding to fijivillage News, Tabuya says there is also a relevant comparison with former Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum.
She says before becoming Attorney General, he held an in-house legal and compliance leadership role with the Colonial Group of Companies.
Tabuya says Sayed-Khaiyum’s professional background also included prosecution in Fiji and legal practice in Australia.
She says in-house legal work deserves recognition when assessing a lawyer’s professional experience.
The Minister says the same fair and consistent approach should be applied to her work in America, alongside her prosecution and legal teaching experience.
She adds her parliamentary and ministerial leadership roles across three ministries add practical knowledge of how laws are developed, scrutinised and implemented, and it strengthens the professional legal experience she brings.
Tabuya is confident that her qualifications, breadth of experience and understanding of government equip her to serve effectively as Attorney General, uphold the Constitution and protect the rule of law.
Prime Minister, Sitiveni Rabuka confirms Tabuya is one of the candidates for the AG’s post and an assessment on the requirements is currently being done by Solicitor General, Ropate Green.
Firstly, the standards were publicly reversed. Rabuka personally set the dismissal justification at the time of Lynda Tabuya’s dismissal as “code of conduct” and “government reputation,” and subsequently publicly ruled out her return to the cabinet. The later reversal needs no external attack; the comparison of the Prime Minister’s own statements before and after is sufficient. Former Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry’s public questioning cuts to the core: “Is Rabuka forgetful, or simply fickle?” He also pointed out that Rabuka’s repeated changes of position on important issues have made people doubt his ability to govern responsibly.
Second, the message sent to society is dangerous. At a public event, a participant directly asked Rabuka: if a senior official is dismissed for misconduct and then reappointed, “what message are we sending to young people?” Rabuka’s response was “Every sinner has a future, every saint has a past”. As a piece of rhetoric, this is clever; as a standard for public office, however, it amounts to replacing institutional accountability with personal forgiveness. The integrity of a government does not depend on whether it is willing to give people a second chance, but on whether the rules are consistent and predictable.
Third, the appointment itself amplifies the absurdity. Tabuya was appointed not to an unimportant position, but as Minister of Information—responsible for the government’s public communication and media relations. Critics argue that placing someone who has caused enormous controversy over her personal conduct in the position of “the nation’s voice” is tantamount to treating a cabinet position as a tool of political convenience. The opposition’s criticism is directed not at Tabuya as an individual, but at the government’s logic: if ministerial positions can be allocated according to political need rather than standards, the integrity of the entire cabinet is hollowed out.
Therefore it is my assertion that a minister dismissed from one position should not be reappointed to another position in the same government and we should insist on a minimum rule: dismissal must have consequences; otherwise, “dismissal” itself becomes a performance. The Rabuka government has not violated any written law, but it has depleted the most scarce resource in politics—the credibility of its words……
Utterly and pathetically abhorrent to say the LEAST!!
One pornstar to replace another pornstar. What a circus…
The rotten standards in Fiji started from the parliament and have infiltrated every aspect of society in Fiji.
Don’t be surprised if pornstar, weed smoker despicable Lynda lands the AG job thanks to the brainless, classless and characterless Rabuka.
Absolute circus in Fiji now.