One of the truisms of modern politics is that disunity is death. So it’s instructive that two years out from the scheduled return to democracy in Fiji, the forces ranged against the Bainimarama regime seem so determined to tear themselves apart. Hot on the heels of the SDL’s very public self-immolation with its call for a Christian state comes news … [Read more...] about # FIJI LABOUR PARTY IMPLODES
# THE FORUM’S GAPING HOLE
As the VIP jets descend on the sleepy Cook Islands for the opening of the 43rd annual Pacific Islands Forum, one critical guest will again be missing. Fiji’s Frank Bainimarama - the leader of the most influential island state – has been barred from successive Forum summits for the past three years. Yet whatever shape the formal proceedings in … [Read more...] about # THE FORUM’S GAPING HOLE
# WHEN LEADERS FOLLOW
The debate over the use of the term Fijian to describe all citizens rages on, with some very strange twists. The strangest to Grubsheet was the spectacle of Mick Beddoes, the Kailoma (part European) head of the United Peoples Party, rejecting the use of the word for anyone other than i’Taukei. While at the same time, one of the most senior … [Read more...] about # WHEN LEADERS FOLLOW
# THE TURKEY AT MISS WORLD
Is it a chicken? Is it an owl? Whatever it is, it's Fiji's Miss World entrant, Koini Vakaloloma, making a right royal turkey of herself and of her country at the global competition in Mongolia. Now Koini is a lovely girl and none of this criticism is directed at her. But who on earth took it upon themselves to decide that she parade as some … [Read more...] about # THE TURKEY AT MISS WORLD
# THE NEW FIJI AIRWAYS
An obscure woman from Lau is set for global recognition at the centerpiece of Air Pacific’s new design for the re-launch of the airline as Fiji Airways next year. Makereta Matemosi is an artisan with a strong reputation in i’Taukei circles for her innovative masi or tapa cloth designs. Yet her fame is about to spread far beyond Fiji from having … [Read more...] about # THE NEW FIJI AIRWAYS
#135 THE SMOKING GUN
Proof conclusive that the former governing party in Fiji - the SDL - made a formal submission to the country's Constitutional Commission is contained in a video clip of the proceedings posted on Youtube. The clip gives the lie to repeated denials by party officials that such a submission had been made and is a devastating blow to the SDL's … [Read more...] about #135 THE SMOKING GUN