grubsheet

The sight of Fiji’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Peter Thomson, chairing the General Assembly is yet another reminder that although Fiji is a relatively small country, it punches way above its weight. This week, Peter has been Acting President of the General Assembly, conducting the everyday business of the UN from the famous … [Read more...] about #99 SMALL COUNTRY, BIG VOICE

Part of the reason the United States has been more sympathetic towards Fiji in recent times is due to the efforts of Eni Faleomavaega, the genial US Congressman from American Samoa. In stark contrast with the swaggering Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi – who leads the other Samoa to the west -  Congressman Faleomavaega has always grasped the importance … [Read more...] about #98 TWO SAMOAS: ENLIGHTENED VS BELLIGERENT

“Strive to the very end”, says the family motto on the coat of arms that Mick Beddoes displays  proudly on his website. All of which means that dogged persistence comes naturally to Mick Malcolm Millis Beddoes, the businessman and politician who heads the United Peoples Party in Fiji. Grubsheet has labeled Beddoes the attack dog of the Three Amigos … [Read more...] about #97 THE ATTACK DOG BITES BACK (REVISED 19/6)

Fijians are to be blitzed with a big media advertising campaign to encourage voters to register for the promised elections in 2014. The campaign includes three television commercials with a heavy multiracial component and - naturally for Fiji - an accent on sport and a need for teamwork on and off the field. The most startling is a clip that has … [Read more...] about #96 TOWARDS DEMOCRACY – THE ADS

Three of Fiji’s political leaders – Laisenia Qarase, Mahendra Chaudhry and Mick Beddoes – have said they are “reviewing their stance” on discussions on a new constitution while accusing Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama and the military of making threats and spreading fear. The statement amounts to a threat themselves to withdraw from the … [Read more...] about #95 THE THREE AMIGOS COUNTER THREAT

The ordinary people of any country – what Richard Nixon famously called the silent majority – hope for leaders with judgment and Fiji is no exception. All of which makes it extraordinary that a senior politician like Mick Beddoes has taken to taunting the military with the threat of life-long jail sentences in the current political environment. … [Read more...] about #94 TOUGH TALKING LITTLE BIG GUY