So Fiji is to be saddled with a corrupt Chief Justice who stands accused by a judicial inquiry of abuse of office and obstructing and perverting the course of justice because the Prime Minister says he is powerless to remove him.
Sitiveni Rabuka does a Pontius Pilate and washes his hands of any responsibility to deal with Salesi Temo with an astonishing attempt to deceive the Fijian people in a front page story in yesterday’s Fiji Sun.*
He says the executive arm of government doesn’t have power over judicial officers and they are controlled by the Judicial Services Commission. That part at least is correct. But the Prime Minister has total control over the fate of the Chief Justice and head of the JSC by having the constitutional power to remove him.
How? Because while the President appoints the Chief Justice, he does so only on the advice of the Prime Minister. And if the Prime Minister wants the Chief justice out, he need only say so and the president has no discretion to say “no”. The President must accept the advice of the Prime Minister, suspend the Chief Justice, and put him before a judicial tribunal.
It’s all there is Section 106 of the Constitution – precisely the same section that allowed the current government to suspend SalesiTemo’s predecessor as Chief Justice, the late Kamal Kumar, and pave the way for Temo’s appointment.
It’s this section that enabled Sitiveni Rabuka to advise the former president, Ratu Wiliame Katonivere, to suspend Kamal Kumar as CJ for alleged misbehaviour and put him before a tribunal. As it happens, Kumar died suddenly on the very morning the tribunal was to be convened. Yet precisely the same power is available to Sitiveni Rabuka to remove Salesi Temo.
He has done it once and can clearly do it again. So why isn’t he? Grubsheet has canvassed this issue in successive articles (a selection below) and a number of possibilities have emerged.
- The President, Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu, is resisting advice from the Prime Minister to suspend Temo. We’ve speculated that the reason may be because the President is related to the Chief Justice by marriage. And that Sitiveni Rabuka isn’t pressing the issue because he can’t be seen in the vanua telling his high chief, the Tui Cakau, what to do.
- The Prime Minister hasn’t proffered that advice because he and the President are in complete agreement that they don’t want Temo gone. A Grubsheet reader points out that Sitiveni Rabuka is also related to the CJ. ( “Temo is also related to SLR through his own aunt (SLR’s wife)”.
- Yet aside from familial ties, what’s emerging as the most likely reason that neither the President nor the Prime Minister want the Chief Justice gone is because they are relying on him to get rid of the 2013 Constitution through the upcoming Supreme Court hearing and restore the provisions of the racially-weighted 1997 version of the supreme law.
Whatever the reason, both men have placed themselves in a terrible bind in the court of public opinion because most Fijians don’t want a corrupt Chief Justice at the pinnacle of the judiciary and yet that’s what we’ve got.
Never mind not leaping to conclusions over the COI findings and depriving Salesi Temo of the presumption of innocence, he was corrupt even before the COI. He repeatedly abused his position to get his preferred appointments made by ignoring the Constitutional provisions that barred them from holding those positions because of their professional misconduct. And now that he has been formally cited for misconduct – accused by a judicial inquiry of abuse of office and perverting the course of justice – Temo should rightly be toast.
Irrespective of any future criminal proceedings against him, the Chief Justice has demonstrably “misbehaved”. And if there was ever a candidate for being suspended and put before a Tribunal, Temo is it. Yet he is being protected at the top and evidently for all the wrong reasons – that he is “their man” and they don’t want him gone because he is there to act in their interests.
It is an unholy alliance between three corrupt men – President, Prime Minister and Chief Justice – that has corrupted our criminal justice system and reinforced Fiji’s reputation as the Zimbabwe of the South Seas. Without the real crocodiles, perhaps, but with plenty of the metaphorical kind, including at the apex of the state.
FACT: Sitiveni Rabuka has the constitutional power to remove Salesi Temo by telling Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu to suspend him and appoint an acting chief justice to deal with alleged misconduct on the part of others. No ifs, buts or maybes. But he either won’t do it because the President is defying him or he doesn’t want to do it because they have the same agenda.
That’s the sorry state of our beloved nation, Fiji. And the Prime Minister thinks so little of us and the integrity of our institutions that he compounds his refusal to enforce the supreme law by insulting our intelligence with a big lasulasu-jhoot.
While he refuses to act, any notion of Rabuka being a caped crusader – the “good guy” determined to root out the “crocodiles in the pond” – is a sick joke. And that joke is on all of us.
NOTE TO READERS:
Grubsheet has been traveling in country NSW and my response to the Sun story is a day late.
“…Rabuka being a caped crusader – the ‘good guy’ determined to root out the “crocodiles in the pond.”
Rabuka himself is the biggest crocodile in the pond. Crocodiles are cannibalistic by nature so he has eaten some smaller crocodiles in Leung and Malimali while leaving the big ones like Salesi Temo alone. Not only that Rabuka will reward Temo with a presidential SUV. Tamani one big traitor and corrupt crocodile is Rolex Rabuka.
Crocodiles will also bite the hand that feeds (taxpayers) so the big crocodile Rabuka and his smaller minion Baimaan are feasting on us taxpayers through their waste, profligacy and mismanagement of the public purse.
One day soon big crocodile Rabuka will eat smaller crocodile Baimaan. That’s just how crocodiles are.
Very well put. Vinaka.
The COI is toothless because of artful dentistry by the snake. He will get rid of its fangs and dangle its skin as the prize for hoodwinking a whole nation.
Wasn’t it this current government that suspended the late CJ Kamal Kumar ?
https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/498738/application-filed-for-fiji-s-suspended-chief-justice-tribunal-hearing-to-be-public
My apologies, Dreu. You are absolutely right. Duly corrected.
The Fiji law Society should be demanding the resignation of Justice Temo unless of course the Law Society itself may be complicit in the corrupt Judicial administration. It didn’t hesitate from calling for Justice Ashton-Lewis to resign.
That isn’t going to happen because the President of the Fiji Law Society, Wylie Clarke, has also been cited by the COI Report as having allegedly perverted the course of justice. Clarke claims that under Temo, the criminal justice system is better than it was – another sick joke.
So the FLS is part of the problem, not the solution.
Giving people who are part of the problem the opportunity to fix that problem is a bad idea.
It will entail cover-ups left, right, and center, lies, more lies, deflection, more corrupt actions, and more immoral and poor judgment–all of which CAUSED the initial problem.
It will be like pissing into the wind. One should no longer trust the FLS even as far as they can spit.
No apologies for not better articulating that sentiment.
What I had said earlier is now more true then ever. Rabuka sacrificed mali2 and leung on the public altar to keep the fijian public happy and quiet. That was his “justice done” as per the coi report. As far as baritone buka is concerned those tow dismissal should suffice for the dumb public. He will not do anything to anyone else implicated in the coi report.
He just won’t cos he knows if he does he will go down with them pretty quickly. And rabuka’s main aim in life right now is to preserve his power and position until his last breath. He doesn’t want a tragic and poor ending like ratu mara and savua and others who died humiliated and broken. Buka needs criminals and corrupt outlaws like temo and the pedo on the hill to keep him alive and kicking as PM until his last breath.
Nothing will change in fiji until rabuka dies. He has been spreading his aura of evil ever since 1987 and he will continue to poison and contaminate the minds of everyday fijians until his last breath. He has an evil hold over fiji and unfortunately while many know and understand this, the people that can actually stop this evil entity are not doing to save our country. Rabuka must die and very soon. Otherwise we as a nation and a people are doomed in every facet of our lives.
Word. Never have so many wanted so few to be dead.
Makes one wonder where all the Fijian jadoo doctors are to put the hex on these bastards.
The Coalition government has brilliantly achieved one (and only one) thing this term: they have proven without any doubt that a government driven by chiefly titles, familial connections and xenophobic thinking is doomed to fail, taking down its beloved country along the way.
Correct! And they keep telling us they know what they are doing (destroying Fiji and its reputation in the process)!
“…they have proven without any doubt that a government driven by chiefly titles, familial connections and xenophobic thinking is doomed to fail, taking down its beloved country along the way. ”
Except, that is not what the itaukei are thinking.
Very few realize that sixty percent of people live paycheck to paycheck.
52% live below the poverty line. Up to 40% of the people are unemployed or underemployed
Elderly people can’t afford their prescription medicines, live alone in poverty, lonely, and lack personal safety and security in their own homes.
Unemployed youth go marauding in broad daylight targeting the elderly and the vulnerable in society as they loot, rob, assault, rape, and even kill with impunity.
Then they go on their merry way, knowing well the police will do nothing. The police then declare it was a “robbery gone wrong.” WTF.
Our police pay special attention to protect only the rich elite and the so-called very important people. Ordinary taxpayers and victims of violent crimes are routinely shafted by the “no transport” and “no officers” excuses.
Children go hungry to school. Hungry children will have additional challenges paying attention and aren’t able to retain or even enjoy the day-to-day learning experience.
Teachers are underpaid and overwhelmed, while political classes get 130% to 230% pay raises, luxury vehicles, health insurance, and other benefits too numerous and too shameful to name.
The political class (low as they are) do the least work and take the most from taxpayer-funded treasury. Shameless, classless, immoral, unconscionable, pretentious, bastards they are.
The ordinary average Fijian notice and know that the economic and political system is broken.
A broken political system dominated by the corrupt, money-grabbing ruling class, the chiefs, and corrupted senior public office holders.
The system is broken, and people want change but are either powerless or don’t know better due to the lack of civic education and/or people’s short attention spans.
Adding to the lack of interest in political and government matters is the lack of education, as we learn today that the majority of boys that drop out of school before/after reaching year 10 are itaukei. .
What is left unsaid is that our future leaders will be uneducated or under educated at best. Because we know the educated citizens leave our greenest islands for “greener pastures.”
Apparently, our vast acreage and vacant lands lie with the greenest paragrass aren’t alluring enough to stem this expensive brain drain.
Otherwise, the lack of interest to remain, or to be more involved in the affairs of country and government might be due to the lack of accurate information from our independent erstwhile media–not withstanding the 1.7m each they received to report transparently and fairly.
Perhaps people are simply too busy trying to make an honest living–hoping they will not be hounded by local governments, and other authority types looking for lunch money.
The current crop of corrupt and greedy lowlifes have never had it so good.
What a disgraceful state of affairs and yet the chiefs worry about the constitution, a mere piece of paper that will do nothing for the uneducated masses. We’ve had four such pieces of paper in the last 4 decades, and each was trumpeted as the silver bullet to fix all itaukei ills supposedly inflicted by the vulagi.
Ergo, the status quo as the chairman of the GCC has lectured (or heckored, or heckled)–perspectives matter–to all and sundry the 2013 constitution is impeding itaukei progress and must therefore be thrown out through the back door.
Whatever, let’s have another do over. Move the goalposts yet again.
Meanwhile, still, we’ve had four decades of stagnation–or, in other words, same shit different day.
How long will we, the citizens of Fiji, stand by and watch our beloved country be mishandled by the very people who have been named adversely (and be possibly found guilty in a trial) in the COI ?
Can’t we, the people of Fiji, take to streets and have a protest march/rally seeking justice for the nation? just like some people have marched in the streets seeking to change/remove the country’s constitution.
Or will we all suffer and be left suffering, just to save a few and for some to benefit, and drown our beloved Fiji in a pond of deceit and injustice with crocodiles and snakes ruling.
@Protest possible?? The last sentence applies.
Any “anti-government” protest plans must pass through the entho-nationalist gatekeepers — many of the visit and monitor this blog daily, including military intel, and theblokes of jope, take-abreak, wacol, et al.
In short, they are spies that keep various government apparatus informed up-to-date.
Any planned protest will not be approved for a permit by the useless and dumb police comm.
“National security, peace and safety for all” will be the standing mantra will long remain the usual boogeyman excuses.
In other words, if any one person or group should protest, the government will come down hard to take people to task.’
As for others marching for changing the constitution, we must not forget that some animals are more equal than other animals in this beautiful islands paradise (full of parasites), which we all inhabit.
Any itaukei will tell you that you must be grateful for the opportunity to be permitted to live here at the benevolence and consent of the itaukei.
We owe the itaukei a heavy debt of gratitude for their generosity and opportunity to live here, so work hard, pay your taxes, and shut the feck up.
@Acha bhaya, why so much racism?
I only asked whether the people who are alleged in the COI report can be affected or taken to task if the people protest and/or create awareness.
You are probably correct in saying that the police wont give permits because they obviously have their priorities and those priorities are obviously aligned to what the crocs and snakes want.
Let us not mix race with the results of the COI report, even if it is an underlying agenda.
In other words, what I am trying to say is that the people who are adversely named in the COI report must be taken to task regardless of race or position or whatever.
Racism? What planet are you from?
Plus a little bit of sarcasm might help break the monotony- if said sarcasm can spotted.
Yesterday’s decision by Cabinet to erase old criminal records is nothing short of a masterclass in political convenience — and guess who the biggest beneficiary is? The Chief Justice himself, finally getting his past wiped clean.
How perfectly timed!
They claim this is about helping Fijians find jobs overseas. Yet, the government has suspended the NEC programme for two years now. So who exactly are we helping?
This excuse is as hollow as it gets.
Worse still, this move seriously undermines Fiji’s credibility as a labour-sending country. When potential employers overseas have no way of knowing the true background of applicants, it’s a recipe for disaster. It cheapens our “product” — and let’s be honest, Fiji workers already don’t have the best reputation abroad, as shown by the low numbers of rehirings and ongoing issues.
So while Cabinet tries to sell this as a “fresh start” for our people, it looks more like a convenient cover-up designed to whitewash the Chief Justice’s record — all at the expense of our country’s reputation.
Brilliant move, Cabinet. Truly.
Does the Chief Justice have a criminal record?
That decision to erase old criminal records sure will erase what little trust there is in Fiji abroad.
Bar Stool (as in a seat, right?) is on the money.
Yet another dumb move by the PM is designed to “help” the itaukei only. And another attempt to move the goalposts.
However, one might add, “They claim this is about helping Fijians find jobs overseas” is not going to fly with any country. We have a large unemployed labour pool to select from. Why are we so intent on getting people with criminal records to go?
Such policy is not only plain dumb, it will be counterproductive, and a regressive step (if endorsed). As B/Stool notes, it will cheapen Fijian credibility with the international community that in turn will lead to dire consequences for the vast majority of citizens- including those who have never committed a crime, never been arrested, nor never appeared in court.
A crucial question to address must be: Where do we stop? Petty crimes? Non-jail sentences? Rapes? Murders? Violent crimes? Child molesters? Drug offenders? How far will PM snake go? Will this be only for the benefit of kaivata and kilavata? Vuvuale only?
This regressive move will see increased systematic corruption, fraud, and further weaken institutional integrity to the outside world.
Expunged records do not mean violent crimes or any crime – never happened. Nor does a pardon, or can the mere passage of time be used to mitigate violent heinous crimes from the records.
We must do the opposite– strengthen our official record keeping, and introduce stricter protocols in the issuance process of records.
Do we really, really unwarranted scrutiny and to be added to Trump’s list of banned countries? Really?
Solution, or the answer is simple: you commit crimes and have convictions, there are consequences.
F##k ’em. Bed. Made. Sleep.
So, baritone can easily suspend the former indo fijian CJ based on some frivolous compliants made by baku’s former cheering squad made up of the hysterical gaggle of stupid useless people like shamimi ali and imrana loose mouth jalal. They along with their other female friends complained that the former CJ dares to ask them to wear longer skirts in court.
For that buka the baku promptly suspended Kamal Kumar and appointed the useless and evil corrupt oaf temo as acting CJ. Poor Kamal under immense stress sadly passed away the day the prompt tribunal was set up to look into his allegations. (The judiciary hasn’t quite moved that fast since then, except when dealing with frank and qiliho and now the trespasser who wanted to say bula to rabuka at his house)
Shamimi and loose mouth et all, cheered baku on. They wanted their baku hero to kick Kamal out. And baku delivered. All happy and all responsible for the former CJ’s death. They all have blood on their hands.
But now despite there being public allegations of temo bullying his wife, of the coi report recommending that he be suspended and investigated for abuse of office and for perjury and other serious allegations…there is refusal by baku to suspend terrible temu just as he suspended Kamal Kumar!
The evil lasulasu prick is saying he has no powers to do so and is totally ignoring what Ashton Lewis has recommended that the PM does to hold temo responsible for the mess and corruption in the judiciary. ( I think Ashton Lewis just found out the evil side to his church mate who he was singing praises about recently) of course Ashton Lewis who very casually talked about the coi report recently won’t be making any more comments about his mate buka lying to the fijian public about his inability to suspend temo, because Ashton Lewis is waiting for his contract on the fijian bench to be extended till at least 2030. And that is the reason why he said so many pretty things about baku in his revent radio interview. But I digress.
So, another big bullshit from baku but where is shamima, loose mouth and the other bullshit ngo types who run a friends only ngo based out of australia and have frequent week long trips to Bali and other exotic places to discuss “the plight of downtrodden women”. Loose mouth even employs her two sisters in this lasulasu ngo. Others on the ngo are made up by close friends from school days. Yay..women’s rights!
Anyway. Why aren’t these evil, two-faced, hypocritical women making any comments about all this injustice that’s going on in Fiji? Are they still cheering and dancing for buka as they did election night? Where is all the fancy legal ethics talk by loose mouth? How come shamimi shut up about perpetually inebriated minister charan choot Singh’s discriminatory and sexist behavior against his staff when choot singh started asking about the effectiveness of the women’s crisis centre, it’s funding details and the trips that shamimi makes overseas?
How come these swines haven’t said a word about the very public blatant hate and racism against the entire indo fijian community by the PS for itaukei affairs? How come these pretentious useless feminists and pseudo activists haven’t asked any questions about how the PM of the country hasn’t said a word about this racist attack by the PS? How come they don’t say how institutionalized racism and blatant fearless racism is back on our streets and the alarming growth of racism on social media by people who now don’t even care to hide their identity while spewing their racist poison simply because king evil viper buka the baku has created and encouraged an environment where racism is fast becoming the norm and acceptable to the extent that racists are being publicly supported by chiefs and other elite itaukei.
These cocktail circuit ngo pretentious parasites are all hypocrites of the highest order. They deserve rabuka f**king them sideways with his duplicity. Fiji is f**ked. Temo and others in the judiciary and govt will continue in their corrupt ways, buka will keep biman the boci and goofy manoa on a short leash until elections, corruption, crime, health, jobs, the economy and general lawlessness will continue to snowball into major disasters that will ruin the country and baku will continue with his incoherent rabbit and dog stories to the glee of his cheering squad of racist, corrupt and extremely stupid supporters.
There is no way out of this mess for us…that is unless rabuka dies very soon. He needs to die now for the sake of our country and the people who want save our country. Just die, you bastard.
Brilliant. But crikey, as coalition/NGO critics go, you make me seem very tame by comparison. Jon Fraenkel will love it 😉
Oh btw..why the f**k has the incompetent and impotent fijian media not bothered to call out baritone buka’s lies and ask him the simple question of “if you suspended Kamal Kumar as CJ for such a frivolous complaint, then why the f**k are you now lying and saying you can’t suspend Temo as CJ despite such serious allegations and complaints against him?”
F**k the compromised masi polo lap dog fijian media.
F**k Jon Fraenkel. He is a rabuka stooge who was openly campaigning for the baku whilst blatantly criticizing the FF govt. He is also a racist prick who dislikes indo fijians.
F**k him and Charlie big fat bolt Charters as well. They both have the same superior and holier than thou colonial mentality.
I disagree about the colonial bit. Most “end of empire” progeny of Fiji “colonials” I know and especially those from the oldest kai valagi families care very deeply about fairness for all and the multiracial ideal.
Jon Fraenkel and Charlie Charters came to Fiji from Britain after Independence, married iTaukei, and fall over themselves to outdo the indigenous supremacists with their enabling nonsense.
They don’t know anything about “Viti makawa” and the hopes of the majority at Independence for a thriving multiracial Fiji being an example to other emerging nations and especially our Pacific Island neighbours.
In other words, they are arriviste or parvenu and are not typical of many kai valagi at all. Just more vocal.
I feel really sorry for your blogger “Anonymous”. Hysterical postings and lots of vulgarism and venoms. I think he has sensed demise of Khaiyum already or who knows? The last standing conman of Bai era. Dusted into rubbish bin for ever.
The day GD was removed, the graveyard was dug wide open. Bai was an idiot and Kai was cunning always suspicious of GD. Media makes you, media breaks you.
BTW You live by the sword, you die by the sword.
For the record, I wasn’t removed. I resigned. And with the goodwill and thanks of both Qorvis and Bainimarama and Khaiyum. They were less happy later in the lead-up to the 2022 election when I campaigned for a change of government, a decision I now bitterly regret.
It’s not the demise of bai and khaiyum I’m worried about you idiot. It’s the demise of my country that I’m worried about. It’s just so frustrating that we can all see how our country is disintegrating amid all the self inflicted chaos by rabuka and his merry band of ethno nationalists dick heads. I sense that you are one of them and that you don’t really care. But I do. And so do many others who truly care about our children’s future in a country that was an amazing place to live in before buka the baku f**ked it up…not once but twice. The only reason he was able to do it was because of stupid idiots like you that support evil like buka..despite ample evidence throughout our history on what a useless polarizing evil c**t rabuka is. F**k you and f**k him.
Thank you “Anonymous”. I know you are really affected, but may peace be upon you.
Equal citizenry is very much applicable. You have the audacity to swear, isn’t your rights are protected?
God bless you.
Bula GD, relating another frustrating episode in Viti. This afternoon it took 50 minutes to drive from the Nadi Bridge to the temple end of town! 50 minutes! The traffic lights haven’t worked for a while yet not a single policeman in sight to move traffic along.
Tudravu, do something! You have policemen tied up escorting useless Government officials. WTF. Have you all lost your minds?
I see from the photograph heading this article that Rolex Rambo has
hidden the gold timepiece in his sock drawer and dug out a black faced digital one.
Maybe he has finaly seen the error of his ways and realised that flaunting such bling is spitting in the faces of his ‘subjects’ who can’t afford to feed their families.
What’s truly astounding is how the mainstream media has completely failed to hold our duplicitous, two-faced prime minister to account. When he smugly claims he has “no power over judicial officers,” the press parrots it without question. Yes, as GD rightly pointed out, that statement is technically correct—but it’s also deliberately misleading. He conveniently omits the crucial constitutional fact: the prime minister does have the power to advise the president, whose actions must then follow that advice. That’s exactly what happened when a previous president, acting on the PM’s counsel, suspended a former Chief Justice. So let’s call it what it is—yet another calculated act of political cowardice, cloaked in legal half-truths and deceitful spin.
So much for CoI investigations and findings. We are starting to see how it is being translated in police investigations. The complaint on leaking a personal electoral information, after police investigations and DPP considerations, the issue is closed due to insufficient evidence.
This sets the trend and tone of CoI recommendations progressing in Fiji?
And $200k spent on the Agricultural minister’s funeral. Taxpayer’s money.