Things are not going Salesi Temo‘s way, with the President – his old friend and relative by marriage – refusing to bow to the Chief Justice’s demand that he remove the Acting FICAC Commissioner, Lavi Rokoika.
Amid the clamour for action from the likes of Richard Naidu, Graham Leung, Tanya Waqanika and now the Fiji Law Society and its President, Wylie Clarke, the rest of us can only guess what is actually going on behind the scenes.
There’s an old saying, however, that every picture is worth a thousand words. And these five pictures below tell us that all is not well at the Judicial Services Commission. The Chief Justice cannot remove the President. But the President sure as hell can remove the CJ, acting on the advice of the Prime Minister.
Is this impasse about to be broken in the only way that will give the President and the Prime Minister a face-saving way out? If they are unwilling to remove Lavi Rokoika, perhaps they are now willing to remove Salesi Temo, as the Ashton-Lewis Commission of Inquiry recommended?
We shall see. But the magnitude of this developing crisis is written all over the faces of every single member of the JSC. (All images from CFL-Fiji Village).
No resolution. Friday’s Fiji Times front page. Plus the usual mayhem of drugs and guns.
The nation is in all sorts of trouble.
Well that would be a step in the right direction.
GD, in your blind hatred of Malimali and Temo, are you imploring the president to go rogue and defy the constitution?
He has already done that when he was speaker that led to the demise of FijiFirst, and this empowered racist Rambo to the extent that he has now brought fiji to this piteous state?
You want the lawless president to again attempt to pervert the rule of law?
Regardless of your hatred for Temo and Malimali, the constitution is clear that the president needs to act on the advice of the JSC. If the president doesn’t do that, the constitution is clear that he should be suspended immediately by parliament.
The constitution is far from clear. Indeed it has taken an expert in personal accident compensation, Justice Dane Tuiqereqere, to make a pronouncement on the legality of Barbara Malmali’s sacking that is vastly at odds with that of two NZ Kings Counsel, one NZ’s foremost constitutional expert.
This could have all been appealed on their advice but the Prime Minister finally chose not to, reportedly in return for an undertaking from Temo that he would convict Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum and a threat that he would acquit him if the PM proceeded to an appeal.
That’s how grubby all this is. So kindly spare me your sanctimonious disinformation. It’s not the lawless President most of us are worried about. It is the lawless Chief Justice. Because his corruption and that of the likes of Barbara Malimali is what has corrupted the criminal justice system. And there are no two ways about it.
On what grounds would an appeal be filed? It’s not as simple as ‘I don’t like the decision, so I’ll appeal’.
In any case, in Frank Bainimarama’s words, a ‘cleanup’ campaign is urgently needed.
The grounds for an appeal would have been that Justice Tuiqereqere got it wrong. That was what the PM was going to do. He had hired Andrew Butler KC to begin work on the case that Butler, like Philip Joseph KC before him, had advised that he would win. A day later, the PM changed his mind and decided not to appeal.
What happened in the meantime to prompt him to change his mind? This is what I wrote at the time and I stand by this story:
https://www.grubsheet.com.au/bombshell-did-the-chief-justice-threaten-not-to-convict-aiyaz-sayed-khaiyum-if-the-prime-minister-appealed-the-tuiqereqere-judgment-in-the-malimali-affair/
The President can always act on the COI recommendations to suspend CJ. This is the rule of law. The COI has legal basis.
Looks like the H.E President will suspend CJ and setup a three member tribunal to investigate him as per COI recommendations relating to the CJ perverting the course of justice by threatening FICAC/Puleiwai through CR that “no court will register FICAC charges…” as per audio recording evidence.
By ignoring the JSC’s advice to remove FICAC’s Lavi, H.E the President has sent a strong message to the CJ. Given sudden JSC meetings today followed by Richard Naidu and Graham Leung’s misguided and unwanted public legal advice, H.E the President must have now understood the broader conspiracy at play, which is to prevent further FICAC charges on corrupt elites and to reverse the charges against Baiman and Kamikamica.
The President acts on advice but on “correct advice”. Hence H.E President can always verify the advice given to him – and can choose not to act on flawed advice.
Like I said, there is no honour amongst thieves. And I did say not long to wait before the sh*t hits the fan. I did not realise it would be this quick!!!
He should not have been appointed in the first place.
This whole mess is the result of decisions and actions of both the President and the PM, including the appointment of Temo.
The actions and decisions to date have demonstrated just how far Fiji has fallen under the these three.
What happens next is anyone’s guess!
One thing at least is certain. Sitiveni Rabuka will survive. The Snake always slithers away from the firing line.
Check section 82 of the constitution… it is abundantly clear. What matters is the black letter of the constitution, rather than partisan advice of a lawyer, regardless of who that might be.
Someone with a basic English language comprehension ability can discern what the constitution is saying very clearly.
You have become a naive supporter of the corrupt and rogue Natewa clan just because you are so opposed to Temo and Malimali.
And you, my friend, are gormless. When two NZ constitutional experts and KCs say one thing and a new judge with a background in accident compensation says another, only someone with a very narrow view of the world would back the accident compensation specialist without question.
This should have been tested with the proper application of the rule of law – an appeal hearing in a higher court. It would have clearly been in the public interest in that it would have clarified, once and for all, the anomaly that Philip Joseph KC says exists between the Constitution and the FICAC Act. In any event, he advised that under the Interpretation Act, the PM did have the legal authority to remove Malimali.
https://www.grubsheet.com.au/revealed-the-kcs-legal-advice-that-contradicts-the-chief-justice-and-paves-the-way-for-the-suspension-of-barbara-malimali/
Instead Rabuka and the President appear to have done a deal with Temo that if they backed off, he would jail Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum.
That is the allegation – https://www.grubsheet.com.au/bombshell-did-the-chief-justice-threaten-not-to-convict-aiyaz-sayed-khaiyum-if-the-prime-minister-appealed-the-tuiqereqere-judgment-in-the-malimali-affair/ – and we will see the result of that deal soon enough. (end of March).
There is no obligation for the President to act within a specific time frame, but act he must wherever that may be.
It took the JSC almost 12 months from Barbara’s dismissal in June 2025 to bring this to a resolution and it is apparent there is no urgency considering the time that has lapsed.
Perhaps the President may wish a period of r and r with the vanua back in the village for a few months and act when he is ready.
Accordingly Lavi stays till then.
GD are you 100% sure that Aiyaz will be convicted? Watch it as you might be charged for contempt of court.
We will find out in four weeks or so. Temo will either jail or acquit ASK. And if he acquits him, he’ll have broken the undertaking he has allegedly made to the Prime Minister and President that in exchange for them dropping the appeal against Tuiqereqere’s ruling, he would put Khaiyum behind bars.
Yep, they have all – according to certain well-placed insiders – made a Faustian pact. And in the way of these things, truth will eventually out.
Racist and corrupt Salesi Temo.
It’s Friday today. Can a Kings Counsel or Calendarist give me their opinion or expert guidance on what day it is tomorrow. Money no object. Three very expensive opinions please to make the already known answer credible… majority verdict is to be accepted.
It’s funny how the likes of Barbara Malimali and Tanya Waqanika say that the iTaukei don’t need legal outsiders and especially Kings Counsel and the first thing that Acting DPP Nancy Tikoisuva does is go and hire a KC from outside in the form of Ian Lloyd to prop up her decision not to prosecute a single one of the police files arising from the CoI.
Ergo they will spend public money on the top legal brains when it suits them but not when their own positions are threatened. But what else is new? The hypocrisy and corruption under the so-called New Order is breathtaking.
All the elite ethno-nationalists in high place’s seem to be gradually tumbling from their perches. It’s just a matter of time.
The happenings in the JSC, the FNU among other instiutions, are ample proof that favoured appointments made by “virtue” of race rather than on merit will eventually fall from grace.
Their minds are confused with confusion for which there seems to be no solution.
Does anyone remember when the Judiciary and the other organs of government were all multi-ethnic under the able leadership of late Ratu Mara during his tenure as Prime Minister since independence? The country had an orderly form of governance back then and was much admired internationally.
The snake’s egotistic mindset “kitou sa qaqa” attitude as he pronounced on the balcony of the Suva Civic Centre in 1987 to his gullible admirers at the time, might as well now be turned into a “kitou sa sega ni kila” in 2026.
Meantime the country remains in the doldrums.
GD, we from form, hypocrisy is not in the native lexicon. However, they’ve developed liumuri to a fine art.
Also well known, the natives don’t do nor get irony, an art form long lost on them.
The circus tent is not coming down anytime soon.
Only a short 150 years ago they were eating each other and having tribal wars.
Now not only are they experts on a vulagi religion, but they are experts on vulagi laws.
In fact they are the best in the world on both counts. The turnaround is simply mind blowing in the anals of evolution.
What is more, now they realise they are actually Israelites who have been living in the Pacific. They say their history is very close to the Israelites. The Atu guy on local TV is shouting this all the time in addition to stopping cyclones through prayer.Wonder why he cannot fix the drug and HIV problem through his prayers – that is a lot harder I guess.
Careful – “annals” misspelled with one n changes the meaning of your comment completely. Although in the context, not entirely out of place in the current discussion.
Freudian slip maybe of where all this is eventually heading?
I left out the second n deliberately. That is my story and I am sticking to it, 😁
The quid pro quo between Charlie Charters and Wylie is marvellous. Charlie goes to extreme lengths to defend Wylie for being at FICAC for Malimali. So many social media posts by Charlie and then Wylie returns the favour by using the Fiji Law Society as his personal army to show support for Charlie.
It begs the question- is FLS for Fiji or buddies of Wylie?
Because so many Fijians need their help but FLS is nowhere to be found for ordinary Fijians. The common folks suffer while the elite have other elites backing them.
The drug gangs and cartels could be said to carry out their activities Undercover. However our social, political and legal elites , and throw in there economic elites – carry out their acts of looking out for themselves and their cronies not Undercover but in broad daylight; including using the media, judiciary and perhaps even the House of Lords and Chiefs to achieve their goals.
It’s become a battle royale heavily stacked in favour of the socially powerful elite in these recent Fijian hunger games. What hope is there for the ordinary common citizen of limited means as we watch the rort unfolding, and watch the hope for a prosperous present and future going up in smoke.
It’s a problem so many lawyers are meddling with high offices on behalf of their clients and vested interests. Lawyers with political ambition are especially mistrusted, as unfortunately are many journalists these days.
Attention should turn more to the Prime Minister and everyone understand that although separation of powers as a principle, and advice, is important for government to function, there should be no question on where supreme power lies: with Parliament.
The PM’s authority comes from Parliament where the laws created which the Judiciary then interpret and rule on the cases that come before them.
The JSC can advise as much as they want, but the President acts on the advice of the PM. The President and the Chief Justice can be removed if the PM so wishes once various procedures and criteria are met and followed with referral back to Parliament. The PM can shortcut this process by reaching agreement directly with the Leader of the Opposition.
Having a clear majority in Parliament, and better still with the agreement of the Opposition, matters can be dealt with at the speed it takes for necessary proposed legislative amendments to be drafted, debated and decided on in the parliamentary chamber.
The electorate like decisive leadership, which partly explains why Bainimarama was, and maybe still is, more popular than Rabuka.
All these attacks on FICAC and the Commission of Inquiry findings are just a desperate smokescreen attempt by the minor partners in this weak coalition government to maintain a hold on power.
And the people know it. They are looking to the PM to lead the country through Parliament on this and to get on with the more important issues of jobs, health and drugs.
They may welcome the PM’s decision to propose in Parliament that FICAC is unnecessary, but will also be suspicious if it’s just a way of sweeping the findings of the CoI further under the carpet. Parliament will need to be persuaded.
One simple solution is to reinstate Christopher Pryde (Fiji is clearly still in need of highly qualified overseas people in some key roles), guarantee his security and let him do his job. Scrap FICAC through Parliament, strengthen the resources of the DPP and CID accordingly, review the Police investigations on the CoI findings and remove even the slightest suggestion of any political bias in the investigations and prosecutions processes.
Most important, Police need to be supported more to a point where their professionalism, reliability and effectiveness is unquestioned.
The country will breathe a huge sigh of relief and have raised hopes that leadership can get on with more important and pressing matters.
The drug gangs and cartels could be said to carry out their activities undercover. However our social, political and legal elites, and throw in there economic elites – carry out their acts of looking out for themselves and their cronies not Undercover but in broad daylight; including using the media, judiciary and perhaps even the House of Lords and Chiefs to achieve their goals.
It’s become a battle royale heavily stacked in favour of the socially powerful elite in these recent Fijian hunger games. What hope is there for the ordinary common citizen of limited means as we watch the rort unfolding, and watch the hope for a prosperous present and future going up in smoke.
Thank you🙏GD for all that you do for Fijians, and to digress I want to draw you attention to the deepening rot at USP, which is sucking Fijian taxpayers’ dry.
Unfortunately the education minister is sitting on his arse and the Fiji media as usual are snoozing. It has taken the FLP to expose the scam.
The Tongan pro chancellor Siosiua Utoiksmanu, chief operating officer Walter Frazer and Human Resources manager Agnes Kotoisua are milking usp and Fijian taxpayers dry.
I hope GD you can turn your gaze towards usp as the Fiji media are useless. Either they won’t follow up Labour’s expose or they will just run USP media releases.
Man, Fiji is being f**ked from every angle because of weak government, pathetic prime minister and clueless education minister.
GD is our only saviour.
Oh dear. Thanks for the vote of confidence but if I am Fiji’s only saviour, then there goes the neighbourhood.
It is a question of priorities and right now, the primary threat to the nation – apart from drugs,crime, HIV and the like – is the corruption in our offices of state, the general woeful standards of governance and the importance of good people coming forward to contest the coming election. So it is only natural for me to be focused on that. Because we cannot have another four years of this.
What happens at USP, FNU and in the rest of the higher education sector is obviously important but is being well covered by Victor Lal and others and as you say, the Labour Party is the latest to seize on it as an issue. So right now, I am prioritising those things that affect the nation’s direction as a whole.
This is a one man operation and even the Saviour himself had twelve helpers. I hope you understand my position.
Yes focus is indeed important. But keep USP on your radar as it goes through yet another saga!
FIJI LABOUR PARTY
Allegations of massive funds abuse at USP
Hot on the heels of a controversy that rocked the Fiji National University just last month, come allegations of a financial scam at USP possibly running into millions of dollars.
We have received reports of alleged corrupt practices, financial irregularities and abuse of public funds under the current Interim Management Group at USP, although some of it could be part of the legacy left by the former VC Prof Pal Ahluwalia.
Ahluwalia’s contract with USP expired early September 2025. A confidential session of the USP Council in Auckland as early as May last year had resolved that the process of appointing a new VC should begin.
However, USP staff are questioning, amid increasing concerns of mismanagement, why the post has still not been advertised almost a year later.
The Interim Management Group (IGM) was appointed by the USP Council in September last year to take over from the departing VC.
Our sources say that the IGM is unlawful as there is no provision for such a body in the USP Statutes. Secondly, it required approval from the Privy Council to amend or authorise changes to the governance structure. The Privy Council was never convened.
The unlawful IMG structure is reportedly costing the university millions of dollars in wasted funds with exorbitant increases in sitting allowances, per diems and salaries to its members.
It would have been administratively, and financially prudent to have appointed an acting VC to manage the University’s affairs until a replacement was appointed.
The IMG is headed by the Pro Chancellor Siosiua Utoikamanu of Tonga. He is also acting as Vice Chancellor.
Labour calls on Minister Radrodro to investigate reports that his sitting allowance has gone up astronomically from $F30,000 to $90,000 per session.
Moreover, as Acting Vice Chancellor he is receiving a salary of $150,000 a year. He lives in “posh university residence on campus” but allegedly picks up an allowance of $600 per diem.
The Chief Operating Officer Walter Fraser is a member of the IMG with a salary of $486,000, nearly four times that of a professor. He also lives in rent free USP staff quarters but picks up the $600 per day in per diem, according to our source. At the same time, he allegedly gets accommodation support in Samoa “while simultaneously residing in Suva”.
These are appalling disclosures of double dipping and need thorough investigation. USP staff are not surprised at the long delay in advertising the VC’s post because of huge financial benefits accruing to members of the IMG.
Fiji is the biggest contributor to the university funds among the island nations. Why are our representatives on the USP Council not querying such glaring instances of abuse of public funds?
After all, 75% of the staff at USP are reportedly Fijian as are 60% of the students.
The university academic year has just begun. There is a student accommodation crisis at the Laucala Campus involving students who were guaranteed accommodation when the university does not have so many student rooms. Yet millions of dollars of scarce funds are being wasted through exorbitant salaries, sitting allowances and double dipping practices.
The Education Minister has a seat on USP Council. How can he allow such malfeasance to continue unchecked?
Please cede Fiji ( and the South Pacific) to America – so that Trump can do his cleanup / shakeup. Like withdrawing WHO and UN type funding and getting rid of other parasites. OR bring back Frank and Aiyaz.