Right out of left field, the GCC has appointed the former military officer, Ratu Viliame Seruvakula, to lead the re-instituted Great Council, bypassing the high chiefs of the confederacies who had also put their names forward.
Ro Teimumu Kepa, the Roko Tui Dreketi, Ratu Epenisa Cakobau, the Vunivalu of Bau, and Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu, the Tui Cakau, all failed in their bids to get the top job.
We are yet to hear in detail how Ratu Viliame intends to use his influence as Chair of the GCC. In the meantime, keep your comments coming. What do you think of this choice? The initial response is that at least we have someone who will have a practical approach to development in the vanua. And Ratu Viliame’s overseas experience is a definite plus.
It certainly smacks of the chiefs as a whole going over the heads of the existing elite to get someone with fresh ideas and practical experience to lead them. And someone who has had real jobs and has demonstrated genuine personal accomplishment.
The Prime Minster, Sitiveni Rabuka, will not be pleased. It was Ratu Viliame who accused him of helping to instigate the 2000 mutiny. And neither will the Qaranivalu – the high chief of Naitasiri, Rati Inoke Takiveikata – who has only just been released from prison for his own role in the mutiny.
Ratu Viliame is also a relative clean-skin when it comes to coups. He was already overseas in the service of the UN when Frank Bainimarama staged his military takeover in 2006 to remove the ethno-nationalist government of Laisenia Qarase. Very interesting.
Good choice! Bula Vinaka Sir. The members are probably tired of the politicians and would like the Chiefly status to be independent of those well known who use their chiefly status for their own advancement!
Wish you well Sir!
They all wear green. He just got bitten by the snake. Whether he survives the poison.- Only time will tell. Watch Vasu 24/7.
Good choice!
A person of integrity and balance.
All the best.
A soldier as a president, PM, Fiji’s rep to the UN, as Minister for Home Affairs and now as GCC Chair, they surely have consolidated their position.
Absolutely delighted by this choice. Probably more delighted by the failure of the two leading chiefs who were rejected by the people in the 2022 elections and now by the GCC.
Merit counts.
But, what economical benefit will GCC BRING to Fiji
He may be better choice. BANI TIME NO GCC. WHAT IS THE NEED?
Sounds like someone that won’t be pushed around and bring some credibility to these ‘institutions’. Best of luck to him. Family lived in Wainibuka a while back in the day.
Last time I checked, the old fogies in the GCC can’t tell a debit from a credit so I’m keen to see what garbage this government comes up with to justify giving a useless and unconstitutional body the right to determine the future of Fijians.
Their rights are clearly enshrined in the constitution and the GCC is about as relevant as chewed gum on a sidewalk.
This elitist club only exists to further the personal agendas of every person in the GCC for both political and financial gain.
It is unconstitutional for them to even exist. They should be drinking homebrew under the mango tree as FB once famously stated – correctly.
Any right thinking Fijian who believe the GCC will improve the lives of the Fijian people is deluded.
What has he achieved that will be an example to Fijians of all walks of life. How many battalions of villagers can he summon to cater for a chiefly event? His village are migrants from western Naitasiri. He was put there for a purpose to counter the recently released prisoner Na Turaga na Qaranivalu. It’s all chess board politics by Rabuka.