Never mind his rape of democracy in 1987, Sitiveni Rabuka is signaling that the government is considering delaying the coming election until after it can change the constitution.
It is a clear violation of the supreme law which other politicians must go to the courts to challenge if Rabuka proceeds with this plan. Because the 2013 Constitution stipulates that the election cannot be held later than the first week of February 2027, in six month’s time.
While the Acting Attorney General, Siromi Turaga, has assured the nation that whatever happens will be lawful – and sticking to the election timetable is the only lawful course of action – Sitiveni Rabuka is again slithering around like the snake he is, casting doubt on the current timetable because of, wait for it… cost. This from our 11 Billion Dollar Man! (In debt).
The Prime Minister has told Fiji One News that the election date, constitutional change and the scheduled census are all up in the air pending a cabinet meeting this Tuesday and whatever the government takes to the parliament. But Rabuka is holding all the cards because parliament is now effectively a rubber stamp for whatever the Snake wants. Let me explain.
- Rabuka’s People Alliance didn’t win the 2022 election by being the party with the most votes. Frank Bainimarama‘s FijiFirst came first. And Rabuka only became Prime Minister by a margin of one vote on the floor of the House when he did a coalition deal with the NFP and SODELPA.
- He consequently does NOT have an electoral mandate to change the 2013 Constitution. And he will only have that mandate if he takes a new constitution to the people and gets their approval to change it.
- What Rabuka now has is the numbers to push through a new constitution in the parliament. And how did he get those numbers? Through a complete violation of all democratic principles.
- When the FijiFirst opposition imploded and Frank Bainimarama and Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum left the parliament, Sitiveni Rabuka bought off sufficient FijiFirst MPs with cabinet positions to enable him to now achieve the two thirds majority that the Supreme Court determined last year is the new threshold for constitutional change. (Down from three-quarters).
- So let’s get this straight, Fiji: The Prime Minister is not changing the constitution in the parliament through an act of free will by the people – of their elected representatives voting for change with a proper mandate from those who put them there. He is changing the constitution because he can secure the numbers on the floor of the House from MPs who were elected to pursue the policies of FijiFirst but who have been bought off with public money.
- It is an utter travesty of democracy and anyone who genuinely believes in democracy had better wake up to what is happening – a coup without the guns in which the man who raped democracy in 1987 is again raping democracy almost four decades later. And with the same aim. To entrench iTaukei supremacy and the power of the chiefs and turn Fiji’s minorities into second class citizens in their own country.
If anyone cares about democracy, it must not be allowed to happen. But the stark truth is that there is nothing to stop it from happening.
The creators of the 2013 Constitution – Bainimarama and Khaiyum – always envisaged that the RFMF would be the guarantor of the rights enshrined in that document – the common and equal citizenry, the common identity and the secular state.
But the current RFMF Commander, Major General Ro Jone Kalouniwai, won’t be defending anything. He is literally “one of them” – a chief and someone who intends to stand aside while the Coalition government manipulates the system to bypass democracy and get what it wants.
All this poses a clear and present danger to democracy and must be resisted. The other parties must insist that the election goes ahead by the end of the first week in February and if the government won’t obey the law, they must band together to launch court action to force the government’s hand. Because what is being planned is nothing short of outrageous. And the government must not be allowed to prevail.
And as if the assault on democracy isn’t sickening enough, the conduct of government politicians in overtly flaunting their wealth is obscene when no less a source than the Reserve Bank says that one in three Fijians are having trouble making ends meet.
This is the true legacy of the Rabuka government – a failure to meet the most basic needs of the people yet trying to camouflage that failure by whipping up a false campaign of misinformation about the threat of the 2013 Constitution to iTaukei rights.
Read the document for yourselves, for God’s sake Readers. There isn’t any threat to the iTaukei. The genuine threat is to the rights of the minorities if there is any change to the common and equal citizenry ( everyone with equal opportunity), the common identity (everyone a Fijian) and the secular state ( no religion given more status than any other).
That is the unvarnished truth but it counts for nothing in Rabuka’s Fiji and never has.
But while ordinary Fijians suffer, there’s no pressure whatsoever at the top.
Dripping with gold and diamonds in ostentatious displays of wealth that are sickening when so many people can’t make ends meet at all.
And that’s not according to rival politicians but the nation’s central bank!
NOTE TO READERS:
There is a video of the Prime Minister’s comments that WordPress is not allowing me to embed here. But you can see it by going to the Fiji One News page on Facebook and scrolling down to the clip.
We need Biman back.
Only he is smart and assertive enough to handle Rabuka and knock some sense into him. Vote NFP next election.
Keep taking the tablets, Bro. In your dreams.
It is Biman’s appeasement of Rolex Rambo over the past four years that has led us to this point. He betrayed the interests of the minorities when we looked to him to stand up for our rights and keep his coalition partners in check.
But let’s not kid ourselves, the majority of minorities voted for FijiFirst, Bainimarama and Khaiyum betrayed their trust when they resigned from parliament and orchestrated the party’s deregistration.
NFP and Labour are the only options for minorities at this point and Chaudhry still has that stigma of being an antagonistic and stubborn politician amongst the i-Taukei whose votes he needed when he was elected through a coalition in 1999 and which any will need to get elected next elections.
Depending on Biman’s court case decision where he can be charged and fined which will ban him from contesting, Pio will become the alternative i-Taukei leader to Rabuka which should be interesting.
Is Pio going to stand up for the minorities? We shall see. I once held him in the highest regard but his record during the term of this government has been less than stellar.
The NFP is in the business of propping up the nationalists in the PAP and SODELPA, not insisting on equality for all. And if we go to an election on the present system with its 5 per cent threshold, I can’t see them winning any seats at all given their woeful betrayal of their core constituents.
They did not betray anyone.
They did not want any part of the circus that was to follow – I woukd have done the same if I was them.
Only ones that betrayed anyone was that dalit dog biman who betrayed his fellow dalits.
No wonder they have stopped barking and are walking around with their tails between their legs.
L – Lotu
L – Lawaki Ca
L – Lemur
L – Lega
L- Laseituba
As long above except Lotu, is the biggest downfall of our nation. If we eliminate the remaining “L” as above, Fiji will be the way, the world should be.
And there is no sight of it that it will happen soon.
The Census does not have to be conducted in the first part of next year. It could easily be put off until say October 2027 and therefore would be an item in the 2027-2028 Government budget and not an expense for the current budget year. The Census follows a well-documented program, and the questions largely follow previous ones. Planning for it is not a hard exercise!
The cost argument being put forward does not have credibility in any equation on competing priorities in the current period.
The proposed referendum on constitutional change is still awaiting the report of the Constitutional Review Commission, which is supposed to present that this month. We assume that the report will be made public and there will be further debate on it in Parliament. Then there will be a vote on whether to change the Constitution, which may not be until September. And the vote will need to include what is to be changed!
As for conducting a Referendum the draft legislation that was presented to Parliament by the acting Attorney General has, I am told, been withdrawn, it was widely criticised as being poorly drafted, lacking substance and limiting public participation. So, a new bill will be required and pass through the Parliament on it.
All this while the General Election gets closer and closer and the Fijian Elections Office tries to prepare.
They, Rabuka and Co, have been in office THREE and HALF years and have got to this point and are now signally the election may need to be delayed? The Government is incompetent! Either that or they have planned this all along!
I called it what it is a long time ago.
A constitutional coup.
I’d also expect them to meddle in the electoral system by either raising the 5% threshold and/or changing from D’hondt to a hybrid First Past The Post to ensure they entrench their position by removing both the minor votes, the minor parties and the need for coalition ‘partners’.
They are happy to make the rules up as they go along.
Zimbabwe II
The constitutional reform consultations rate high on the bullshit scale and aren’t reflective of popular opinion nor vote. They will just cherry pick comments from village idiots and say that is the popular opinion and that gives them the mandate.
Also high on the bullshit scale is the Australian government’s position, but I guess it’s easier (and probably cheaper) to get what you want geopolitically when you have uneducated and fiscally irresponsible governments that survive on the hand out mentality like PNG.
Bula.
What Manoa “Bullshit” Kamikamica said 10 days before the election on Sashimendra Singh podcast:
“They are overpaid…When you come into office, you are dealing with public money. You are dealing with money for the taxpayers. So the salary that you take, will not be a private sector level salary. You will get a salary that is commensurate to service.”
What this same bullshit artist said after the election on May 2024: “We are not ATM machines…MPs deserve a pay rise to encourage us to work harder. ”
DO NOT VOTE FOR THIS LIAR!
I think the horse has bolted. What was not achieved in 1987 will be achieved now with compound interest.
The slogan was, “you want change, we are ready”
Welcome to the change, Fiji – the minority marginalised, the ordinary itaukei given a bum steer while the entitled and elite will milk everyone.
Welcome to the change, Fiji.
Do you think a government that dishes out tax holidays to extractive corporations is going to listen to the people?
GD how did your otherwise sharp lens miss the obvious- the Baiman-Manoa alliance against Rabuka?
Both felt that Rambo stabbed them in the back by Rabuka. They grew very close during their time in exile. They are planning and bidding their time for revenge. The two smiling assassins will strike when Rabuka is at his most vulnerable- likely during the elections.
Manoa is still impatient to become PM and Baiman is now secretly supporting him while pretending to be loyal to Rabuka.
Whatever the faults in the COI it correctly exposed Manoa’s ambition and corruption.
What Manoa needs to understand is that Baiman is the ultimate cunning fox who cannot be trusted at all, and he will swing his support behind Rabuka if that’s where his best interests lie.
Baiman and NFP have zero hopes in the election. The betrayer Baiman is hoping either Rabuka or Manoa, should they end up in power again, will give him a cushy job, such as an ambassadorship. Meanwhile, there will be nothing for the NFP as a party and it’s its MPs. Caiman only looks after his interest first.
For example, he could not even negotiate full ministry positions for Sashi and Lenora, only assistant ministers. He was only interested in himself getting the Finance ministry and deputy Prime Minister.
If he wins his case and fights the election, Baiman is ready to ditch the NFP and his fellow in MPs as deep down inside, he knows they will not win any seats. He is hoping he will be have a cushy job and parachute out of NFP leadership after destroying NFP as a party.
Some interesting observations. Vinaka. The base line is that unless they change the electoral system before polling day, Rabuka is indispensable as the sole person able to secure a mass vote under the d’Hondt system. Manoa and Biman are minnows to Rolex Rambo’s whale. And they need him more than he needs them.
Will CommonMan be making an appearance in these columns again soon?
I very much hope so. The ball is in his court as to whether he does but I can equally understand the pressure of running a farm and needing to make ends meet when I am unable to pay him for his writing because I earn nothing myself.
Constitutional addition: As saviour of the itaukei, Rabuka to be decreed a Paramount Chief and GCC membership for ever more. And the serfs will oblige.
Sub clause: Rabuka to be declared a god. Serfs have already created this itaukei god and saviour for themselves, much to the pleasure and pride of Rambo who confirms to himself he is above the ordinary folk.
Another example of what a PR disaster Lynda Tabuya is. And to think she was given the information ministry portfolio. She’s a loose cannon who is trying to boost her popularity for the coming election after hitting rock bottom with the greedy proposal for MP pay increase.
Her selfish actions to gain popularity are damaging the whole government. Rabuka is of course stupid as well for giving her those portfolios, and despite all her blunders, still keeping her there. She has no big garden in climate change and took over that portfolio to travel and collect allowances on her many junkets.
The voters are watching and waiting:
By Premila Kumar
$8 LIVING WAGE: WHY GIVE WORKERS HOPE IF YOU NEVER INTENDED TO DELIVER?
The Government’s handling of the proposed $8 living wage is no longer just about wages. It is about honesty.
Was the Government ever genuinely committed to an $8 living wage, or was this simply political messaging to give workers hope?
The Government cannot continue to tell workers one thing today and something completely different tomorrow.
Let us look at the record.
In April 2025, the Minister for Employment, Agni Deo Singh, said another minimum wage increase was “not planned at the moment.”
Then the FTUC launched its campaign for an $8 living wage, and Minister Lynda Tabuya publicly supported the proposal and indicated that most of her Cabinet colleagues were also supportive.
So, was Minister Tabuya speaking on behalf of Cabinet?
Then the Prime Minister said there was “no reason why we should not consider” the $8 living wage and suggested it could be considered, provided its financial implications were addressed through the Budget.
Now, the same Prime Minister says $8 is unsustainable.
So, what changed?
The workers’ struggle did not change. The cost of living did not suddenly become easier. The Government’s position changed.
And this raises a very serious question: Were workers genuinely being given hope, or were they simply being told what they wanted to hear?
What is even more concerning is that three Ministers from the same Government appear to be singing three different songs from the same song sheet.
One says an increase is not planned. Another publicly supports an $8 living wage and says Cabinet colleagues support it. The Prime Minister says there is no reason not to consider it.
And now the Prime Minister says it is unsustainable.
Which one is the Government’s actual position?
Workers dont need mixed messages and shifting positions
If the Government needs an economic assessment, then conduct one, make it public, and explain the findings to the people.
People are already struggling with the rising cost of food, transport, electricity, rent and other basic necessities.
But do not fool the workers and give them hope when you have no intention of delivering.
Hon. Premila Kumar
Opposition MP
11 August 2026
#Fiji
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Grow a pecker GD. As a journalist you should be aware that the gvt has every right to delay an election if it so chooses and it is not required to give reason!
Election sooner, election later election there will be so shut it and write some sense you silly twit!
Who’s the swinging dick, silly twit who needs to grow a brain? Take a look in the mirror, sunshine.
The government does NOT have “every right to delay an election if it so chooses”. There’s an inconvenient thing called the L-A-W. And the law as it stands says the election must be held before the end of the first week in February. No if, buts or maybes.
Ignorance used to be something people like you were ashamed of. But now you’ve got an email account and can broadcast that ignorance to the entire world. Good, eh?
Do carry on.
Sleeping dogs and the doctrine of Laches….a time warp but the same old faces albeit a little less collagen infused. The crafty swingers with their Section 161 ….FFwd to 2026 Who would have thought the shoes would be on the feet but the wrong feet at that!? Now all they need is a scandal of swinging d…k proportions to wipe out the opposition entirely so they can vitiminibus their way to the finish line lock, cock and two smoking ……… (I will let you fill in that GAP!!!)…………….In more developed countries on public transport I hear them say MIND THE GAAAAAAAP!