It is an astonishing proposition that a legally constituted Commission of Inquiry by a judge of the Supreme Court of Fiji who happens to be Australian should be cast as ” a disgraceful interference” in the domestic politics of Fiji. Yet that’s the argument that appears to be mounted by the long-time Fiji commentator, Professor Jon Fraenkel of New Zealand’s Victoria University, in a front page story in today’s Fiji Times.
Grubsheet has a long history of clashing with British-born Fraenkel, who is married to a Fijian, was a supporter of the Qarase government, a bitter opponent of the Bainimarama-Khaiyum government and is now aligned with the Coalition. We were on the same page when the Coalition came to power but the record shows that I long ago parted company with the pro-Coalition forces, mainly because of the “vulagi” brouhaha and assault on the common and equal citizenry and common identity provisions of the 2013 Constitution.
John Fraenkel is still a highly partisan supporter of the Coalition and has now publicly joined forces with those who have been trying to undermine the Ashton-Lewis Commission of Inquiry into the “rotten” circumstances – Sitiveni Rabuka‘s description, not mine – of Barbara Malimali‘s appointment as FICAC Commissioner.
These include prominent figures like the lawyer, Richard Naidu, who has publicly pronounced himself “sick” of the COI; Naidu’s friend, the President of the Fiji Law Society, Wylie Clarke, who has been eviscerated in the Ashton-Lewis Report (more on that later); and Clarke’s friend and unofficial spokesperson who also happens to be British-born and married to a Fijian – the rugby administrator and author Charlie Charters, with whom Grubsheet also regularly locks horns.
They are all entitled to their opinion, of course. But the notion that David Ashton-Lewis has “interfered” in Fijian politics when he has been specifically commissioned to inquire into the circumstances of certain politicians allegedly manipulating the corruption watchdog and being protected by it is risible.
Jon Fraenkel specifically mentions Manoa Kamikamica, who David Ashton-Lewis described (indirectly) in his recent Queensland radio interview as a “disgraceful wannabe prime minister” who behind his smile, is intent on stabbing the Prime Minister, Sitiveni Rabuka, in the back.
That was certainly a political statement that was unwise and John Fraenkel is perfectly entitled to criticise the Judge for that. But to undermine the credibility of the Commission of Inquiry as a whole in a front page Fiji Times story is – in Grubsheet’s opinion – a step too far.
The COI isn’t “interference” in Fijian politics but a judicial inquiry lawfully constituted in Fiji to expose alleged wrongdoing on the part of some of our politicians and institutions of state. And Manoa Kamikamica is one of them.
As Grubsheet reported two days ago, the COI Report that has been leaked and we are progressively publishing says this about Manoa Kamikamica ( We’ll be going into more detail in a later article).
Is Jon Fraenkel seriously arguing that judicial findings like this are politically motivated? That they constitute an “interference” in Fijian domestic politics?
I invite him to comment on this article in the usual manner below. Perhaps he has been misquoted by the Fiji Times. Yet the fact that the paper has put his comments on the front page makes it abundantly clear that he is, at the very least, being used to undermine the COI process. And that is extremely unfortunate when it is so important for Fijian democracy that any corruption and wrongdoing is exposed and properly dealt with.
The Fiji Times also publishes an article by Jon Fraenkel that omits the “disgraceful interference line” but nonetheless undermines the COI.
Is it a “fiasco”? Only in the eyes of those being targeted and their supporters.
The other front page story in the Fiji Times this morning is the first interview with Barbara Malimali since she was sacked as FICAC Commissioner. She is naturally unhappy with what the COI has said about her but then she would be, wouldn’t she?
Plus other COI-related stories in the FT.
When do the citizens of Fiji get a lookin and be treated respectfully as equals and not children who are not allowed access to reports that their taxes have funded so they can make up their own minds. Release the report and live with the consequences of accountability.
GD – since law from top to bottom has been compromised ,does fiji constitution give rights to the military to intervene and take charge and appoint a interim president and PM ?
Kri88
Remove your face from your buried a**.
Any coup in Fiji or military intervention will mean end of Fiji’s already fragile economy. Sugar and tourism both falling, poverty raising, geo politics and inflation from covid impact, still there and Fiji can’t afford any further upheavals. The consequences will be quite grave and serious if there is any military intervention through the manipulation of power hungry people.
There is always a better way out than military involving themselves in a democracy. The military clause was done by con-man khaiyum to cover his backside with Bai. They calculated that the day their reigns ends, some crazy military personnel will use that section 131 (2) to put them in power, so that they continue to ruin the country as they did in the last 16 years.
But military is smart now and they will never fall into the trap of conman Khaiyum with the section 131 (2).
GD is doing his part and the law will take its normal course.
Let the investigation begin without prejudice.
Please don’t peddle lies. Khaiyum didn’t invent section 131 (2). This section was lifted out of Rabuka’s 1990 Constitution.
In case English is not your strong point, section 131(2) was taken directly from Rabuka’s racist 1990 Constitution.
Quite right, Jovesa. Here it is in Section 94 of the 1990 Constitution:
94.Republic of Fiji Military Forces
(1)There shall be a military Force to be called the Republic of Fiji Military Forces.
(2)The Republic of Fiji Military forces shall be under the command of a Commander who shall be appointed by the President acting in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minster for a term of five years, but shall be eligible for reappointment.
(3)It shall be the overall responsibility of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces to ensure at all times the security, defence and well being of Fiji and its peoples.
“Any coup in Fiji or military intervention will mean end of Fiji’s already fragile economy.”
BS. Fiji has recovered well enough 4 times previously plus one blood bath mutiny.
Why are you lamu by sticking your head up yours? Because the shoe will be one the other foot? The vulagi do not give a rats tail how many more coups we have here now.
We are leaving as fast as we can. Along with thousands of itaukeis. Go to Nadi airport and smell the coffee mate.
Even the PM, with his gold rolex and Muanikau mansion, is gloating his son is now an NZ citizen. All while, he seek to make 40% of Fijians second class citizens in the land of the forefathers and their own birth. Shameless bastard.
Sugar is failing because natives are taking back land since kingdom come. No expansion is possible.
Tourism is lagging because of native driven violent crime, drugs, and rapes. Have you see the Butt Street video? Everyday occurrence a*sehole.
We hope to be gone by the time you have a civil war. You all came very close in 2000. For now, keep your head up yours.
Make no mistake, that day will come.
Professor Fraenkel comes across as as one helluva confused joker. He first hit the headlines in Fiji when he declared the electoral provisions of the 2013 Constitution can be amended by a simple majority in parliament, meaning it doesn’t need to go through the lengthy process stipulated in the Constitution like other provisions, to be amended,
He is brought to Fiji by Dialogue Fiji to further enlighten us on the Constitution but instead of elaborating further on his thesis, he warns us that it’s too close to the general election to even think of any amendments.
Now this buffoon returns to centre stage to say the COI came at great cost to the nation, and disparages Justice Ashton-Lewis. What next will he come up with?
A man who spends a decade teaching politics at USP passes himself off as an expert on governance in Fiji. I’ve lived 20 years in New Zealand, have a few degrees to my name but I won’t even dare contemplate passing myself off as an expert on New Zealand governance.
The fact of the matter is that Fiji people set high standards of behaviour for our politicians. We are interested in how they perform against these standards and if they fall short, we want them to be dealt with accordingly.
Interesting how Fraenkel is using this latest fiasco to grease the balls of those in power to get them to appoint him to the Vice Chancellor role in USP or, a lofty role in government.
Someone once told me that if you eat sh*t every day, you eventually become used to the taste and don’t mind eating it.
If the useless Fiji Times can publish Fraenkels’ rubbish without it being challenged by the people of Fiji, it’s apparent they have become used to the taste of sh*t that this government has been feeding them since coming to power.
The military needs to pull its head out of its nether hole and take control of this lawless country.
Jon Frankenstein was created by his anti Indian venom while at USP as he cheated on his wife and children with the Kalabo from Temptations Bar. Nothing new just pseudo academic drivel in a desperate bid to tarkari favor.
Ugly and self-serving individuals like Fraenkel and Charters, married to I Taukei women, cannot help but expose their bias and racist bigotry. Perhaps they feel they owe it to their relationship to expose themselves as not the usual vulagi.
They are so adept at putting up a facade of objectivity, for the sake of their roles, but their real DNA and attitudes are exposed through their commentaries like those in relation to the COI report. Pick out threads that suit them to spin a negative story while losing track of the bigger picture.
I am particularly aghast at my former lecturer at USP. But looking back I can relate how he always maneuvered himself for his own gain. But there were many more genuinely liberal academics then that kept buffoons like him in check,
Fijians are smarter than they think and recognise those who ‘hunt with the hounds and run with the hares’.
The Fijian people don’t give a rat’s ass about what Frankel and Charters think. O cei o rau qo?!
We care about getting rid of rotten politicians and other corrupt a-holes who are effing-up my beloved country.
Fiji needs to make examples out of these corrupt lot that history will never forget.
You’re all just transiting through, 4 years then we’ll all see in 2026.
Keimami sa kida, kua ike, ni dabe kece i ra, ni yavu bothy!
Craenky fraenkel is a dog with a whistle.
Evertyime he rears his mutty mug, with his tongue 👅 out, and panting to kiss entho-nationalist asses, we know he will be up to no good.
This time around, he started benignly enough by offering comments concerning electoral reform. Modus operandi for this racist dog to re-insert himself in local politics.
The irony of calling Lord Ashton-Lewis a foreigner does not seem to bother this bigot in that he himself is a foreigner ramming his unsought prejudiced opinions on Fijians.
This c##t is well remebered at USP as a racist bigot masquerading an an “academic.”
Fraenkel must be upfront whether he supports the 1997 document now in the dust bin of history. A document that called and will again make 40% of FIJIANS second class citizens–including his children (if any) to be referred to as vulagi.
Feck off.
That JF is based at the Victoria University of Wellington itself undermines any credibility he asserts to have. The hallmarks of this university include chronic underperformance in research output relative to peer institutions. Plummeting staff morale which is an inevitable outcome and poor student retention are also driven by unstable leadership and a revolving door of restructures. The university is a halfway house of sorts for people of mediocre standing, as they hopscotch their way around the limited pool of equally poor institutions.
A strategy culture fixated on branding and bureaucratic reshuffles, while academic standards and student experience are left behind. Rebranding itself as “Te Herenga Waka” may have ticked a box, but it hasn’t masked the erosion of scholarly credibility. John F is a perfect addition to its stable of horses destined for dogfood.
The Fiji Times and its reporter Cherianne Wilson, the PAP loyalist and propagandist, disguised as a journalist, crank into full gear to discredit the COI while Graham Davis’ arch foes Charlie Charters and Jon Fraenkel team-
up in an attempt to double penetrate him, but Davis has his front and rear well covered.
Wild scenes unfolding in Fiji!
Oh dear. What a terrible image. I’m glad you think I’m safe.