It cannot be a surprise to anyone given the chaos in the Coalition government that even some members of the dominant partner – the People Alliance – have had enough. But it’s certainly surprising that the Prime Minister himself has gone public revealing that some PAP members are intending to leave and form an alternative political grouping to contest the 2026 election.
Why has he done so? Is it to get it all out in the open so that the rebel plan is exposed and they are forced to leave the PAP now instead of the party having to endure a prolonged period of white-anting? Is it an attempt to head off the possibility of a leadership challenge that would stymie Sitiveni Rabuka‘s plan to take the PAP into the election?
Whatever the PM’s reasoning, internal divisions in the main governing party have been dragged into full public view. And it is inevitable that this will erode public confidence in the stability of the government and investor confidence in Fiji.
For a man who habitually tells the media that he is not aware of certain issues of critical public interest, Sitiveni Rabuka has certainly gone on the front foot in revealing the divisions in his own ranks. Perhaps he thinks he will destabilise the rebels’ plans as everyone gets into a guessing game about who they are. But he is also destabilising the PAP, the government and the nation. And it will inevitably trigger speculation about his leadership and whether it is time for him to move on.
There’s a contradiction in the two paragraphs of his statement below that are blindingly obvious to all but the most gormless of his supporters. It stands to reason that if members of PAP are planning to form a new political party, there is internal dissension and discord. In other words, big trouble within the Party. So his claim in the next paragraph that the PAP “remains strong, united and fully committed…” is risible. Neither credible nor believable.
He claims that the PAP “will not be distracted”. Rubbish. It is already distracted. There are, by the PM’s own admission, elements in the party who are planning to break away and form a competing political movement. If that isn’t a distraction, what is? And especially when the PAP and the Coalition parties are so obviously incapable of properly governing even with the veneer of unity they desperately try to portray.
We now know why the government is so dysfunctional. Because it is riddled with disunity and the internal distraction of party members so unhappy with the course of events that they have given up trying to achieve change from within and are breaking away to form another party. That’s not “strong and united” but a political sh*tshow.
There’s an old saying that a party that cannot govern itself cannot govern the country. And incredibly, we now have confirmation of dysfunction in the main ruling party from none other than the Prime Minister himself.
Will this bring on a challenge to Sitiveni Rabuka’s chaotic leadership? The rebels in the PAP clearly don’t think so or they wouldn’t be leaving to form another party. They have joined the rest of the nation in losing faith in the Prime Minister, the PAP and the Coalition.
Depending on who these people are and who will eventually join them, the People’s Alliance is in deep trouble politically. And who is to blame for that? Got a mirror handy, Prime Minister? Yep, you.
A licentious drug user as Minister for Women and Children. A domestic violence abuser as Minister for Education. A Minister for iTaukei Affairs in business with a Chinese gangster. An Acting Chief Justice who is an outlaw. A FICAC Commissioner mired in corruption allegations herself. Multiple officers of state who have been found guilty of professional misconduct. A Deputy Prime Minister who beat a FICAC charge but has serious allegations to answer.
Corruption, cronyism and gross ineptness. With a nasty racist tinge. That’s the Coalition at the half-way mark of the election cycle. And it’s no wonder that people with even a semblance of decency and honour in the People’s Alliance have had enough.
A statement presumably issued in advance of today’s Fiji Sun front page to try to put the PM on the front foot.
Another punchy editorial from the Fiji Sun‘s Naisa Koroi…
Also on the front page of Pravda. Presumably too big to bury.
UPDATE:
Not surprisingly, the talk of social media, including this withering Facebook posting by Nirmal Singh Cheema – who hosted Coalition talks at his home in Suva before the 2022 election yet now says the Prime Minister has lost all credibility and needs to surrender control to a new generation. But who?
The fact is many think that its time for Rambo to go. He has fulfilled his role in pushing the Bai-Kai dictatorship out of power and destroying the Fiji First Party once and for all.
But Rambo still wants to cling to power, backed by the Vanua Levu ‘mafia’ both inside and outside of parliament including the Office of the President. Their snouts are deeply entrenched in the trough and they refuse to withdraw. Rambo is their front-man who gives them privileged access to the trough. Thats why they want him to contest again in 2026.
And Peter Wise, former PS in the PM’s Office, who was forced to resigned after multiple accusations of sexual harassment, was confirmed by the PM to be soon appointed to be Fiji’s Ambassador to Japan? WTF? Has Rabuka well and truly lost the plot? The women who reported Wise should now report him to police. Stop this farce. Senile PM.
Yes, the other Fiji Sun front page story today about Pita Wise is equally astonishing. But hey. If Lynda Tabuya can survive a sex and drug scandal, Aseri Radrodro can survive having beaten the PM’s daughter to the brink of death, Barbara Malimali can survive derailing a criminal trial in Tuvalu etc etc, are you really surprised that Pita Wise can be appointed ambassador to Japan?
The entire government is an ethical and moral vacuum. You are right to call it a farce. And it is an absolute disgrace.
People should know by now that under this government, the more dodgy you are the more suitable you are for certain positions. That is the norm now. It is a proud achievement and the highest standards being set by the government. Just ask them.
What is more, this is iTaukei land so they know best.
They even hire a dodgy trainer with a record to the Fiji Rugby League. Everyone is so proud and so normal. Great examples for our kids to follow. Fiji and Fijians are the best.
It is Rabuka trying to save his skin from the fractures within PAP. Pita Wise’s sister is the wife/partner of the House Speaker, who is also Rabuka’s paramount chief. Another sister, a former Fiji Times journalist, has a child with Rabuka, and is married to the news manager at Fiji TV. Will be interesting to see how Fiji Times and Fiji TV report this farce.
So it is all in the family? Apart from being dodgy, if you are family than that qualifies you even more for positions. It is not nepotism, it is just iTaukei culture as this is their land, anyway. So the next lot who come in will keep the tradition going as there are set precedence.
What happened to the sexual harrassment allegations against the President?
Unsurprisingly, Fiji Times continues to actively mislead the people and does not mention the allegations against Wise revealed by the PM last month. Only states that he ‘ voluntarily resigned from the post.‘ Helps to have close relatives in the media. https://www.fijitimes.com.fj/wise-earmarked-for-role/
There should be show trials of Fred Wesley and his corrupt “Chairman Emeritus”. Where is the Media Council? Nowhere to be seen. There’s the new “media freedom” for you. The freedom to distort the news to your own advantage. The Fiji Times is genuinely a national disgrace.
Nothing on Fiji One News tonight about Pita Wise. Brother in law there.
The new party is going to be a predominantly western and eastern force alliance.
This is of Rabuka’s own doing having preferred to appoint his fellow Northerners thugs to the highest position of leadership.
Siromi Turaga, is definitely going to join this new party out of frustration being demoted to Minister of Justice only and giving the more powerful AG position to Leung.
Another reason is the imbalance of development opportunities that is heavily focused in the North.
Well, the westerners aren’t going to sit idly by having funded Fiji’s development over the last couple of decades and recently sidelined by these group of Northern thugs.
Goodbye Rambo! Out to the dustbin of history!
Sega na isa!
Well if Siromi Turaga is in the new party, you can forget it. A racist who is both fast and loose with the law and the truth.
Any new party is only going to succeed with the support of the minorities because the iTaukei vote is going to be split even further. And Indo-Fijians and other minorities will not vote for any party that includes Turaga.
A dangerous ethno-nationalist and religious fanatic whose natural home is among the other indigenous extremists in SODELPA.
GD – I agree that Siromi is a dangerous ethno-nationalist. But tell me one political party that does not have one that will win a good fraction of iTaukeis?
I am a centrist and/or independent voter and all parties I have voted for since I started voting has either lost or only won a few seats in parliament.
Apart from the FFP and FLP, which totally got rid of enthno-nationalistic principles, I can not recall any other party that had survived 4 or 5 years in government after winning an election. The FFP only survived the 16 years because of the military’s backing, and to some extent, Khaiyum’s influence.
The person leading the new western revival is the man purporting to be Tui Nadi. hasn’t been confirmed yet as Tui Nadi, has an appeal case outstanding against him from another villager, and has a civil case against him and his development committee over the handling of Money for the lease of Denarau thst he is denying, both cases are handled by Suva lawyer, Isireli Fa. His spouse is from Vanua Levu and though resigning recently as PAP President, he is still very much a Rabuka man. That so-called new western political grouping is Rabuka’s trump card that he will activate at the last minute to cause a voter swung to him.
Watch on Fiji, the take down is happening. Slowly but surely the wannabe power brokers are destabilising an already broken and corrupt governing coalition. Rabuka is being very shifty and dodgy. Biman is feverishly working his dhal and rice magic behind the scene but to no avail. Fiji, we need to understand and be very concerned about who in the PAP camp is wanting to form a break away political party. This is another version of a coup d’état. A vote for the current losers in the PAP camp will only mean more of the same. What Fiji needs is new blood, politically. Individuals who put themselves last on the gain ladder but put the country first. None of these adulterers and crooks have a place in any future government. They have shown us what they are capable of. To destroy the country through greed and deceit. Let’s not give them a single vote in any upcoming elections.
Public distrust in government and its leadership was reported in the National Security Review Report…according to a leaked report in the Fiji Times.
Repeka Nasiko. “Erosion of Public Trust”. Fiji Times 9 Oct 24, page 3.
It’s a case of now you may wear the shoe on the other foot Rabuka! This is exactly what you did in Sodelpa so you shouldn’t be surprised ! Taking off to form PAP whilst using Sodelpa resources during the opposition term from 2018-2022!! Now what goes around comes around ! The same leaches who were in Sodelpa and who back bite and were in cahoots with you and now doing the same back to you !
Meanwhile GD the split of PAP was evident when their General Secretary Pita Waqatairewa resigned as GS followed by a statement by Rabuka that Waqatairewa resigned when he knew Rabuka was going to move a motion for his removal at the recent AGM of PAP!!
Rabuka is a snake and will never change ! It’s ironic that he makes the revelation of the split and possible traitors in his party at the Tailevu Provincial Council meeting!! That should give you an indication that the people he suspects are from Tailevu!
And yes it’s also not a secret that Manoa Kamikamica and Saki Ditoka despite their protests against any suggestions of opposition to Rabuka’s leadership are actually in full plans to desert him!
Pita Waqatairewa have been coming around to our villages in Tailevu for signatures and I know he is a good campaigner and with Manoa K beside him, they will get the Tailevu support !
There is now a vacuum when it comes to Bainimarama’s province ! Rabuka hopes to pick those votes but he won’t ! Manoa K and his party will!
Meanwhile it is good for Manoa K to forge out on his own! Hanging around Rabuka will drag him down and with Rabuka stating he will have another go as PAP Party leader in the next elections, Manoa K, Ditoka, Vosarogo and company should think of their future because they’re not getting any younger !
Rabuka meanwhile will remain with his girlfriend and porn Queen Lynda Tabuya!
So hopefully we get some good fresh parties that can make a real difference to the people’s needs!
At present all the current MPs are outdated and useless !
Vote them out people in 2026 starting with the useless and gutless Coup Daddy Rabuka!
Kick them all out! Every single one of them sumabishes. We must never forget that these same bastards voted unanimously to give themselves a huge pay raise whilst everyone else is struggling to put food on the table. They must never run for office, ever again.
But, they never learn. Stupid natives are gonna vote them right back in again
This breakaway, dissident group of corrupt, shallow and non-performing PAP ministers will be writing the boring epilogue of their useless political lives in Fiji’s history.
Not with all that dirty laundry, criminal baggage and immoral trash that they’re carrying around.
A closer look at the party, no one other than Rabuka has the nationwide reach. Fili was a potential next PM but has good governance issues. Kamikamica is a downright disappointment – all talk. The minister for poverty was a rising star but her true colors as a white collar criminal and immoral woman, wife and mother are now revealed and is now resigned to the dustbin of Fiji’s history before she could even make a difference in people’s lives.
Let’s vote for our salary increases first, eh? How dumb can one be?
Only new blood that can whip up the nation’s disgust at the PAP weak (skirt-shipped) leadership and the equally lost in the veidovu Cabinet ministers, can make it happen. Most likely a west-dominated party, they have the numbers. Should not include in their lineup a SINGLE government minister in the coalition – all tainted, by their actions or by their silence.
Go for it, quickly put together a political party, get the minimum registrations required and ride on the rising wave of public disgust at what’s happening in the PAP-led coalition government.
To the PAP corrupt lot, including the political prostitutes – practise what you preach. Or zip it. Get off our news feed and our TV screens.
Out you all go in 2026!
Dou sa bulagi mai.
NO ONE will miss you.
NO ONE will want to remember you.
Bloody morally corrupt lot!
How can Kamisweet be a good leader? Seriously? This crook said before the elections that the FFP government ministers were too highly paid. Then what does he do? He grants himself a pay rise when in government, and then has the audacity to say, “It will make me work harder.” What a self serving piece of a human being! No! This crook can never be allowed back in. But I guess he will shed a few tears and give a few hugs and all will be forgotten. This is the typical i taukei behaviour that is hindering Fijis progress atm. What a sham of a show!
Rabuka is to be blamed for the current disarray in his party and lack of discipline among Coalition partners, each with their own agenda.
His leadership has weakened due to poor decisions, starting with illegal appointments in the judiciary and DPP. He has failed to remove Lynda from her ministerial role after her scandal involving sex and drug, damaging the Coalition’s image.
Rabuka allowed his Coalition partners to have too much freedom in appointing people to boards, committees, civil service, diplomatic service, and municipal councils, leading to inefficient, self serving appointments.
He also appointed all Coalition MPs as ministers and assistant ministers leading to a bloated government. Uncontrolled overseas visits have become the priority of the ministers.
The FICAC fiasco is the latest failure, where he hasn’t taken action despite agreeing to a Commission of Inquiry into Babara Malimali’s appointment.
His ministers, including Lynda and Biman, as well as other ministers , remain in office despite investigations. Political interference in such matters has been rife.
His AG, both the former (Siromi)and the current (Graham), are unfit for their roles, while Manoa carries significant baggage. The TRC is led by an inexperienced junior minister.
Rabuka’s government is criticized for failing to address the rising cost of living, poor economy, skills loss, crumbling infrastructure, unemployment of youths, investor uncertainty, high drug prevalence, ineffective police, border security issues, high crime rates including sexual offences, health care decline, deteriorating education standards, lack of capital projects and many more. People believe that the government is just focused on their personal gains and manipulating laws.
Biman, as Finance Minister, has underperformed, with his NFP colleagues delivering below average performances. SODELPA has gone quiet.
The G9 group of independent MPs may offer some hope for Rabuka, but whether or not he can make tough decisions is uncertain.
Interesting days and months ahead.
Reading your posts & all the comments leaves one with little hope that there are any good leaders with their heads screwed on tightly enough not to succumb to the temptation of power & money. This desperation to grab for oneself & own family that is common in a poverty mentality can be seen at all levels of life in Fiji. It takes someone truly special to rise above this & then be steadfast in staying above the moral vacuum. And with the insidious xenophobia that blocks outside expertise in systems that have run for hundreds of years designed to help people rise & stay above self interest, what hope is there?
3 cheers to bottle collector
Kamikamica is surely overrated! There’s nothing about him that appeals to the national electorate.
The disgruntled group knows that PAP has no chance of winning the next election under the Rice and Dhal Rabuka, especially so with his Queen of Porn beside him. And with NFP obviously sensing their total demise, this is 1999 all over again.
The new faction has sensed that the majority iTaukei can no longer be gullible by Rice and Dhal Rabuka!
Good riddance PAP!
Thanks GD, you rock! Keep them coming!
Let’s not vote for any of these PAP failures!
Don’t vote for Siti, MK, FV, the unapologetically immoral, corrupt side-kick and political prostitute LT, or the new PAP off-shooters in the making.
Let’s not forget that these pigs voted themselves massive salary increases in the face of extreme poverty across Fiji. The only time they showed unity – bloody crooks.
Who knows, it could be a fake split in the party in a desperate attempt to gather all the pro- and con votes in 2026.
Regardless, God knows that you all failed your voters in the first year in government. Getting worse by the month.
You had one job! Greedy pigs.
Either way the cookie crumbles, no more votes for any of you.
All exposed for the low-life political dumbos that you are. Karma is a b!#t@. Don’t think you can fool us with some cheap political gimmick you’re doing now.
Let’s try Narube or Narube/Chaudhry partnership.
Narube is stubborn, sometimes ill-informed and ill-advised and probably not a good political strategist but we can get the experts in to fill those gaps.
At least, he’s not a full-blown stripper and corrupt, thieving, immoral politician like this PAP lot.
The leader is key – he/she needs to have strong, no-nonsense leadership skills.
Intelligent yet humble. Should know national, regional and global issues.
Culturally sensitive, yet modern.
Not immoral.
Not an attention-seeker, not self-serving.
Not corrupt, in any sense of the word.
If any of them (including the leader) effs-up, resign without being asked or forced.
Have some self-respect.
Have a moral compass for Pete’s sake, out you go.
Next!
Narube knowledgeable? He is as right wing as Gengis Khan, an IMF-experienced austerity economist who only knows how to cut government spending and delivering belt tightening ultimatums.
Chillie Con Carne
Narube has had the experience of being both the PS for Finance and Governor of the Reserve bank giving him the best knowledge of both fiscal and monetary policies that Fijis economy needs right now. Yes, he was seconded to IMF and World Bank. That doesnt make him right wing.
Fijis economic policies needs some drastic shift right now for the long term. Not short term stimulus.
He is probably the best person in Fiji to do that.
His party is a centrist party, and multi-cultural. he just needs to get some good people to stand in the next election.
Most of the current mob are tainted. Especially their leaders.
All the parties are whack right now. There is no viable alternative to vote for in the 2026 elections.
As far as I know, Narube was asked to join PAP, SODELPA and NFP for the 2018/2022 elections but he basically refused as his demand was that he be made leader if he was to join any party. Chaudhry with his hate for NFP refused to join the PAP-NFP bandwagon for 2022. Unity and FLP might get into parliament with 3 seats a piece but certainly not enough to form government by themselves or together.
SODELPA is basically dead and buried with the formation of a new party that will surely split the i-Taukei vote even further. PAP will also take a hit with the loss of some cabinet ministers if the rumours of them forming a new party are to be believed.
NFP are in the weirdest position out of all the parties. On paper, they are the least radical option available. I think the party will stay steady and not lose any seats but find it hard to believe that they will gain any seats either.
And that leaves the headless opposition bloc of 9/16. The bloc of 9 will most likely join PAP or the rumoured new political party. And the Inia Seruiratu led block of 16 apparently has had no talks of forming a new political party.
In conclusion, no party is currently guaranteed to form government on their own which means that another coalition government is likely. So if the parties have the foresight they will be entertaining coalition talks with other parties right away. PAP-NFP will most likely head into 2026 together so that leaves the other parties who could theoretically join together to form a grand coalition – a definitely stable four-legged stool of FLP, Unity, SODELPA and the new party? But the fact remains that only Rabuka possesses the nationwide reach to get the big votes so whichever party he is in has an advantage.
Shall we call them The Smears? PAP Smears?
Smears will do. Like smears of shit on toilet PAPer.
Representing other people ( in a House of Representatives) takes a lot and not everyone is cut out for the role! It’s obvious that the ‘honorable! Members of Rabukas coalition are out there for themselves…it’s all about self aggrandizement 😁
Ouch! That’s painfully too close for any sort of comfort
Whatever happens, the native Fijians will blame the Fiji Indians for their loss and failure.
The next leader must not be an academic type please, banking and World Bank type or work experience in senior legal positions in Palau or Nauru don’t count either!
Unfortunately it has to be a self made individual who does not need the Money, the Govt House, the Black landcruiser..the overseas travel incentives…etc etc. Someone who is past all that. Someone street smart and self made. And with some philanthropy element within. Someone like the outstanding human that the late Mr Ratan Tata was…and we are finding out more about his extraordinary life as people share their stories of him on social media.
So who is Fiji’s Tata….anyone there.. If the voters don’t think outside the box we will still get the same madness as we have been getting.
And for that to happen the ‘elders’ have to shoulder tap this leader who is currently not in politics, to step into national leadership and navigate the ship in the stormy seas in front of all of us.
We have dada.
What Fiji needs most now is a leader of character, wisdom and humility. Someone who understands the meaning of the proverb ‘beware of those bearing gifts’, and who appreciates there is no such thing as a free breakfast: that money does not grow on trees, it has to be earned.
This individual will hopefully head the largest group in Fiji who think in the same way, able as they are to put the national interest ahead their specific priorities and those of the provinces.
In spite of all the bad news stories – economy, drugs, NCDs, health and education – there’s also a positive story in the fact that the former coup leaders have had their day and the army is staying in the barracks. New political groups are emerging. This is good. I just hope the new guys have the wisdom to put the national interest first and come up with some good ideas and viable plans.