The old Mouth from the West, Mick Beddoes, is given the front page of today’s Fiji Times to make some astonishing and highly provocative observations about the jailing of Frank Bainimarama and Sitiveni Qiliho that have nothing to do with justice and everything to do with revenge.
The former opposition leader and “brains” behind the Unity Party commends the Acting Chief Justice, Salesi Temo, for “turning the wheels of justice in the right direction” while chastising His Lordship indirectly for not being tough enough on the pair. “They got a slap-on-the-knuckle instead of a full sentence”, says the Mouth.
But the most startling aspect of the story is Mick Beddoes urging the police and the illegal Acting DPP to now track down every single person who carried out the orders of Frank Bainimarama and Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum during their 16 years in office. If that’s not advocating a witch-hunt, then what is?
How can the Coalition and its supporters credibly trumpet a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to lay to rest Fiji’s demons if this is what we get from the likes of Mick Beddoes?
1/ Most people can be forgiven for thinking that we are a nation of liars if the Coalition’s idea of “truth” is their truth and they betray Fijian voters by promising better standards of governance than their predecessors and deliver precisely the opposite.
2/ What hope is there of “reconciliation” when people like Mick Beddoes wear their bloodlust on their sleeves and the miserable Fiji Times gives them front-page coverage to preach their vindictiveness and whip up base public sentiment?
Mick Beddoes lost all credibility as a national political figure when he boasted for months of standing for the last election for Savenaca Narube‘s Unity Party to restore good governance and then failed to get his application to become a candidate lodged with the Elections Office on time. The truth is that he is a prize F-L-A-K-E. And worse, he is now intent on inflaming political tension by urging the authorities to throw the book at anyone who had anything to do with FijiFirst.
So much for reconciliation. It is a pipe dream that isn’t going to happen. Not while slugs* like this are given the front page to vent their grievances in such uncompromising and punishing terms.
* Definitions of a slug:
…who doesn’t get their application to contest the election they promised their supporters they would contest in before the closing deadline.
Of course truth and reconciliation is important to move forward but at the the same time justice is the priority of any nation.
The law should take its course.
If you have committed a crime, then he or she must be brought to court for trial.
No matter whoever he or she is in society.
Gone are the days when one can take some grog and dalo or a pig and everything is forgiven
Many countries these days are hunting for people who committed crime decades ago and are dragged to court.
No matter what age or who they are, justice is paramount.
100 percent
That’s when people feel secured and protected
Arm of the law should be above everyone’s head
The wheels of justice do not work well in Fiji.
Cases can go to court and warrants for arrests can be written but that does not mean perpetrators do time in jail. It stalls.
I personally know of a man who destroyed property and stole goods, it was reported to police, 6 months later after the victim kept asking the police report was finally made. The thief stayed 100m from the police station, he was known locally. He was never apprehended and has roamed free for years, no consequences.
Then his peers did the same thing to the same person. The victim became a victim again. Interestingly, the victim was the only one in that village and even area that was not iTaukei.
Another one has five warrants out against him and has roamed free for years, at one stage living 200m from the police station for 12 months and they couldn’t find him, despite being told where he lived.
Sadly, the police look for the perpetrator once and that is it. If they don’t find them then, they stop looking. I have seen this happen again and again in Caukaudrove and Suva.
I believe there are not enough ‘active’ human resources in the police force and certainly not enough measuring of KPIs for warrants to be outstanding for years.
Ordinary cases take years and years (4-5) to go through the court process, these guys, Bainimarama and Qiliho, had theirs done within 18 months. All depends on your level of fame apparently.
I was robbed outside of my workplace, in broad daylight, just outside Suva CBD. I would see the thief at least once a week when I left work, dressed in new clothes, jaunty hat, eyes down when he saw me. The police called me in to the police station, 2x to identify the thief. There was video footage supplied to them. Each time their perpetrator in custody was tall, my description was of a short man. The video showed a short man. He was never arrested.
Do not forget, during covid a citizen was clothed, fed, had a place to sleep and did police work out of Nakasi Police Post simply because he told them he was a policeman from Sigatoka and couldn’t get back there due to being locked in the Suva bubble. This went on for weeks and it was only when it came to payday that they couldn’t work out how to pay him. Not one check was made before then. He duped a whole station of police officers and it was all based on what he said.
What credibility is there?
The Justice system in Fiji is not a well oiled machine. It is broken in itself and it relies on police who don’t know the difference between short and tall, don’t verfiy claims, steal and deal drugs in evidence, not process police reports or warrants the list goes on.
I am happy to say I am 1 of the 80 000 who have left the shores since the coalition came in. I saw too much, I felt too much, I left scarred, I left deeply saddened that walking away from my home was the only option there was. I needed to regain my faith in humanity and it was not going to happen in Fiji.
The only right direction for Mick is in the direction of McDonald’s.
MickDonalds…lol
Fiji Times is anti Fiji First and lapdog of coalition govt. Uses people like Beddoes, Joji Kotobalavu and Narube to cover up on coalition govt failures and hoodwink people into believing everything is honky dorry in Fiji when everything is the opposite. Rule of law and judiciary is compromised through govt interference and illegal appointments, ethnic cleansing and racism in civil service appointments, high cost of living and crime rate, poor leadership of coalition govt ministers indulged in adultery and drugs, threat of police investigation against those who question govt and critique them, mass migration of skilled people and worsening of govt services mainly due to incompetence and decaying infrastructure. Debt level is spiraling and Fiji will soon be heading towards bankruptcy like Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
The Butt street clowns are fond of seeking outdated opinions from one-trick ponies, who then are happy to offer prehistoric/dinosaur- era views, using fancy words in their vain attempts to bambozzle the people as they pretend to be old sages imparting valuable wisdom. However, such repeat actors’ appearances mouthing the same old tired tropes suggests a dire shortage of real intelligence or insight to fix the current common conundrums facing the nation’s common citizenry: a saging economy, unemployment, bigotry, racism, violent crime, daily street crime in plain sight, growing weed and the importation of hard drugs (with a minister as business partner of a convicted drug manufacturer!), 15% VAT, crumbling health system, deteriorating education system (teachers going away) not helped by having a violent, criminal, rapist, women abuser as education minister who once refused to work with the department’s appointed permanent secretary.
Not one of these so-called commentators say anything to address the issues staring us in our faces, leave alone how to find solutions to these problems. No advice is offered to the goverment on HOW to address any of the above problems. NOTHING! And yet they shamelessly continue to parade the same dinosaurs who have no new ideas!
In Suva city, daily street crime has become a major safety concern. These criminals operate with impunity knowing full well how inept and lame our police are. Dinosaurs creeping out of the rotting woodwork need to shut-up and stop incessantly blaming the previous administration for everything and anything.
YOU, the coalition signed up for this mess voluntarily, promising to do better. You had 15 years to prepare for this role, knowing full well the dire situation you were inheriting. You, as a coalition talked big about the first 100 days. Where’s the report card on the first 100 days? Stop listening to jibberish from self-declared legends and sages, and get on with your promise of making Fiji a better place for all! If you don’t know how, seek help. Do your jobs!
Lol at “THE SLUG”, more like JABBA THE HUTT.
GD, the coalition does no favours to its self and the people by getting the opinion of a political invalid like MICK BEDDOES.
Here’s a thought. Why don’t we get the common man on the front page.
Chances are the common man will either vilify the coalition or praise FRANK.
The Fiji Times has become the de facto standard bearer for entrenched media bias.
The current corrupt and racist criminals in power will also have their day in court one day , they swore on the Holy Bible to uphold the constitution , they lied to the Fijian people and they broke a solem promise to God
He looks so evil.
Polar Bears come out of hibernation once in a while. They lose a lot of weight whilst in hibernation and need to feed to survive. But this polar bear seems to have fed himself well during his hibernation.
Why is his opinion on the front page? Is he important? Or is the Fiji Times looking to put something else on its front page instead of a toad all the time.
With people like this in Fiji, why do they then all wonder why they are where they are?
What the f*ck has this slug ever done for Fiji? F*cking attention seeker. Go back into your den. And thank you for your contribution. Just don’t do it again.
Thank you. Micky. Now that’s a proper clean up campaign. You live by the sword, you die by the sword. After all these slugs are properly dealt with, only then can true reconciliation happen.
That is not reconciliation but retribution.
This never ending cycle of revenge shows us how fragile Fiji’s democracy remains. All former PMs but one – Sitiveni Rabuka – have been detained against their will by their opponents. What sentence does Mick Beddoes think is appropriate for Rabuka?
Oh, but he embraced democracy and is now a reformed character, he may say. However, so too did Frank Bainimarama whose version of democracy the current government in service of the country is incidentally enjoying – albeit with the appearance of heads in the trough thanks to ministerial salaries and plenty of perks. The Opposition should be calling them out, but they appear to be just a cardboard cutout in Parliament, controlled as they are by Khaiyum and Bainimarama.
Even though there are flaws in the Bainimarama-Khaiyum model of democracy, the simple fact is it ushered in a peaceful transition of power a year and a half ago. Yes, Bainimarama was a bad tempered bully and a brute, but he submitted himself to the will of the people through the ballot box on three occasions. That should be highly valued and appreciated by all parties and players – including Beddoes, if he really is still a player.
Well might Beddoes reflect on the fact that Bainimarama was, and possibly remains, the most popular leader in Fiji. Certainly more popular than he or Rabuka.
What does this say? Perhaps, above all else, people in Fiji value security. Security for equal and fair treatment (which paradoxically via intimidation Bainimarama and Khaiyum abused [just didn’t get it]), jobs, health, education and the assurance their families will sleep safely in their beds each night. Mostly they desire a peaceful environment with opportunity for their children, and to get on with their lives. Arguably Bainimarama provided this, which made him popular. But he was lazy and relied on Khaiyum to get on with running the country. These guys also squandered the opportunity more than a dozen years of rule gave them for economic reform.
Right now, if the current Government doesn’t tighten their sandal and shoe buckles or pull up their socks; to address the same long-standing and commonly understood challenges; they’ll be turfed out in preference to the next group with better ideas and plans. That’s how democracy works, and where the focus of the discussion should now be – on policy and action – not retribution and revenge.
Millis Beddoes, a form 5 dropout from Suva Grammar School, was an ok singer and an average drummer with a band. He drummed all the way to become Fiji’s Leader of the Opposition, a position previously held by political giants S M Koya, Jai Ram Reddy amongst others.
This was quite an achievement for the former hotel receptionist, given his party had won just 1% of the total votes cast and 2 out of 71 seats in the 2006 election. Then the Bainimarama juggernaut rolled in and Mick lost his position, his salary, all his allowances, his offical motor vehicle, driver, office space, and all other perks of his office.
Most of his posts, views reflect his hatred for Bainimarama for the above in my view.
Mr Bainimarama had “suggested earlier to Tuks to stay away from that investigation.” There was no benefit to FB. He had not caused anybody any loss. The new govt could have started the investigation if it thought fit. All the matters had already been investigated by BDO and were being dealt with by USP Council. The haste with which the illegal acting DPP appealed the findings and sentence passed by Magistrate Puamau, the public comments by acting Chief Justice on the sentence passed by Puamau reflect very poorly on Fiji’s Justice system and no marks to Fiji Law society for their silence.
Long time no see Mickey Mouse. Go away!