Sa dina, Wise. And the sickest joke of the week was the spectacle of the Attorney General, Siromi Turaga, hobnobbing at the GCC with the Qaranivalu – the high chief of Naitasiri, Ratu Inoke Takiveikata – who he recently freed from prison after the Qaranivalu served a 13 year sentence for instigating the mutiny in the RFMF in 2000.
Siromi Turaga thinks that being photograph in public with the man who caused the deaths of three loyal soldiers murdered in cold blood by the Qaranivalu’s rebels is something to smile about.
24 years on, the AG is reportedly spearheading efforts to investigate and charge the troops loyal to the then RFMF commander, Frank Bainimarama, who in their blind rage, subsequently beat four of the rebels to death. Bainimarama barely escaped with his life by running through a cassava patch to safety when the rebels opened fire on their fellow soldiers.
It is one of the great ironies of Fijian life that the ousted prime minister is now before the courts being pursued by Siromi Turaga for alleged abuse of office while the Attorney General has freed the man who tried to kill him and fetes him at the GCC.
That irony seems to be lost on the present RFMF Commander, Major General Ro Jone Kalouniwai. But rest assured that it is not lost on a great many other people who came close to being killed that November day, and especially the families of the three loyal troops who were cut down by Ratu Inoke’s men.
In the topsy-turvy world of Fijian politics, it is the families of the rebels who are now being assisted by the Coalition government to pursue the loyalists who beat them to death. And the man who inspired them with the aim of seizing control of the country is an honoured member of the Great Council of Chiefs with the right to veto anything the parliament decides in relation to the iTaukei.
The Qaranivalu makes it clear in this interview with Fiji TV that the GCC tells the government what to do, not parliament or anyone else. So like Sitiveni Rabuka – who was also charged with instigating the 2000 mutiny after turning up at the camp in the middle of the firefight but was acquitted – this snake hasn’t shed his skin either. These comments are bordering on the seditious but they clearly also represent the views of the Attorney General or he would repudiate them.
I don’t know about you, Fiji, but as Grubsheet sees it, the sooner someone wipes the grin off Siromi Turaga’s face altogether, the better off the country will be. Commander Kalouniwai isn’t going to do it but you can certainly use your vote at the ballot box to throw this dangerous clown onto the scrapheap of history at the earliest possible opportunity.
We were tricked into voting for the Coalition at the last election on the basis that they would govern for all. But it was a cruel hoax and we have let the wolves of 1987 and 2000 back into the henhouse of democracy to pursue precisely the same indigenous supremacist agenda. Power and privilege for an indigenous elite, not for ordinary iTaukei, let alone the rest of us.
Kalavata and matching agendas. The murderous high chief with the chief law officer of the state. The “glorious new era” in Fiji under Sitiveni Rabuka, Biman Prasad and Viliame Gavoka. (photo and letter: Fiji Times)
Sad says
Unfortunately by the next ballot it may be too late for Fiji. She will have been divided by fences of race, religion and status (chiefs and others) and her best people will have moved away to another land.
Fiji has already lost its identity with its support for Israel but it will lose its smile. This government will kill what the very essence of what being Fijian means.
They will have spread hatred beyond repair among its people.
Girlpower says
I can’t comment on the post on Lynda Tabuya . It won’t allow me to because this website is being monitored by those who are protecting her. Does she know the drug dealers personally?
Women in politics or in women organizations have advocated for a larger number of women representatives in parliament. Having had claimed for herself through public opinion the tite” The Great Temptress” means women in politics cannot be trusted either.
Lady Justice says
The Great Council of Chiefs is a Constitutional body formed in 1876 ( thought it is 1940).according to the Sydney Morning Herald. An image of Rabuka holding up docume t. ( source : Wikipidea).
The GCC was abandoned in 2012 and re- established in May 2023 under the coaltion government .
My question is: Because the Great Council Of Chiefs is a Constitutional body, is there anything about the GCC in the 2013. constitution? A constitution by law can only be changed by a two third vote in parliament. This also would apply to tge established Supreme Court in 1990. The 1990 constitution was replaced by the 1997 constitution.
The actions of the Coalition government is no different from the Fijifirst government in lawlessness.
Tinai says
What a bloody mess
Disillusioned says
I have already started packing.
Bibbawarra. Boy says
The grin on his face…
“A clown on the throne is still a clown”