"BACK TO DEMOCRACY FOR FIJI"

You are invited to share and pen your ideas, views or opinions that will facilitate/assist our country back to democracy. All positive and/or negative ideas and comments to steer us back to the road of democracy are welcome.

Whichever way one looks at our current situation back home, democracy has been completely raped. The rape of democracy in Fiji is a virtual degradation of the populus of Fiji. Their human rights are being deprived:

1. the right to decide their government;
2. who they want to represent them;
3. their right to free assembly;
4. free protest;
5. free to organise into groups so that they can talk about what is pertinent to their daily lives;
6. protest on issues they do not agree with....with no fear of intimidation from anybody.

With this military regime in place, the concept of freedom per the Constitution is a total myth!

And, we, the people of Fiji need to come together and be vehement about our total disagreement with the military regime. So give us liberty or death! The reality of the issue is that democracy in Fiji has been raped...from top to bottom...left to right....inside and out and vice versa!

Here we have a military regime that talks about freedom to the people and yet the very same military regime randomly arrest people, torture them, inflict unnecessary harrassment and emotional stress to those that seem a threat to them. The military regime talks about racial unity.......the communal concept of togetherness and yet Fiji is far more racially divided today than it ever was.

The so-called advisors, viz-a-viz, John Samy, these are rejects from their adopted countries and yet they are being rewarded with exuberant amount(s) of money by these rogue military regime who have no idea what they are doing. Lying to the international community does not augur well with this interim government and yet the interim Prime Minister continuously talks with a forked tongue when addressing international issues. The ministers talk about internal securities as if Fiji is going to be invaded.

All around it is clearly seen that the economy is in tatters and the Constitution is just a useless piece of paper. The rule of law is as what the military regime wants it to be.

The above are just some of my views (from a pro-democracy viewpoint). But, do not let that deter you from penning your comments if you share otherwise.

So, let us come together and voice our views/comments, whether they be for or against the military regime and have a very healthy discussion here so that in the end we can factually understand what our role is, what we need to do and how we can come up with ideas to help restore democracy back in our beloved Fiji!

Please feel free to write what you like or dislike about the military regime. Be sincere and honest about your thoughts, without getting personal or spiteful.

Kindly note, this "topic" will expire as soon as we have an election.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Loruama Tawawili on January 12, 2010 at 3:22pm: The Fiji example – what lessons for Somare?
BY PAUL OATES
THE REAL issue concerning Australia and New Zealand over Fiji is one of legitimacy.

Without being freely elected in a transparent election process, any leader who assumes political power sets an example for the future and therefore a potential threat to other leaders.

Frank Bainimarama has not been elected, yet he is being accorded legitimacy by people like Michael Somare on the claimed rationale of Melanesian brotherhood.

Yet if Somare really thought about it, he might see that he could be supporting the seeds of his own undoing. What if the PNGDF decided that if it’s OK for Fiji, why not us? A scenario that’s almost surfaced a couple of times in the past.

The issues that led to the current impasse in Fiji should not be overlooked.

When the Colonial Sugar Refinery wanted workers to cut sugar cane, the local Fiji people weren't all that enthusiastic. Why should they be? They were perfectly happy before the sugar industry arrived and they owned their land.

The sugar industry then imported foreign workers from the Indian sub continent. Over the last century, Indian workers settled and raised their families as Indian Fijians. When the number of Indian Fijians reached numerical parity with ethnic Fijians, problems emerged.

The Indians were accused of dominating business. When an Indian Fijian was elected Prime Minister, the issue boiled over and Fiji has not been politically stable since.

In the neighbouring Solomon Islands, a similar situation existed. During World War II, the US imported labourers from the neighbouring island of Malaita to work on Guadalcanal. After the US juggernaut moved on, the Malaitans settled and eventually population pressures threatened the original Guadalcanal people.

To make matters more intense, expatriate Chinese business owners were seen as excluding the local people from business opportunities and the result is the uneasy situation that still prevails.

At the start of the civil unrest, the Chinese government paid for planeloads of Chinese expatriates to be airlifted out of the Solomons.

In Timor Leste, the Portuguese threw their hands in the air and allowed the Indonesians to take over what had never been Indonesian territory before. Suddenly the people were confronted with a culture and language they had not had to cope with and after 30 years of oppression, were offered a chance to form their own country, which they grasped with open hands.

The fact that Australia, as part of the UN initiative, allowed the Portuguese émigrés to take over and become the new task masters was a travesty of ignorance.

West Papua is another example where the UN, along with the US in its infinite wisdom, allowed the ethnic Papuan people to be taken over by a totally different culture. The resulting civil unrest has continued for 40 years.

Vanuatu has had an insurrection and, although short lived, it required the interference of foreign troops.

So can any democratically elected government and leader stand back and meekly accept a military takeover of a nearby country? At their own peril one might think, yet it doesn't seem to worry Michael Somare in the least.

Should he be concerned if illegal foreign workers pour into PNG and start small businesses?

One can't help wondering why a few hundred kiaps were such a problem for Somare at independence? But those kiaps simply obeyed their PNG masters and packed up and left when asked to.

Posted at 08:15 AM in Issues | Permalink
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Permalink Reply by Loruama Tawawili on January 12, 2010 at 3:24pm: Methodist Church surpised with revelations
Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Methodist Church Acting General Secretary Reverend Tevita Nawadra says he is surprised with the news that some Methodist Church Ministers have been spying for government.

Nawadra was reacting to Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama’s revelations yesterday that some church ministers are being paid by the Police Special Branch to act as informers for the Police and the Military

Reverend Nawadra told FBC news the church will be looking into the issue.

“We have being trying to talk with the Prime Minister and we have our system, we have our chaplains and we could have used that in order to talk about this issue. We have our own system in the church, ways of dealing with such issues when some of our ministers do happen to do such things.”

Commodore Bainimarama also told FBC News yesterday that there will be no Methodist Church Conference until 2014 as politics was still very much alive within the Methodists Church.

Fiji Broadcasting Corporation; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Suliasi Daunitutu on January 12, 2010 at 3:51pm: Like I said Bro, he has condemned the SDL party, the other political parties, the pensioners, the diplomatic corp, the people, the church except his soldiers and the IIG.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Loruama Tawawili on January 12, 2010 at 3:18pm: Franks cruel vindictive money grab by decree. This is their lifetime savings.
January 13, 2010 at 7:13 am | In Uncategorized | Leave a Comment

Fiji’s Pensioners Denied Benefits For Criticizing Government
1/(RTTNews) - Fiji’s pensioners who criticized the government are no more privileged to receive their retirement benefits.

He said the punitive measure may “change their mind to support the government in its endeavor to take Fiji forward.”Bainimarama, who is the country’s Prime Minister and armed forces chief, insists that elections can only be reinstated in 2014, as part of his “road-map.”

Since last April, Fiji is under emergency rule.

by RTT Staff Writer

Commodore Frank Bainimarama, who heads the tiny pacific nation’s interim military government, said Tuesday that it passed a decree to stop from this week all benefit payments to pensioners who criticized his junta.

Bainimarama, who seized power in a 2006 December coup, told the Fiji Broadcasting Corporation that he had hoped that all citizens would “work together to take the country to a new Fiji – unfortunately, many, including some pensioners, were still speaking against the government.”

Bainimarama said payments to dissenting pensioners were stopped as soon as the decree was issued.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by LOne rAnger aka StRYka on January 12, 2010 at 10:41pm: WAX na dina ena sega ni tabonaka rawa o voreqe kei ira nona i lawalawa. It will catchup with you in this life or next.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by WAX on January 12, 2010 at 3:53pm: @suli..ocei e vaqara...isa vosota keitou sega ni mai dau yalo dadatuvu..era a taviraki ena gauna dodonu mera taviraki kina..ia qo..cava e milamila tikoga na bulidra nodra sega ni guilecavi Viti tiko..isaaaaaaaaaa...!!..na tayabe sa caka tale ni mataka..ena nodra sa mai via tukuni yani veikemudou na i lawalawa Alqaida..ni sa sega na kemudou yaga..sa sega mai na basu lawa baleta e caka tiko vadodonu na veivakadodonutaki ena kena gauna donu..vacava na nomudou tayabe..dou qai lai tayabe tiko ga yani veirau na o Aust kei Nz..hihihihihi...!!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Suliasi Daunitutu on January 12, 2010 at 4:05pm: WAX, o sega ni kila ni sa sasaga tale tiko o Bainimarama me vakalesui yani na mata ni vanua e a vakasava ? Sa kena i balebale o tu sara tu ga vakalialia o iko. Sa sasaga tiko o Bainimarama me vakavinakataka na veiwekani koya a sega ni tekivutaka, qai via mai tagutuva, ca gona ni sega ga ni kilai vinaka na veilitaki qai via mai siovi.

O iko, sa rauta tu ga me daru veisau vosa tiko, baleta e sega ni dua e via vosa vei iko ena kena sa rui mamada na nomu rai ka lecaika. Kevaka me'u sega ni moderator ni blog qo, au sa sega talega ni via sauma na nomu volavola. Au kerea mo bau tovolea mo wilika eso na ka e volai tu yani qori mo bau wilika me rawa ni'o vulica kina eso na ka. Kua so na yalo levu, kei na vamumuri tu ga me qai laurai tu kina na lala ni qavokavoka vaqo.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Jay Bulikeinatewa on January 12, 2010 at 5:07pm: kaukauwa toka na nomudou debate....reccess mada...dua mada yani na joke qai tomani tale na debate..

Police Commish Teleni prays over his police officers.
The police officers fall on the ground as Teleni places his hand over their head.
"When the falla come to you, make sure you people fall, achaa right?", said a Fijian
officer to his Indo-Fijian peers as they watched Teleni stride towards them.
"Hah", said the Indo-Fijian officers.
Teleni shouts and dances while praying at the same time.
Teleni lays his big bulky fat hand over the officers.
The officers fall one by one.
Teleni reaches out to a Fijian officer and prays over him but the officer didn´t fall.
Teleni moves on and comes back to the same Fijian officerand prays over him again.
The Fijian officer refuses to fall and just stands there. He didn´t experience anything
supernaturalexcept Teleni´s heavy hand over his head as the Commish begins to
shout his prayers out loud that gawdtouch theofficer´s life.
Meanwhile, the collapsed Indo-Fijian officers on the ground quietly yell out to the
Fijian officer, "Ratu,ko iko sa bia sake..fall yaar!!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Tevita Korodrau on January 12, 2010 at 5:40pm: Talatala in pay roll:
My guts just dont believe that, if it was than release their names.If names are kept confindential than this is a plot to polarise the Church.This is not going to work as the general public are up to par wih all thats going on even on PER.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Loruama Tawawili on January 12, 2010 at 6:12pm: Wax it is strange that you of all people should come here and try to justify the illegal regime. You talk about the old law yet the law that will put you and Bainimarama away for life is the one that you guys are trying to turn away from. You have showed us the cruelty of your unreasonable actions like grabbing the pensioners well earned money just because they have the courage to show up your own stupity and bullying tactics. Put the gun away Wax and see how tough you are."Keitou sega ni dau yalo dadatuvu" is an oximoroun there Wax.Take the gun away and we can look right through you open arsehole.Aren't you ashamed of who you are Wax? A soldier who has given his soul to the devil because of money. Where is your courage and dignity to serve the people of Fiji Wax? Now instead of serving the people of Fiji you are now intimidating,torturing,arresting,blaming, dictating to them.You are now praising Bainimarama for taking away the pensioners pensions but what will you get when you retire Wax? There is no money in the FNPF.Instead of coming here an lying your you know what off Wax have some dignity and give Fiji back to the people.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Loruama Tawawili on January 12, 2010 at 6:15pm: Fiji regime bans church conference until 2014
SUVA, Fiji (AP) — Fiji's military-led government banned the country's powerful Methodist Church on Wednesday from holding their annual conference until 2014, accusing church ministers of spying on the nation's military for the government ousted in a 2006 coup.

Wednesday's move follows a ban last May on the 2009 conference and the arrest of eight senior Methodist leaders after the regime accused them of pursuing a political agenda to destabilize the government.

The government also accused the church of being in breach of the regime's Public Emergency Regulation that bans meetings and protests not approved by authorities.

The military regime, led by Commodore Frank Bainimarama, took power in this Pacific island nation in a bloodless coup in December 2006, ousting a democratically elected government. It tightened its grip on power last April, imposing a state of emergency, overturning the constitution, firing the judiciary and placing censors in newsrooms.

Dozens of opponents have been arrested, questioned and eventually released with warnings to stop their criticism of the regime, which plans to hold democratic elections only in 2014 despite international calls for a swift return to civilian rule.

Bainimarama said Wednesday that Methodist Church officials had spied on the military before the 2006 coup.

"Police have found that they were being paid as informers by the past government which indicated that politics was alive in the church," he told reporters. "There will be no Methodist Church conference until 2014."

There was no immediate response from the Methodist Church of Fiji, whose more than 200,000 members account for a quarter of the volatile South Pacific country's population, and which strongly opposes Bainimarama's regime.

The latest action comes just a day after Fiji and New Zealand agreed to begin a thaw of frosty relations by appointing senior diplomats to some of the posts in their capitals left empty by expulsions over the past 18 months.

Also Wednesday, the regime said pension payments to former Fiji civil servants who do not support the government will be stopped from this week.

"We will stop pension payments to all those who speak against the government or all citizens seen to halt government's work on moving the country forward," said the permanent secretary for information, Lt. Col. Neumi Leweni.

A decree stopping such pension payments was passed by Cabinet last week "to change the mindset of people who were against the government," he said.

Bainimarama said he knew of a few people who were working with "some of our development partners, our international friends and some sections of the media to undermine the efforts of government."

Those people were spreading wrong information about Fiji and what was happening in Fiji, he said.
Media Player; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Loruama Tawawili on January 12, 2010 at 6:27pm: Here we go again guys. The illegal regime when they cannot come up with anything to justify their existence they have to manufacture fabricated lies to make them look good when infact they are only contributing to the ridiculous reasons of why they came into power.Now it is the church talatalas who were spying on the military.What is next ? After the witholding of pensions for dissenters and sacking of SCC workers for alledged blogging against govt the supposed corruption has amounted to a city Ordinance that is being investigated by FICAC.This is well beyond the scope of FICAC's jurisdiction.The only corruption that needs t6o be investigated is the one in the illegal regime and the Fiji Military Forces.; ▶ Reply to This