OFF VENTURES THE OINK, BUT NOTHINGS GAINED

Just what is the purpose of oinks trips overseas when he has done nothing except increase his frequent flyer points.

 

Here he goes, off to Copenhagen where Leah Wickham has upstaged him most superbly with her impassioned speech. Good one Leah.

 

How on earth is oink going to top that eh?

 

Well he can’t, simple as that. The fool can only quote from his bhai sayed khaiyum without understanding whatever khaiyum has written for his own gain.

 

Of course before his departure he had to ensure there were road blocks, Lordy, whatever for, are we in the Middle East war zones here in Fiji, last time I looked the cars on the road were still avoiding the potholes that haven’t seen a bit of tar since 5.12.06.

 

Truth be told nothings been done since the Legitimate SDL government was overturned by the military try hards on 5.12.06, nothing, zilch, no improvements except for the consistent abuse of office.

READ AND UNDERSTAND THE DEVASTATION CAUSED BY USELESS COUPS

With apologies toAlemayehu G. Mariam professor of political science at California State University, San Bernardino

Doesn’t this sound familiar – INSERT FIJI in place of Africa and change the names to oink and coupsters + that old rogue rabuka, VOILA same scenario different part of the world.

——————————————————————————————————————————-

The inconvenient truth about Fiji today is that dictatorship presents a far more perilous threat to the survival of FIJIANS than climate change. The devastation FIJIAN dictators have wreaked upon the social fabric and ecosystem of  Fijian society is incalculable.

 

Over the past several decades, bloodthirsty dictators like Uganda’s Idi Amin, Zaire’s (The Congo) Mobutu Sese Seko, Central African Republic’s Jean Bedel Bokassa, Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe, Sudan’s Omar al-Bashir, Chad’s Hissiene Habre, and the political fraternal twins Mengistu Haile Mariam and Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia have been responsible for untold deaths on the continent. Millions of Africans have starved to death because of the criminal negligence, depraved indifference and gross incompetence of African dictators, not climate change. Millions more suffer today in abject poverty because corrupt African dictators have systematically siphoned off international aid, pilfered loans provided by the international banks and plundered the tax coffers. Africans face extreme privation and mass starvation not because of climate change but because of the rapacity of power-hungry dictators. The continent today suffers from a terminal case of metastasized cancer of dictatorships, not the blight of global warming.

The fact that greenhouse gas emissions (global warming) from human activities are responsible for a dangerous elevation of the global temperature is accepted by most climatologists in the world. Only clueless flat-earther troglodytes like U.S. Senator James Inhofe believe that climate change is a conspiracy hatched by “the media, Hollywood and our pop culture.” The general scientific understanding is that the planet is facing ruin from an unprecedented combination of extreme weather patterns, floods, droughts, heat waves and epidemics. The developed countries are primarily blamed for the rise in temperatures caused by excess industrial carbon emissions. This is evident in the increase in the average temperature of the Earth’s near-surface air and oceans. Africa has contributed virtually nothing to global warming. For instance, Africa produces an average of 1 metric ton of carbon dioxide per person per year compared to 16 metric tons for every American.

For Africa, climate change paints a doomsday scenario: Global warming will severely aggravate the atmospheric circulation and precipitation in the African monsoonal system resulting in severe shortages in agricultural output. Millions of Africans will die from famine, and the continent’s agriculture will be crippled. Deforestation and overgrazing will cause further increases in global temperatures through emission of greenhouse gases. Africa’s subsistence farmers who already operate in marginal environments will face catastrophic consequences in terms of decreased tillable and pastoral lands. Competition for water, agricultural and grazing land and other resources will inevitably result in conflicts and wars. Vector-borne diseases such as malaria, dengue, trypanosomiasis and others will spread rapidly causing large scale deaths in Africa.

The climate change debate has been honey in the mouths of forked tongue African dictators. It has provided them the perfect foil to avoid detection and accountability for their corruption and mismanagement of their societies, and a convenient opportunity to divert attention from their criminal state enterprises. Global warming has proven to be the perfect substitute for the old Bogeymen of Africa– colonialism, imperialism, neo-colonialism and poverty. Why is Africa reduced to becoming the “beggar continent of the planet”? Global warming! Why are millions starving (euphemistically referred to as “severe food shortages” by officials) to death in Ethiopia? Climate change. African dictators are using global warming as their new preferred ideology behind which they can hide and ply their trade of corruption while expanding their thriving kleptocracies.

The global warming debate has also offered African dictators a historic opportunity to guilt-trip the industrialized countries and rob them blind. Beginning on December 7, a phalanx of African climate change negotiators will swarm Copenhagen to attend the U.N. Conference on Climate Change. For Africa, the outcome of the negations is foreshadowed by pronouncements of comic bravado. On September 3, 2009, the Patriarch of African Dictators and head of the “single African negotiating team” on climate change, Meles Zenawi, huffed and puffed about what he and his sidekicks will do if the industrialized countries refuse to comply with his imperial ultimatum. Zenawi roared, “We will use our numbers to deligitimize any agreement that is not consistent with our minimal position… We are prepared to walk out of any negotiations that threatens to be another rape of our continent.” (Whether African dictators or the industrialized countries are raping the continent is an open question. Witnesses say it is a gang rape situation.)

It was vintage Zenawi with his trademark zero-sum game strategy writ large to the world: “My way or the highway!” It does appear rather preposterous and irrational for the master of the zero-sum game to open negotiations with his longtime benefactors by sticking an ultimatum in their faces. Obviously, the strategic negotiating bottom line is to shakedown the industrialized countries and strong-arm them into forking over billions in carbon blood money; and Zenawi did not mince words: “The key thing for me is that Africa be compensated for the damage caused by global warming. Many institutions have tried to quantify that and they have come up with different figures. The sort of median figure would be in the range of 40 billion USD a year.”

Curiously, we could ask what Zenawi and his brotherhood of dictators would do with the windfall of billions, if they could get it? It is reasonable to assume that they will use it to expand their kleptocracies and cling to power like ticks on a milk cow. They will certainly not use to meet the needs of their people. What they have done with the international aid money and loans they have received over the decades provides compelling extrapolative evidence of what they will do with any windfall of carbon blood money.

As Dambissa Moyo and others have shown, in the last fifty years the West has poured more than a trillion dollars of aid into Africa. Today, over 350 million Africans live on less than USD$1. Real per-capita income in Africa is lower today than it was four decades ago. Aid money and international bank loans have been stolen by African dictators and their henchmen to line their pockets and maintain their huge kleptocracies. In 2002, an African Union study estimated the loss of USD $150bn a year to corruption in Africa, and not without the complicity of the donor countries. Compare this to the USD$22bn the developed countries gave to all of sub-Saharan Africa in 2008. In 2006, former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo, who faced impeachment for corruption and ineptitude, declared at an African civic groups meeting in Addis Ababa that African leaders “have stolen at least $140 billion from their people in the decades since independence.” Ghanaian economist George Ayittey citing U.N. data argues, “These are gross underestimates… $200 billion or 90 percent of the sub-Saharan part of the continent’s gross domestic product was shipped to foreign banks in 1991 alone. Civil wars in Africa cost at least $15 billion annually in lost output, wreckage of infrastructure, and refugee crises… In Zimbabwe, foreign investors have fled the region and more than 4 million Zimbabweans have left the country along with 60,000 physicians and other professionals….” Is it any wonder that Africa today is worse off than it was 50 years ago?

The question is not whether global warming could impact Africa disproportionately, or Africa is entitled to assistance to overcome the effects of greenhouse emissions caused by the industrialized countries. The question is whether African dictators have the moral credibility and standing to make a demand for compensation and what they will do with such compensation if they were to get it. Certainly, the capo African negotiator has as much credibility to demand compensation in Copenhagen as a bank robber has from the bank owners. It has been a notorious fact for at least two decades that Ethiopia is facing environmental disaster. Ethiopia’s forest coverage by the turn of the last century was 40%. By 1987, under the military government, it went down to 5.5%. In 2003, it dropped down to 0.2%. The Ethiopian Agricultural Research Institute says Ethiopia loses up to 200,000 hectares of forest every year. Between 1990 and 2005, Ethiopia lost 14.0% of its forest cover (2,114,000 hectares) and 3.6% of its forest and woodland habitat. If the trend continues, it is expected that Ethiopia could lose all of its forest resources in 11 years, by the year 2020. What has Zenawi’s regime done to reverse the problem of deforestation in Ethiopia? They have sold what little arable land is left to the Saudis, the Shiekdoms, the Indians, the South Korea and others with crisp dollar bills looking for fire sales on African lands.

There has been a lot of environmental window dressing and grandstanding in various parts of Africa. In Ethiopia, lofty proclamations have been issued to “improve and enhance the health and quality of life of all Ethiopians”, “control pollution” and facilitate “environmental impact” studies. The “nations, nationalities and peoples” are granted environmental self-determination. There is an Environmental Protection Council which “oversees activities of sectoral agencies and environmental units with respect to environmental all regional states.” The Environmental Protection Agency is “accountable to the Prime Minister.” What have these make-believe bureaucracies done to save Lake Koka, just outside the capital, and the 17,000 people who drink its toxic water daily?

Zenawi and his minions will show up looking for a pot of gold at the end of the Copenhagen rainbow. It does not appear that a bonanza of riches will be awaiting them. If the advance Barcelona negotiations held last month are any indication, a deal does not appear possible in Copenhagen. German Chancellor Angela Merkel told the Barcelona summit that “global climate negotiations would inevitably drag out after the meeting in Copenhagen ends on Dec. 19.” African dictators deserve our grudging admiration for their sheer tenacity and brazen audacity. After sucking their people dry, they are now moving camp to the greener pastures of climate change to continue their vampiric trade.

The fact of the matter is that while the rest of the world toasts from global warming, Africa is burning down in the fires of dictatorship. While Europeans are fretting about their carbon footprint, Africans are gasping to breathe free under the bootprints of dictators. While Americans are worried about carbon emission trapped in the atmosphere, Africans find themselves trapped in minefields of dictatorship. Handing over carbon blood money to African dictators is like increasing industrial emissions to cut back on global warming. It is the wrong thing to do.

Africa faces an ecological collapse not because of climate change but because of lack of regime change. It is humorously ironic that African dictators who panhandle the industrialized countries for over two-thirds of their budgets should threaten to walk out on them. We know the bravado is nothing more than the “chatter of a beggar’s teeth”. As the bank robber will not walk out of the bank empty handed because of moral outrage over the small amount of money sitting in the vault, we do not expect the band of African negotiators to walk out Copenhagen because they are offered less than what they are asking. We expect to see them making a beeline to the conference door for handouts for there is no such thing as a choosy beggar. We wish them well. Go on, take the money and run….

OINK WANTS TO DRAG EVERYTHING IN FIJI DOWN TO HIS LEVEL OF UTTER INCOMPETENCY AND COMPLETE IRRELEVANCE

PLEASE ATTEND IF YOU CAN & VOICE YOUR CONCERN ABOUT THE ILLEGAL REGIME IN FIJI

Time: December 5, 2009 from 1:45pm to 6pm
Location: Flamingo Spa and Resort
Organized By: Democracy Freedom Movement for Fiji ~ USA
Event Description:
You are cordially invited and very much encouraged to attend this initial meeting for the purpose of becoming a part of the United States Chapter of the Movement for Democracy and Freedom for Fiji from dictatorship. Become an instrumental part of our team in taking our blogging another step higher to be really pro-active in achieving our common goal for future generations of our country of birth ‘Fiji’.

We are the voices of many who have been denied their basic civilian rights to their freedom of speech.

See more details and RSVP on Matavuvale Network:
http://www.matavuvale.com/events/event/show?id=2150904%3AEvent%3A1697255&xgi=1EmWn5SExwYCoA&xg_source=msg_invite_event

WINDBAG OINKLET STILL TRYING TO SELL HIS IRRELEVANCE

Fiji’s IILEGAL WANNABE A.G. Details ‘Modernisation’ Of Judiciary

Speech – Fiji Interim Military Government

WANNABE A-G’s Closing Address at the 11th ILLEGAL A-G’s Conference 2009 29 November 2009 Warwick Fiji Resort and Spa A-G’s Closing Address at the 11th A-G’s Conference 2009
29 November 2009
Warwick Fiji Resort and Spa
Your Excellency, the President of the Republic of Fiji
Adi Koila
Chief Justice
President & past members of the Judiciary
Solicitor-General
Ladies and Gentlemen:

The task of closing a conference such as this where you have such a high caliber of speakers and presentations and of course topics that are pertinent to our country makes it difficult to think of a closing address because the topics have been ventilated professionally and in depth.

On the other hand, it means I have little to say and can cut short the speech.

Your Excellency the theme: Developing the Law – Challenges and Opportunities heralds an era of change and reform. It signals that the Bainimarama Government has the political will and the ambition to implement new laws or to amend old laws and make it in line, make it in standards, modernize it with what we have in contemporary Fiji.

They also signal change. However, we should not have change for the sake of having change. If change means justice, and I mean substantive justice, if it means removal of systematic corruption, if it means fairness, if it means removal of systematic racism and bigotry, if it means accountability, if it means prosperity, if it means equal suffrage, if it means creating institutions that are independent, a judiciary that is truly independent, if it means creating prosperity, equal citizenry, common citizenry, economic growth and recognizing that our laws need to be made in compliance with international standards, then of course, we must have change.

The emphasis and focus on these values and principles also means that that change being brought about must be accepted. Many have argued that parliamentary representation or the absence of it, in fact makes it a lot easier to bring about these changes. In fact, conversely some argue that if you have parliamentary representation – that these values and principles are not just not implemented but in fact undermined and Fiji is replete with those examples.

One such example is the presentation or the formulation of the Reconciliation Bill under the previous government. What it would have effectively done is taken away the independence of the judiciary, taken away the independence of the DPP, and indeed, taken away the independence of the Police Force. Yet it was being presented as a Bill to parliament. I do not need to tell you that Hitler was elected to government through popular vote and look what happened there.

I am however, not here to argue the case of whether we should have parliamentary representation or not, that is another topic altogether. What I am here to say, though is, that if these principles and values are being implemented they in fact cannot be faulted because they do comply with various international norms, values and principles. What I am also here to say, is that these principles and values simply cannot be annunciated, we should not just say them for the sake of it. I know that under previous governments these principles and values were rolled out atnoseum. But were they actually been put into practice? I know many people lapped it up, it is great to tall about these principles and values but, in fact if you are not going to implement them then what is the point of talking about them.

I will give you many examples of what had been said and what had not been implemented, some basic examples His Excellency alluded to. For example, under the abrogated 1997 Constitution there were specific provisions that said parliament must make laws regarding Freedom of Information; parliament must make laws regarding Code of Conduct. From 1997 until December 2006, no government no parliament put in even a Bill into parliament in respect of those areas, none whatsoever. They were drafted but they were never even presented.

Similarly, the Domestic Violence Bill was initially drafted in 1994. There was not political will to implement it. Again, it was revamped in 2004; there was no political will to implement it. This now has become a reality and in fact, will be in force from 1 December this year.

The Penal Code was inherited from British India 100 years ago. There was a lot of talk about revamping it. It has not been done. In fact, there was a Law Reform Commission that presented a report on it. It talked about how the laws are so archaic that they need to be changed, they were not. What this Government has done is basically picked it off the shelf, dusted it, looked at it, seen where further changes need to be made and then we have put it into action.

Just to tell you what these laws do – the Crime Act now which will be implemented from 1 February next year will make us complaint with the Rome Statute, it will make us compliant with CEDAW, it will make us compliant with the Convention on the Rights of the Child. It will modernize our laws, it will modernise including the Crimes Act, I should also mention, the Sentencing and Penalties Decree, you will now get consistent sentences been handed down. You are not going to have a Magistrate in Taveuni who is going to send a villager to nine months imprisonment for stealing a flip flop as opposed to someone who has stolen from a bank $50,000 and he/she gets a suspended sentence or someone stealing a flip flop in Lautoka may get a suspended sentence but the person in Taveni goes into prison for nine months.

Now by changing the laws in these areas it instills confidence into the justice system.

We have, of course, modernize the laws under the Crimes Act regarding corruption. We have changed the sentencing laws, for example, desecration of holy places or mosques, temples, churches – you will now no longer have the old rule of collaboration in respect of rape. You no longer will be able to drag the sexual history of a woman in court if she alleges rape. We will now recognize under the Crimes Act the condition of the mental health when you are having a trial regarding abortion or infanticide – these are all modernizing our criminal justice system. It is also recognition that we as a society have developed, that we as a society now recognize that there are other influences when you are dealing with these sorts of matters.

It will equally, of course, criminalize the procurement of prostitution services. As the laws stands now it is only the prostitute that gets charged but the person procuring those services does not and invariably as you know prostitution in Fiji is gender-biased, in the sense that the prostitutes are predominantly female. So the males get away while the females get locked up. This brings about gender equality in our criminal justice system.

Of course, we have talked about computer hacking, we have talked about human trafficking – these are all new offences created under the Crimes Decree. I must make this comment – we must recognize that all criminal activities have an economic impact on society. As I recently told a gathering of tourism stakeholders that when Government brings about laws regarding say, Domestic Violence it is not simply a question of, well that is sort-of pushed to the private realm, it does not impact upon us – it most definitely does.

If you take a purely economic view on it, 50 per cent if not more of the employees in the tourism sector are females. If the females are been bashed by their husbands the night before how do you expect her to perform to the fullest of her capabilities when she’s serving tourists, when she’s making the bed, when she’s greeting people in the reception area or if she’s working in an office, or if she’s a lawyer. We know invariably domestic violence is perpetrated against women. There’s a very small margin of males that fall in that category. But it is predominantly women. So it does have an economic impact too. My point of telling you that is that you cannot, even as lawyers, as business people, as judges, as other stakeholders within our country – all these laws have an impact on all of us. It’s not something that, well that’s something that the Police deals with, the DPP deals with, the A-G’s Chambers deals with – it has an impact on all of us and we must all support it.

Unfortunately, many of these laws are not given good coverage by the media organizations and I am always frank and open about it. The Fiji Times has not covered anything on the Crimes Decree, the Fiji TV has done minimal stories on this. The question that needs to be asked is why? This is good for Fiji, why is this not been given enough coverage?

I think also, many of these laws have been misconstrued and I will give you a classic example which has been talked about quite a lot, our Prime Minister commented on it, the Foreign Minister of Australia has commented on it – it’s the recent change or the new law we brought about regarding Spectrum change. Spectrum allocation essentially recognizes the fact that the allocation of spectrum to each country is a limited resource. It’s like your trees, its like the fish, its like your timber, it’s limited, it’s like your gold its limited. It’s a revenue base the country, it must be valued; it must be put out on open transparent tender process. What has been happening hitherto in Fiji is if you know an official you make various representations they allocate the frequency to you. If I want to have a community radio station, I am given is that I am given the national band. There absolutely has been no planning whatsoever. This Decree seeks to correct that unplanned approach to spectrum allocation, nothing more nothing less.

Yet, its now been banded around as the Bainimarama Government’s assault on media freedom, as a means to stop the expression of freedom. In fact, the spectrum allocation has of an more impact on telecommunications companies than media organizations if the truth be known. Yet people are lapping it up.

What it also demonstrates to us is that by having such a process the civil servants will also be held accountable. Just because you’re mates with somebody or they take you out for lunch or they make a presentation to you which you think is very attractive, not knowing what other presentations might be offering you or other offers that is out there in the international market and you make a deal with them – you are actually denying the Government of Fiji, the people of Fiji access to that revenue base. You are not positioning Fiji for the digital age.

If you eat up all these bands that are limited and allocate it to organizations that will not necessarily make the maximum use of it, we will not be able to position ourselves with the digital age. We talk about broadband but if you don’t have the range available how will you be able to utilize it, how will get access to information to those in the rural areas? These are the questions that need to be asked but they are not been asked, they are been misconstrued. I suggest that one the reasons that’s been done is because people are in fact not reading what’s there, very basic thing.

Similarly when we introduced the Legal practitioners Decree. More importantly, the Independent Legal Services Commission Decree, a lot of talk on the assault on the legal fraternity. Many of you may not know this but about two months ago Law Asia was in Fiji, they paid a two-day visit to Fiji. They met with the President of the Law Society and various other members of the Law Society with me and the Prime Minister the next day. They informed us that when the Law Society said, look the Government has brought about all these changes, they told them quite categorically, we cannot fault this. The reason they could not fault it is because we borrowed it from New South Wales, we borrowed it from Queensland. The only thing that is different is that we have leaped frog into this change. By having an Independent Legal Services Commission is the way the world is going.

As proposed to have also to have an independent and continuing education programme for dental and medical practitioners is obviously a good thing. It will have an impact on medical negligence, that’s the idea behind it. It will have an impact on the types and the level of medical services that will be given to the public of Fiji.

The response we’ve got from the community at large, in respect to the Independent Legal Services Commission has been overwhelming. As a lawyer, if I am not doing anything wrong if I am sticking to my professional conduct as I should, If I am adhering to the ethical standards why would I worry about a system that actually makes me accountable. Unless, of course, if I am not sticking to it in the first place. In fact, I should be glad that there is a system in place because it instills confidence, it instills confidence in the community, in the country and those people viewing us from outside, saying look if I go into Fiji and invest and if my lawyer tries to rip me off, I actually have recourse and that recourse is to an independent institution.

I have to comment on the judiciary. The judiciary has been now, what I can only say, attacked continuously and I must acknowledge the fortitude and resolve of the Chief Justice in this respect. It has been attacked both from external sources and locally. The very simple test or any condemnation of a judiciary must stem from the fact or the belief that the day to day functioning of the judiciary is been interfered with by the Executive. That that Attorney-General, the Prime Minister, members of the Police, Military, civil servants are actually picking up the phones and telling the judges what to write, are telling them not to hear that witness, are somehow or the other blocking witnesses or stopping people from filing cases – that’s interference with the judiciary. Has that happened? It has not happened.

In fact, I can tell you and I have said this previously, as someone in the private practice, we knew prior to 5 December 06 that there were certain law firms that were involved in foreign shopping. We knew that there were certain judges who’d actually know beforehand, before cases were even filed, in particular constitution and political type cases that they would be ones hearing it. That’s not an independent judiciary and that’s not what happens now. The registries have been cleaned up, there were people in the registries who were taking bribes so that they could allocate files to the right judges.

My appeal to everybody is that we need to be honest. We need to go to the basic principles of honesty. We all need to ascertain the truth. After all, as lawyers, as judges, lawyers, government officials, permanent secretaries, ministers, as the President, the citizens – we all must seek the truth. What is the truth? And the truth does not only mean seeking the truth amongst ourselves, it means been honest with yourself.

This is the opportunity for Fiji that is been offered on a plate and if as all Fijians want to contribute to having a society that is fair and just, that is economically prosperous, we need to be honest with ourselves and only then you can be honest with others. It will then engender all of us as a society to be able to move your country forward based on appropriate policies and appropriate laws and address the inequalities, injustices and indeed have a robust debate. There’s no point having a political dialogue or political forum if we are going to be dogmatic about our principles if we are not going to move with the times.

Just to paraphrase a former supervisor of mine who is quite internationally recognized and who has been involved in a number of countries where they have had political and constitutional problems, he said that the blind adherence to legal formalities can stop progress, can stop you from ascertain the truth. How many lawyers in this room will use various rules in the book, will use various other tactics including litigation to simply offiscate the truth, to simply delay the finding of the truth if we are honest with ourselves? There are some lawyers who are known as genuine experts. What I respectfully submit, is that if you do not have the means, if you do not have the will to seek the truth, you in fact, will undermine the rule of law, you will in fact undermine the democratization process.

The proposed law for the Code of Conduct and in particular the Freedom of Information shall lead to the process of democratization. Indeed, it will help us ascertain the truth. In this particular instance, the truth behind the manner decisions were made, why decisions were made and if indeed, that type of decision should have been made in the first place. As I have continuously said, that we have already started the process notwithstanding, we do not have the Decree in the first place. We have a Prime Minister, who is the most accessible Prime Minister ever in the history of Fiji. Many of you may not know but he actually has a text number you can text his Office on if you have a complaint, it appears on a screen I think it is 01 (the number). You can actually text the complaint.

This is an opportunity that we need to be able to grasp. But in all of this what is really pertinent is that we need the right capacities in the right places. It will also mean not just getting the right capacities, but it means capacity building. Capacity building, of course means, that we have to put our egos our vanities and dogmas at the door. Unfortunately many civil servants, many lawyers, politicians and with respect some judges have been and are prone to this human frailty. Capacity building means we recognize where we are limited, where we need training and in some instances, where we are in completely inappropriate for that position. After all, if we are to improve our individual capacities the capacities and professionalism of the your various law firms, your ministries, bureaucracy, our country we must know where we are failing and we need to know, therefore we need to improve.

In conclusion, I would like to observe that any reform or modernizing agenda requires a vision. More importantly then that it requires the resolve to implement that vision, that’s critical. Policy statements should not merely just become wish lists. I believe that this vision and the implementation of that vision is been provided by our Prime Minister and how he is leading our Government. It also means that, in particular, those who have benefitted from a system, the old system which was archaic and indeed a closed system will actually resist that change.

If a system actually makes certain individuals lazy, if it makes them non-transparent, if it gives them the ability to arbitrarily change the rules of the game to manipulate the system – obviously they will support that old system. There will be resistance. But I believe the majority of the people of Fiji want the change, in particular, if you are honest with yourself, if in particular you have a vision.

My appeal to you is please think beyond the dogma, think beyond the internal and external misinformation, the rumor-mongering. Look at the ground realities, look at what is happening in practice, look at the outcome of these new laws that are been placed, look at the motivation, the rationale behind it. Is it affecting anybody adversely? Is it affecting the nation of Fiji adversely? As lawyers, as people who are in businesses, you must read the laws, don’t read the blog sites they teach how to make bombs. Read the laws, that’s more constructive, that’s more positive, that’s what will help you as individuals and help our country.

On that note, you need to focus on the outcomes. You need to look at whether, for example, these laws are causing any harm. As individuals, as citizens of this country we need to be more loyal. But the point is there needs to be respect for your country. If you may have a particular grip on a particular issue don’t take it out on your country.

Overall, ladies and gentlemen, you will see in the next year or so that there will be a lot more changes made to the laws in Fiji. We have our modernizing and reforming agenda as you know. In fact one of the reasons why we believe, I believe, maybe the Chambers does not believe we are still a bit slow in bringing about these reforms is that we do not have the necessary expertise and skills, in particular, in drafting.

We would like to bring about more changes and you will see a lot more of that happening. A lot of it is sensible for example, we now have stopped girls been married out at the age of 16. Under the Convention of the Rights of the Child, the 16yr old is a girl, she is under-aged, she cannot be married. These are some of the simple and basic changes we have brought about. We look forward to your support. We urge you to think along the national line, look at the law that is there on paper, see what impact it has. View that law in terms of the future of your country and your future also. We will continue to build these capacities, it is exciting times, we will continue to consult with the various stakeholders in terms of formulating these laws.

We need to have a mindset and an environment where we reward consistency. We do not reward hypocrisy. I know many people took a different position in 2000 they were quite mute about certain things but in 2006 they were very vocal. That sort of criticism, that sort of analysis frankly lacks merit. You do not any longer have any credibility. What we must also do is we must reward the thinkers in our society we must be beyond just mediocrity and if we are able to do that as a nation we will be able to realize then the vision of our ourselves as a country.

I must thank the speakers who have presented these fantastic papers since yesterday morning; unfortunately we are also tightening our belts so I do not have individual gifts for them. I know traditionally people get gifts so hopefully by next years when the Ministry of Finance can give us a bit more funding. I have to share this with you, we do make a little bit of profit on these Conferences so thank you very much for attending.

We have got 200 attendance this year, which is a record, so once again thank you very much for your participation. I would like to thank His Excellency our President for being here it is most usual for the Head of the State to sit through these sessions, Mr President thank you very much for being here and I am sure everybody appreciates your attendance and indeed your presence.
Ends…

ALL TALK NO ACTION FROM THE OINKLETS

Fiji strips licences from broadcasters

Rowan Callick, Asia-Pacific editor | November 21, 2009 Article from:  The Australian

THE military-installed Fiji government has removed all broadcasting licences and given Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum the absolute power to renew or redistribute them without any compensation to those whose licences are stripped.

Television and radio stations are broadcasting this weekend on a temporary basis, as the owner, managers, staff and audiences await the determinations of Mr Sayed-Khaiyum.

He is the second-most powerful figure in the government after military commander and prime minister Frank Bainimarama.

Mr Sayed-Khaiyum is also Minister for Justice, Anti-Corruption, Public Enterprises, Industry, Investment and Tourism, and Communications.

The action was carried out this week by decree – the chief tool of government since the parliament was scrapped and the constitution abrogated.

The decree states that no compensation can be claimed as a result of the cancellation or reallocation of a broadcasting licence, and that no court, tribunal or commission has the jurisdiction to entertain any challenge over the loss of a licence.

Anyone broadcasting in contravention to the minister’s directions can be jailed for five years.

The dominant television broadcaster, Fiji TV, is owned by Yasana Holdings, which represents the 14 ethnic Fijian provinces, and which also owns the monopoly Papua New Guinea TV broadcaster EMTV.

Fiji TV established a reputation for impartial news coverage, although the military installed two officers on its board following the coup three years ago.

It, like the country’s other media, is now subject to stringent military censorship.

All the country’s VHF TV frequencies are in the hands of Fiji TV.

It is now expected that at least one of these frequencies will be reallocated to the government-owned Fiji Broadcasting Corporation, which operates a radio service and has expressed an intention to establish a TV network, towards which it has allocated several million dollars.

The corporation’s chief executive, appointed earlier this year, is Riyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, younger brother of the Attorney-General and formerly a TV journalist.

The government broadcasts directly from 7-9pm nightly, except on Sundays, on a frequency it pays to rent from Fiji TV.

————————————————————————–

Looks like the oinklets sayed-khaiyum are determined to disallow any news that may report any iota of news that may, just may have a tinge of criticism about the illegal regime in its content wiped off the face of the earth.

Can’t wait to see the boys from Delainabua sink their shiny boots into their smugness. Yep, word from up there is that these two will be the first to feel the wrath of their self made cruelty.

The soldiers will follow orders because they are paid to do so, but they don’t like upstarts like the oinklets throwing their weight around. These brothers are a big itch just waiting to be scratched.

SV is of the opinion this latest ban is a lead up to the furore about to be unleashed about the lack of progress since 6.12.06 except for the unrestrained corruption being carried out by ole bipolar oink and his cooupsters.

Third anniversary of the disaster unfairly imposed on the Nation of Fiji is coming right up on Sunday 6 December 2009.

Well, Well, Decrees No Less. How about a decree absolute to rid the ig from our Nation

Parts of ’97 Constitution to be revived: ILLEGAL PM

Parts of Fiji’s abrogated 1997 Constitution dealing with the rule of law, the judiciary, human rights and democratic principles will be resurrected by decree, Illegal Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama has told officials of the European Commission.

At a meeting in Brussels with the EC’s Director General for Development, Stefano Manservisi and his advisors, Bainimarama assured them of government’s commitment to upholding the rule of law, the strengthening of the judiciary, respect for human rights and respect for democratic principles, a government statement said.

He said this commitment was evident in the decreeing of new legislations “and the resurrection by decree of those essential elements of the abrogated constitution dealing with such matters”.

Bainimarama was accompanied by Foreign Affairs Minister, Ratu Inoke Kubuabola, his permanent secretary Solo Mara and Fiji’s ambassador to the EU, Peceli Vocea.

The meeting was to exchange views on major issues that will form the basis for resuming formal consultations under the provision of Article 96 of the Cotonou Agreement, the statement said.

“Government believes that this informal meeting can now be taken to another level leading to the resumption of formal “consultations”, an objective of which is to review the agreement signed in October 2007 between the European Union and Fiji on the political situation in Fiji,” it said.
 
Bainimarama briefed the EC officials on the programs of institutional, judicial, constitutional and electoral reforms that are in place to begin in 2010 and in subsequent years and the reasons for these reforms.

The two sides also discussed issues pertaining to the Strategic Framework for Change, the National Dialogue Forum and the Public Emergency Regulation, enforced soon after the 1997 Constitution was abrogated in April.
 
Senior EC and Fiji government officials will now follow-up on the major outcomes of the discussion with the aim of ultimately resuming formal consultations between the two sides, said the government statement.

THE OVERBEARING SELF AGGRANDISEMENT OF THE IGNORANT ILLEGAL REGIME

News Brief

Mon – Nov 09 ‘09

The corrupt in our society can’t say they have not been warned. The fight against corruption is being stepped up. One of the mandates given to the Government by the former President, Ratu Josefa Iloilo, is the eradication of the corruption problem. Prime Minster Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama has made his own views clear. At the launch of the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC) website (http://www.ficac.org.fj/) the Prime MInister said: “Corruption is present at all levels in society and past governments have failed in a tangible manner to arrest this problem.” (FS) Well ain’t that the understatement of the century, from the most corrupt person in Fiji. Self talk tiko vei iko oink!

The upkeep of school buildings and quarters is the responsibility of school committees. This was stressed by Minister for Education Filipe Bole yesterday. Mr Bole was responding to queries on the writing off of some school blocks and teachers quarters in Tailevu last week by the Occupational Health and Safety department. (FS) Silly old Bole still struggling after all these years, please spare the Citizens of Fiji & go retire in Mualevu,

Just days after being sworn into office, President Ratu Epeli Nailatikau arrived in Labasa yesterday on his first official tour as President. The week-long tour begins this morning where the President is expected to travel with senior government officials to Dreketi, Batiri and Seaqaqa visiting agriculture and irrigation sites. Since the arrival of Ratu Epeli, police has beefed security with at least 50 officers working on the ground. Ratu Epeli was quickly whisked away to his hotel by his personnel soon after a brief meeting with senior government officials at the Waiqele airport. (FS) For just a nanosecond there I thought I was reading about Afghanistan, & Karzai (another dodgy one), Nailatikaus cousin was swanning around in one of his famous blankets (he lent one to Koila for a recent photo opportunity). Beefing up security, puhleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese, the self importance is so ludicrous.

What began as an initiative to recognize the achievement of our exporters 17 years ago is today a premier event. The increasing number of Award categories further distinguishes the achievement of our local exporters across a growing export base. Fiji Islands Trade and Investment Bureau Chief Executive Officer Annie Rogers on Saturday night said the 18 categories vied for now showed that Fiji is a quality exporter. The event acknowledges, appreciates and rewards the accomplishments of our outstanding exporters. (FS)  More cocktails and fingerfood paid from the Nations depleted coffers for those who’d never heard of or been invited to such events, let alone been given a passing thought, until the illegal stouch of 5.12.06

OINKS MESSAGE ABOUT AS CLEAR AS THE MUD IN HIS BRAIN (er, what brain?)

PM sends clear business signal to Aust, NZ
November 07, 2009

Fiji’s HIGHLY ILLEGAL, SELF APPOINTED Prime Minister and Minister For All Things Illegal and Useless, Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama has used the annual gathering of business executives at the Exporter of the Year Awards to tell recalcitrant neighbours Australia and New Zealand that all is well between them and Fiji at the business level.

“We need to view and indeed separate the political from trade, tourism and the economy,” Bainimarama said to applause from the audience, in reference to this week’s tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions first by Fiji and followed by Australia and New Zealand.

Bainimarama said while the governments of Fiji, Australia and New Zealand had taken respective positions regarding their interaction at the political and diplomatic level, his government would not let “such issues affect or discourage trade, tourism, business co-operation, collaboration and investment”.

“On the contrary, we encourage more trade, investment and tourism between our traditional partners of Australia and New Zealand.”

Bainimarama said he again offered engagement at all levels with the two governments “on a level playing field in which our sovereignty and dignity is respected and maintained. Such engagement must encourage trade, investment and friendship for the mutual benefit of our countries”.

—————————————————————————-

Message to Illegal Regime:

Aha oink, that’s not the way business is done legitimately anywhere in the world.

Your ignorant oink ciriveni statements may work under your malai mango tree but the role of diplomats and their respective embassies or consulars is to ensure responsible conducts of their citizens’ business, cultural or personal affairs in Fiji.

The illegal regime will more than likely attract and invite exploitive types to do business here, as if they’re not already lost up shit creek.

HOW DARE THESE EXPAT LAWYERS LIKE GATES AND PRYDE PROVOKE THE SACKING OF OUR LEGAL JUDICIARY THEN BLAME AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALANDS LEGAL SYSTEMS FOR UPHOLDING BANS ON ALL WHO BENEFIT FROM THE COUP IN FIJI

Fiji judicial jobs carry risks of professional misconduct Jennifer Corrin From: The Australian

FIJI’S appointment of Sri Lankan judges, designed to make up the shortfall caused by the revocation of judicial appointments earlier this year, has focused attention on the dilemmas facing any lawyer considering taking up judicial office in Fiji.
In essence, there are two competing policy considerations to be weighed by any potential candidate.

Accepting judicial appointment from an unelected regime implicitly recognises its validity and thwarts a return to democracy.

The opposing view is that judges are required to remain in office so that the courts can continue to operate, which is vital to the rule of law, even in the face of the questionable legitimacy of the government.

Lawyers must be wary of the potential professional con- sequences of accepting judicial appointment in a country with- out a democratically elected government.

A critical consideration is whether this amounts to professional misconduct.

Unfortunately, there is no express guidance on this in the rules of professional conduct prevailing in Australia.

In the absence of any explicit provision on point, the question is whether more general provisions are applicable to the situation.

Rules governing the profession in Australia generally require legal practitioners to be fit and proper persons and to exercise a reasonable standard of competence and diligence.

Similarly, practitioners are not to engage in conduct likely to diminish public confidence in the legal profession or in the administration of justice or otherwise bring the legal profession into disrepute.

Acceptance of judicial office in an illegal regime could be said to diminish public confidence in the judiciary, as it puts their independence into question.

The Fiji Code of Ethics, which is supplemented by the International Code of Ethics, contains similar provisions to those in force in Australia.

In considering whether the general rules of conduct are applicable to the situation, it is relevant that they are not intended as codes and do not exhaustively cover instances that amount to professional misconduct or unsatisfactory professional conduct.

Further, the standards of competence and diligence required under the various acts are interpreted broadly by enforcing bodies.

In the light of all this, it is possible that disciplinary action could lie against a solicitor or barrister who accepts appointment to the Fijian judiciary, even though there is no express provision prohibiting this. Given the seriousness of this matter, more explicit guidance from regulatory bodies is called for.

Knowingly accepting judicial appointment from an illegal regime also has the potential for criminal repercussions.

In Fiji, this could amount to an act of treason under the Penal Code. Prosecution would obviously be against the interests of the current regime, but this does not mean that charges could not be laid at a future time.

While the death penalty for treason was abolished in Fiji in 2002, it still carries a penalty of life imprisonment.

The latest military coup took place in Fiji in December 2006, led by Commodore Voreqe Frank Bainimarama. While the constitution was originally left in place, everything changed in April this year when, in deciding a case between the former prime minster and the head of the current regime, the Fiji Court of Appeal declared the military government to be unlawful.

The day after this decision, on April 10, President Ratu Josefa Iloilo announced the abolition of the constitution, the revocation of all judicial appointments and presidential assumption of all governing power.

Several members of the judiciary at the time of this announcement, including the members of the Court of Appeal who handed down the decision, were recent appointees. Francis Douglas SC was appointed a mere three days prior to his dismissal.

It is interesting to note that these judges had accepted their judicial appointments after the interim government came to power.

These judges had been appointed to replace other expatriate judges who it is understood had either not been offered a new contract by the interim government or refused a renewal due to concerns about the nature of the appointing regime.

Following the revocation of their appointments the appointees returned to Australia. The Law Council of Australia took up their cause, stating in an April 15 media release that President Iloilo’s actions posed a direct threat to the rule of law in Fiji, which could not be justified on any basis.

The Law Council also called for the immediate reinstatement of the judiciary, an end to the suspension of the constitution and the holding of democratic elections as soon as possible.

In spite of international pressure there have been no subsequent elections. The military-backed government’s justification for this is that a series of electoral reforms and corruption investigations must be completed to ensure that when democratic elections are once again held they are fair and valid.

Legal practitioners must be wary in their pursuit of Fijian judicial appointment, as acceptance may have serious professional and ethical consequences.

The uncertainty as to whether appointment to judicial office in an illegal regime amounts to professional misconduct reveals a gap in the regulatory framework. Express guidance is required to make the consequences clear.

Jennifer Corrin is executive director, Asia Pacific law, at the Centre for International, Public and Comparative Law, TC Beirne School of Law at the University of Queensland.