THE ATTORNEY GENERALS 2013 DRAFT CONSTITUTION IS THE FINAL NAIL IN THE FIJI PENSIONERS COFFINS, BECAUSE UNLIKE THE YASH GHAI DRAFT WHICH 7000 CITIZENS CONTRIBUTED TO, THE ATTORNEY GENERALS DRAFT FORBIDS THE REVIEW OF ANY OF HIS DECREES, WHICH HE HAS ALSO EXTENDED TO HIS TERMINATIONS OF COURT PROCEEDINGS.
“The principles of a free constitution are irrevocably lost when the legislative power is nominated by the executive”. (Decline & Fall of The Roman Empire Ch3).

THIS DRAFT CONSTITUTION DEPRIVES THE PENSIONERS OF HOPE, JUSTICE AND BASIC CIVIL RIGHTS AND IT SEEMS OUR PRIME MINISTER COULD NOT CARE LESS !!!!! HIS ARSE IS SAFE AND HIS FUTURE SECURE….HE HAS GIVEN THE PUBLIC INADEQUATE TIME TO RESPOND, AND IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE WHAT THE PUBLIC SAY, THERE WILL BE NO CHANGES TO THE ATTORNEY GENERALS DRAFT CONSTITUTION.. A CLASSIC EXAMPLE OF A TRAVESTY OF JUSTICE. 

Any amendments to Fiji’s new constitution will have to be approved by majority of the registered voters and parliament.This is a major proposal in the draft constitution as it states that if a bill for the amendment to the constitution is passed by three quarters of the members of parliament, then it will be referred to the Electoral Commission to conduct a referendum for all registered voters to vote on the proposed amendment.

If three quarters of the registered voters who have participated in the process have voted in favour of the bill, then the President must assent to the bill.

However, the draft constitution prepared by the government legal team which is now out for the views from the public states that immunity granted under the 1990 constitution should continue and there should be further immunity for December 2006 and the events following that.

The draft states that the immunity provision should not be reviewed, amended, altered, repealed or revoked. Continue reading →

Use the power of the sun, if you cannot afford a solar water heater in Fiji, try a coil of 50 metres of 25mm black PVC pipe on your roof, a very low cost water heater.

PUBLISHED IN NZ TRUTH …30-01-2013
David Farrar recently wrote a post on his Kiwiblog and linked to a story by Michael Field about the alleged burning of the new constitution by Fiji Police, then he linked to another story, again by Michael Field about a troublesome priest being asked to leave Fiji.

Michael Field is banned from traveling to Fiji. It is likely that he sourced both of his stories from the anti-government blog Coup 4.5, who are almost all exclusively Auckland based.

What is particularly galling is that the major media and gullible bloggers simply repeat what Michael Field and the anonymous bloggers at Coup 4.5 have to say. They invariably do not read more widely and find out the exact details of what precisely happened and when in Fiji.

With regards to the alleged burning of the new constitution you can’t really go past getting the true story from Graham Davis and some additional facts about the Ghai document. Compare and contrast the reporting from Michael Field and wonder how he manages to keep his job. 

Now to the meddlesome priest article. Again this appears to have been a manufactured story by Michael Field, one that Farrar unfortunately gave more oxygen.  

Regular readers will know that I recently visited Fiji, and also that I maintain good connections in business in Fiji. The story concerned me and so I made a few calls.

What I found out about the situation is in stark contrast with what was reported by Michael Field.

My government contacts refused to comment on the record and their off the record comments were that this was a storm in a tea cup unhelpfully stirred up by journalists with agendas. There won’t be an official statement from the government.

As I stated previously this story appears to originated from the anonymous bloggers at Coup 4.5. If you read Graham Davis’ story about the Ghai documents then you get some understanding of the dishonesty of those who write for Coup 4.5.   Continue reading →

Can Mushrooms Be The New Plastic?

Click on the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=zmDENxTPn8Q

We can use cane waste. lets think outside the box….

All Fiji Airways Airbus pilots should check this link:
https://www.youtube.com/embed/kERSSRJant0?feature=player_detailpage

Osea Kolinisau King for a Day

Osea Kolinisau turned hero after he scored a hat trick of tries to help Fiji secure their 14th Hong Kong title in one of the greatest comeback victory in the history of the tournament and to make two in a row in Hong Kong after they beat Wales 26-19 in the final.

Given the published reactions to the Government’s draft Constitution 2013, it would be sensible to hold the promised Constituent Assembly in the terms that were decreed by your Government initially.

While it may be correct that not all political parties have been registered, for various reasons as you pointed out in your address to the nation on March 21, the Constituent Assembly does not have to include individuals who represent only political parties; it could instead include their opinion-shapers and policy makers, and others in the body politic in Fiji, for example religious leaders. Everyone should be part of a publicized discussion on what the next Constitution of Fiji should look like, including people whose views we do not like or who have, in the past, expressed objectionable opinions based on race, gender or any other kind of prejudice.

For the Constituent Assembly, the Government’s 2013 Constitution can be the main document on the table for discussion but people should not be prevented from debating aspects of Fiji’s previous constitutions if they are relevant to the Government’s draft Constitution.

Such a Constituent Assembly should comprise individuals and representatives who sent their names to your Permanent Secretary on or before the deadline of 30th December 2012, as stipulated.

This process would allow members of the Assembly to (i) fix up the weaknesses in the drafting of your Constitution 2013 and (ii) debate issues intelligently with each other, with a view to the national interest, and make recommendations to the Government on what the new Fijian Constitution should be, in light of the Preamble of the current draft which states…”We the People of Fiji…hereby establish this Constitution for the Republic of Fiji”. How can people respect the next constitution of Fiji if they feel they have not actually been given the opportunity to ‘establish this Constitution of Fiji’ as the Preamble says?

In order to make it inclusive for everyone, the Assembly’s proceedings should be transmitted live to the public via the media.

Whether or not any political parties have been correctly or legitimately registered should not detract the Government from the very important fact that the 2013 Constitution will represent the ‘social contract’ between the people and the Republic of Fiji. As in any legal contract the two parties to it should have an equal say in the clauses that are to be included in this very important basic law document so that it can be sustainable for generations to come.

Dr Shaista Shameem

The Bainimarama/Khaiyum Constitution (ADACIP)Professor Wadan Narsey 22 March 2012

The Bainimarama/Khaiyum Constitution (BKC) is the final stage of a  “successful” coup.

If elections are held in 2014 and an elected Government comes into place, the international community may be relieved to see  a cosmetic end to the most painful chapter in Fiji’s modern history.

But we need to remember, the Bainimarama Regime has never abided by 

* any Constitution or any Oath of Office that any of them have ever taken, 

* any promise or commitment made to Fiji or the international community, or

* any ruling by the judiciary which goes against them.

In 2006, Bainimarama and the RFMF, removed the constitutionally elected prime minister and made himself Prime Minister.

He promised elections by 2009 but broke that promise and has now ruled for more than six years.  

The Regime’s Charter, allegedly approved by three quarters of Fiji’s adults, stated the 1997 Constitution would be supreme, but when the Appeal Court judgment went against them in 2009, Bainimarama abrogated the 1997 Constitution.

In 2011, the Regime appointed its own Ghai Constitution Commission (stacked with Regime supporters) to consult widely and write a Constitution which abided by all the Regime’s non-negotiable principles (which they did) AND which would be vetted by the Constituent Assembly AND the Chief Justice’s Tribunal.

But with Ghai Draft not completely to the Regime’s liking, both the Commission and the Draft Constitution, were flippantly trashed.

I wrote then (http://narseyonfiji.wordpress.com/2013/01/14/trashing-the-ghai-constitution-the-positives-14-january-2013/

“Over the next six months, meticulous comparisons between the Regime’s Constitution and the Ghai Draft Constitution- what exactly is changed, added and left out – will reveal more facts to Fiji and the world, about the Regime’s “real Roadmap”.

I also noted that Fiji people could  

“watch with deep interest (and remember) who exactly are the “people’s representatives” who will turn up to rubber-stamp the Military Regime’s Constitution. There is a definitely a new ball game in town.”

Well, no need for Fiji people to tire their eyes any further: the Regime has moved the goal-posts again, and there won’t be any Constituent Assembly.

Why not?  Bainimarama alleges the political parties were fiddling their registrations (and the sun was shining).  Right.

Bainimarama has decreed: “You, the people of Fiji” will now be the Constituent Assembly.  Right. 

So the people of Fiji can personally write or talk to the Regime (with their names, addresses, phone numbers etc.) and the Regime will take on board your comments.  Right. 

Bainimarama promises “we will finalize the Constitution to have it ready for implementation no later than the 12^th of April this year”.

So even the pliant President won’t be required to assent to the Constitution, but “We”?   Right.

There is a new ball game in town and the Baimarama/Khaiyum Team is winning.

As the purchase and arrival of the Airbus shows, it is incredibly easy for Regime spin doctors to get Fiji’s population people to sing and dance, cry with pride at being a Fijian and “owning” their own airplane (even if it is on mortgage, and the only difference is the new colors inside and outside the plane).

Out of sight and out of mind are Fiji’s

* lost billion dollars of income over the last six years

* increasing mountains of public debt

* creaking and leaking FNPF pension fund

* mounting unemployment

* falling real incomes (except for the military), 

* increasing poverty

* record rates of suicides and attempted suicides, and

* unbelievably sordid violence against women, children and even babies.

Our people, no doubt orchestrated again by the Fiji Sun and Fiji Broadcasting Corporation, will soon sing and dance over the new Constitution, promising racial equality, with one man, one vote. Right.

The rest here, is merely for the record.

What’s different in the BKC? Continue reading →