The Real Survivor Fiji – Military Rule Slaps Hard

The Real Survivor Fiji – Military Rule Slaps Hard

This can not be good for a tribal peoples just wanting to be able to pursue and share their lives with others in a modern world.

In the last week, The Commodore dispatches the Council of Chiefs because they felt that they had the right to voice their opinion as to whom the second in command should, or should not be. The Commodore did not like the fact that their opinion would be different than his … but isn’t this the reason why Frank felt he had the right to take charge of a democratically elected Government in the first place? That anyone in a leadership role might actually have thinking powers that were different than HIS own?

The Free World needs to step in and save Fiji before Commodore Frank Bainimarama gets down to firing the “Dog Catcher” … or have the population die from poor Governmental Health management factors!

These excerpts from Bloomberg (Austrailia) -

Fiji Anti-Corruption Body Given `Draconian' Powers, Lawyer Says
By Emma O'Brien - April 23 - Bloomberg

A body set up by Fiji's caretaker government to investigate corruption has powers of arrest and interrogation that break the law and constitution, a spokeswoman for the country's law society said.

The Independent Commission Against Corruption is empowered to issue its own arrest and search warrants and seize people suspected of living beyond their means. Those charged will be considered guilty until they prove themselves innocent.

``It's sinister, the fact they have all these powers which appear to be Draconian,'' Tupou Draunidalo, vice president of the Fiji Law Society said in a telephone interview from the capital, Suva, on April 19. ``It's so fundamental, that you're innocent until proven guilty in this country.''

The decree establishing the commission, approved by the president of the Pacific island nation several weeks ago, was published April 18, President Ratu Josefa Iloilo's spokesman Rupeni Nacewa said last week from Suva. Army chief Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama promised to ``clean up'' Fiji after he overthrew the government of Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase in December, accusing it of corruption.

Iloilo was re-appointed president in January after being deposed in the Dec. 5 coup, the country's fourth takeover in 19 years. Bainimarama became interim prime minister a month after the takeover and said elections may not be held until 2010.

The commission will be made up of a chief investigator assisted by about eight corruption investigators.

Common Law

The power given to the panel ``appears to break various sections of the constitution and common law,'' Draunidalo said.

Fiji's legal system is based on British common law, which enshrines the right to be regarded as innocent until proven otherwise in a court of law.

The interim government is justifying the sweeping powers through the doctrine of necessity, she said. Fiji's constitution allows for decrees to be made by the president if the country is so unstable that parliament can't meet.

``There's no reason the parliament can't meet,'' Draunidalo said. ``The military just won't let it happen.''

Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, Fiji's interim attorney-general said the new commission was based on Hong Kong's anti-corruption body.
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The penalties for engaging in bribery have been stiffened, Sayed-Khaiyum said, with the sentence increased from the current six to nine months to 10 to 15 years under a prevention of bribery promulgation enacted last week.

Holding Elections

Fiji is considering holding elections some time in the next 36 months, following a meeting between European Union and Fijian government officials last week in Brussels, Sayed-Khaiyum said.

In an April 20 statement, the EU called on Fiji to hold a poll within two years and to lift in May a state of emergency in place since the coup. In return, the EU said it expects ``to avoid the loss of development cooperation'' that provides aid to the Fijian sugar industry, the statement said.

The 27-nation body threatened to cut all ties with Fiji following the coup, and scrap a $422 million aid package. Fiji's sugar industry, which employs 45,000 people, would collapse if the aid was withdrawn, the Sugar and General Workers' Union said shortly after the coup.
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Yep! That is what a former freely elected democratic nation needs - More Decrees from Commodore Frank!