A vote for Frank is a vote for who?

Bainimarama is running this election like it’s him versus all others. His team of candidates is mostly a bunch of no-bodies.  People have heard of the achievements of our one-legged high jumper, and his fancy News Reader with a talent for speaking Hindi and giving racial abuse in Fijian is also well known, but neither is known as a leader whose contributed anything to their community. But if Bainimarama is to win this election it’s these nobodies who get elected.  They get in with the votes of Bainimarama that are over and above what he needs for his seat in the parliament.  Bainimarama is hoping that no-one understands this bu the reality is that everyday more and more people are understanding how this electoral system works.

The contrast

     

The contrast could not be clearer

While Ro Teimumu’s thoughts were all for the families of the 45, our self-appointed PM descended to the gutter to attack SODELPA. He accused SODELPA of targeting the Constitution to remove the immunity section at a time when the RFMF and the nation was facing a crisis in the Golan Heights. He was, in effect, trying to make political hostages of the 45 for his own selfish purposes. The contrast could not be greater between someone called to the highest values of leadership and a cheap thug out to hang on to power he obtained illegally.  The chief beneficiary of immunity is him.  His crimes dwarf all others but he corrals the rest of the RFMF to join him as if they are all equally guilty.

 

Khaiyum’s personal police investigate

Khaiyum speaks and Langman obeys

From its very beginning FICAC has been the personal police force of Khaiyum, trumping up charges against political rivals. Now it has been given the job of investigating a complaint from an 80 year old couple who complained that “a Fijian of Indian descent employee of the courier company” came to their home with voting papers and ticked the number of a candidate for the couple, even though it was not the candidate of their choice. This should be investigated by the Fiji Police Force, not by the private police force of the Secretary-General of FrankFirst. The voter was wanting to vote Fiji Labour party. Can anyone guess the name of  the candidate whose number was ticked?

Fiji Times September 04, 2014 Couple ‘forced’ to vote

Saneem needs to do something

After the stuff-ups about the dates for pre-polling Saneem has a nerve to say that it’s the responsibility of voters to ensure that they are at their designated polling venues on time. Radio Fiji has confirmed written information from the Fiji Electoral Office contained mistakes.  The difficulties of a one day poll were spelt out for Khaiyum months ago and he ignored them, only to spring pre-polling on a much wider scale and to change the announced schedules. Saneem should do something to avoid future problems, not blame the voters.

Fiji Live 03 September 2014 Onus on voters: Saneem

Squeezing the lemon to the last drop

What’s in these bins? Votes, I hope.

For nearly 8 years we’ve watched the Bainimarama regime use the powers of government to give hand-outs like they’ve come out of their own pocket.  But handing out rubbish bins paid for by the Koren Government is really squeezing the lemon past the last drop of juice. No mention of who paid for it in the propaganda. For people who pay rates the bins are a right, not some favour.  What do we pay rates for if not to receive a rubbish collection service.

Radio Fiji 2 September 2014  Nasinu ratepayers receive free bins

Has Saneem apologised

SODELPA FB has posted that Saneem has not yet apologised to FLP cadidate Steven Singh for rejecting his nomination even though the mistake was picked up by the Electoral Commission.  Saneem may blame the Electoral Commission for taking too long but he had a duty to get his decision right in the first place. Steven Singh had no conviction and Saneem should have checked that.  He should apologise to Steven Singh for his own mistake, not point the finger at the Electoral Commission.

Regime fine tunes its propaganda

At last someone in the Ministry of Information has realised that it does more harm than good to try to pretend that almost no-one supports SODELPA. It’s like the way the propaganda machine had to stop reporting water problems had been solved . People know whether there’s water coming out of their taps or not. Propaganda can’t make people imagine water. Now the regime’s propaganda mill has admitted that there’s a lot of support for SODELPA. They’ve got SODELPA up to 22% and other parties up to 8%.  The real clue to what’s going on is the answer to the question about which daily newspaper is providing the most coverage of the elections?  According to the Fiji Sun, the answer was that 70% said the Fiji Sun, the same magical number that supports FijiFirst.  The numbers are still fiction but they’re a little more believable.

Fiji Sun 1 September 2014 A Two-Party Race

Who is the mysterious businessman?

Just as the names of business donors to political parties were about to be revealed we read that a businessman arrested on serious drug charges has managed to have his name suppressed by Magistrate Mohammed Azhar.  Fiji leaks blog reported on Friday that the businessman was Anwar Khan, a very close friend of Khaiyum!

The big lie

The biggest liar of them all

It was Hitler who first followed the philosophy of the Big Lie – believing that in politics only a Big Lie will work. Bainimarama has now found his really big lie, claiming that Laisenia Qarase had prior knowledge of the Speight coup. He knows the truth, that he, Bainimarama, was warned about the Speight coup but he left the country to attend a waste-time conference in Norway.  When he returned he let the turmoil run, thinking he could use it to his advantage.  He even tried to have himself appointed as Interim PM. He remains close to Inoke Kubuabola and Jim Ah Koy despite the knowledge that they were part of the shadowy group in the background before Speight. Bainimarama even tried to appoint the alleged real leader of the Speight coup, former Police Commissioner, Isikia Savua, to one of his Charter Committees before he realised this would expose his close links to Savua. Bainimarama hopes that voters who are ignorant of the facts will believe this whopping lie.

Most in the dark about land

The Fiji Times Tebbutt poll has found that the great majority of voters think that land is a very important issue in the upcoming election but only half of voters think they understand what’s at stake.  This shows us what’s wrong with the Bainimarama regime.

Fiji Times 30 August 2014 Majority want to know more about land