Pensions Questions

In response from my earlier post on the illegal regime’s raid on our pensions, I have received a communication from one claiming to be Fiji Pensioners.

Going on appearances alone, this seems to be a letter from Mr Rickman regarding his pension. Included in the material is a considerable amount of detail which, if true, should surely be kept confidential.

In my opinion, we can not discount the possibility that this has not been sent to this blog from Mr Rickman. It could easily have been sent from the office of the recipient or another who is party to its contents.

Regardless of whoever has sent this in – it is not the intention of this blog to disclose the private details of individual citizens.

If the sender hopes to have this alleged correspondence published on this blog, it will not happen.

If Mr Rickman wants this published, he is welcome to do so elsewhere.

If another party is trying to have this information published on this blog – you lose!

God bless Fiji

Commonwealth calls for withdrawal of military from Fiji’s govt

26 April 2013, London

1. The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) held its thirty-ninth meeting in London on 26 April 2013.

2. The meeting was chaired by Hon Dr Dipu Moni, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh. It was also attended by Senator the Hon Bob Carr, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Australia; Hon John Baird, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Canada; Hon A J Nicholson, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Jamaica; Hon Dr Abdul Samad Abdullah, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Maldives; Hon Dr Samura Kamara, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sierra Leone; Hon Bernard K Membe, Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation of Tanzania; Hon Winston Dookeran, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Trinidad and Tobago; and Hon Nipake Edward Natapei, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and External Trade of Vanuatu.

3. CMAG welcomed the recent adoption by Heads of Government, and signature by The Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, of the Charter of the Commonwealth, encapsulating the core values and principles of the Commonwealth. It noted that the Charter reaffirmed the Commonwealth’s commitment inter alia to democracy, human rights, the rule of law, separation of powers, freedom of expression, good governance, tolerance, respect and understanding and the role of civil society. As the custodian of the Commonwealth’s fundamental political values, the Group pledged to continue to promote these commonly agreed goals.

4. The Group reviewed developments in relation to the country currently on its formal agenda, Fiji.

Fiji

5. CMAG reiterated the Commonwealth’s unwavering solidarity with the people of Fiji, and CMAG’s commitment to Fiji’s reinstatement as a full member of the Commonwealth family, through the restoration of constitutional democracy, the rule of law and human rights, in accordance with the fundamental political values of the Commonwealth.

6. Ministers expressed their regret at the Government of Fiji’s diversion from the previously-agreed constitutional process, which had earlier been welcomed by CMAG and which had attracted widespread public engagement and confidence within Fiji.

7. CMAG called on the Government of Fiji to ensure that the steps now undertaken toward restoring constitutional democracy are credible and inclusive, and similarly enjoy the confidence and support of the people of Fiji, including:

a. a transparent and consultative process to achieve a constitution that accords with Commonwealth and internationally-accepted standards for democracy, good governance and the rule of law, and that genuinely enjoys the endorsement of the people of Fiji;

b. the restoration of the structures necessary for credible elections, including an independent Election Management Body;

c. the ability of political parties and candidates to contest elections freely under fair and consistent rules and on a level playing field;

d. withdrawal of the military from involvement in government; and

e. full respect for fundamental human rights and freedoms in accordance with international law and without undue restriction, including freedoms of speech, association and movement, and a free and independent media.

8. The Group expressed concern about ongoing restrictions on human rights and reports of human rights abuse in Fiji, and emphasised the necessity of full respect for human rights and the rule of law, to create the environment necessary for credible elections.

9. CMAG noted the visit to Fiji undertaken by the Pacific Islands Forum’s Ministerial Contact Group on 12 April 2013, and reaffirmed the Commonwealth’s commitment to continuing to work in co-operation with regional and international partners in relation to the Fiji situation.

10. CMAG encouraged the Commonwealth to remain engaged with Fiji in appropriate ways, including the Secretary-General’s ongoing engagement with the Government of Fiji and other stakeholders, also encompassing further exploration of options for the provision of assistance to Fiji in relation to democracy and the rule of law.

God bless Fiji

Abduction Attempts In Fiji

There is an alarming increase in the number of abductions taking place in Fiji. Children are going missing on Viti Levu, with reports on Facebook telling of at least 12 children missing from the Sigatoka area alone. A young man reported to police that he had been drugged and abducted by an Asian and two Fijians in April.

What the heck is happening?

Under the illegal regime, the rule of law in Fiji has fallen away completely. That Savnish Kumar’s attackers were an Asian and two Fijians suggests this was a training exercise. The Asian teacher is showing our locals ‘how to’ commit a dire criminal act. He is training them up.

Is this the rise of a new criminal element – taking our children, our young, vulnerable, beautiful children for criminal intentions?

Or is this part of a cold, calculated strategy of the regime to take a leaf out of Indonesia’s playbook so they can make our prominent citizens ‘disappear’ like they do in West Papua?

The illegal regime MUST be stopped.

Tabu soro.

God bless Fiji.

The Pensions, The Pilferers and The P***ed Off

On 11 April, Vijay Narayan posted a story on FijiVillage.com reported questions put forward by former head of Airports Fiji and pillar of the Western community, Mr R Rickman.

Story by: Vijay Narayan  Time: 13:11 – 11/04/2013

Decrees like the ones in relation to the Fiji National Provident Fund reform cannot be legally challenged according to the draft constitution however the decrees can be amended or removed altogether by the next parliament.

Questions were raised by FNPF pensioner, Rick Rickman in the draft constitution consultation session in Lautoka on why the FNPF decree cannot be challenged.

Rickman said he and other pensioners entered into a contract and their pension has been cut under the reform.

Attorney General, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said while the decrees can be reviewed or changed by the next parliament, people should understand that the FNPF reforms were necessary.

Within hours, a new, more beefed up version of the story replaced it. This time it included specific details about Rickman’s own pension – details which in any other society would remain confidential – and ready-made quotes from senior FNPF staff and of course a quote from the illegal AG.

Decrees cannot be legally challenged according to the draft constitution

Publish date/time: 11/04/2013 [16:59]

Decrees like the ones in relation to the Fiji National Provident Fund reform cannot be legally challenged according to the draft constitution however the decrees can be amended or removed altogether by the next parliament.

Questions were raised by FNPF pensioner Rick Rickman in the draft constitution consultation session in Lautoka on why the FNPF decree cannot be challenged.

Rickman said he and other pensioners entered into a contract and their pension has been cut under the reform.

Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said while the decrees can be reviewed or changed by the next parliament, people should understand that the FNPF reforms were necessary.

Sayed-Khaiyum said FNPF is not in existence to only pay pensions for the current pensioners but it is a long term fund.

Meanwhile, FNPF’s Assistant General Manager Prime Services said in Rickman’s case, this was Rickman’s personal choice after he withdrew a major portion of his refundable or initial pension amount that was allowed for all existing pensioners during the pension reform period when the pensioners were told to make their choice.

At that time, the FNPF pensioners had to decide on whether they wanted to take their initial pension amount out as lump sum or go on the pension based on the amount they decide to leave on pension.

How FNPF’s (mis)management team reached the thoroughly unprofessional decision to disclose such details is anyone’s guess but it does NOT make the regime look particularly trustworthy that a dissenter’s private details are so flippantly thrown out into cyberspace.

We The People deserve to know how the regime will repay the $2.9billion hole it has stolen from our hard-earned pensions.

We The People must not let the illegal regime get away with this. Tabu soro.

God bless Fiji

Kill The Chicken To Frighten The Monkey

The entire Fijian community – within our islands and overseas – is still reeling in shock at the video which graphically captures the beating of Iowane Benedito, the alleged escaped prisoner.

Some on the blogs and social networks believe the clip has been leaked to the media. But could it be something even more sinister?

The regime is on the back foot. They know they are at an all-time popularity low. They know they can no longer hide behind their lies. They know their decrees aren’t worth the paper they are written on. They know that discontent is seething among We The People.

If you cast your mind back to December 2006, back when We The People still believed in our inalienable rights (before the illegal regime went ahead and ‘alien-ed’ them), there was quite a bit of discontent which was being publicly expressed. At least, it was being publicly expressed until the illegal regime detained at their barracks our most visible, respected and admired rights advocates – all women other than one young man – holding them without access to legal representation, and criminally assaulting them. They killed innocent young civilian men in custody. Before the coup, they had killed the CRW soldiers, also while in custody.

The shock, revulsion and outrage at that time was comparable to that we all feel today. How dare they?!

They dare, because this is yet another tactic used to effect by illegal regimes in other parts of the world.  In China, the tactic is referred to as ‘killing the chicken to frighten the monkey’. The regime knows they cannot lock us all up. So instead they visibly target a select few, commit grave atrocities, and let word of it be spread among the population. They don’t need us to be completely scared. They just need us to be scared enough to not take action, to not speak out, to not have the courage to stand up and say ‘NO MORE!’.

They are cowards. And their time has come. Do you really think they will let us have elections in 2014? We must take action NOW before our country is further ravaged by the rot. We need strikes and demonstrations, up and down the country. We need to show the world that this illegal regime does not have our mandate, our support nor our meek compliance. We need justice.

Tabu soro.

God bless Fiji.

The Unintended Consequences of Fiji’s peace keeping operations

By Jone Baledrokadroka

Great socio-economic promise was envisaged for newly-independent Fiji in the 1970s but due to a series of military coups in 1987, 2000 and 2006, this promise has remained unfulfilled. While many scholars explain the coups with reference to ethnic politics, I’d argue that the politicisation of the Fijian military is partly due to the fact that it has developed a self-image as a mediator of political tensions and executor of coups d’état. Unlike the Indonesian military, the Fijian military’s raison d’être wasn’t determined by internal security threats; in fact, it was historically apolitical. And the development of this self-image appears to be an unintended consequence of the Fijian military’s involvement in United Nations (UN) peacekeeping operations.

Much of this development has its roots in the Fijian military’s first deployment on a UN peacekeeping operation as part of the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in 1978. Participation in UN peacekeeping operations had obvious benefits to the fledgling Fijian nation, including being seen as a good international citizen, the generation of foreign exchange and improved youth employment.

However, rather than staying in Lebanon for a year or so as originally intended, the soldiers served for more than two decades, withdrawing only in 2002. Moreover, the confidence the Fijian military gained from serving with larger nations’ militaries in UN peacekeeping missions has given it an inflated corporate self-image. Participation in UN peacekeeping missions also necessitated that the military increase in size beyond what would be required to defend Fiji. By making peacekeeping the centerpiece of foreign policy, Fijian governments have unwittingly enhanced the military’s capability to intervene in domestic politics.

Fijian soldiers were also indelibly affected by the mediator role they performed when trying to defuse communal factional conflicts as part of UNIFIL. By the time the battalion pulled out of Lebanon in 2002, this mediator role was engrained in the collective military psyche and valorised by the deaths of 37 Fijian soldiers. Hailing from a small south Pacific nation, relatively isolated from partisan global politics, the Fijian military has been seen as impartial, an important quality for PKO forces. The involvement of Fijian troops in peacekeeping in the Middle East attracted much international attention, including a 1980s UN documentary featuring Fijian soldiers which further enhanced their self-perception. It also gave them a sense of self-belief in being part of a complex diplomatic solution of global proportions. Looking at Fiji today, officers who have been central to the military’s role in the successive coups—Rabuka in 1987, Filipo Tarakinikini in 2000 and Pita Driti in 2006—were all previous commanders of the peacekeeping battalion in Lebanon. The implication of a ‘Lebanon situation’ is quite obvious in Rabuka’s coup operational orders (OPORD 1/87). In the conclusion to the OPORD Rabuka clearly states that ‘You will see that the sit [sic] Fiji is in is dangerous and will develop into something much worse and resembling Lebanon and other troubled areas of the world.’

The self-styled mediator role also stems from a patron–client, or chief-warrior (Turaga-bati),relationship that has developed between elite indigenous chiefs (and their associates) and the predominately indigenous military (99 per cent indigenous Fijians). This relationship has its origins in the intensive peacekeeping tempo and swelled military numbers over the last 25 years.

The security and development agenda of the current Fijian leader Commodore Frank Bainimarama is also a throw-back to Malaya in the 1950s when, as part of British Commonwealth forces, Fijians were imbued with the notion of successfully quelling Communist insurgents. Many of the top government positions are ‘militarised’. This process of setting apart the military from society was carried into the post-independence period by the ruling elite. The military has now entrenched its authoritarian rule until September 2014 at least. The big question is whether the military will continue to play a key role in Fiji politics after the 2014 elections.

Jone Baledrokadroka is a former colonel with 26 years of service in the Fiji military and he recently completed PhD studies in the State, Society and Governance in Melanesia Program at the ANU. Image courtesy of Flickr user United Nations Photo.

The article on which this post is based is published in the December special volume of Security Challenges on ‘Security in the Pacific arc’.

A workshop was held on 8 February 2013 at the ANU to discuss the special volume. Details and registrations are available here.

God bless Fiji.