The prime minister of Fiji Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama says New Zealand and Australia are bad neighbours. He says they are putting their own economic interests ahead of the need to protect Pacific Island nations from the effect of climate change. “I won’t be going to Paris wearing the usual friendly, compliant Pacific smile,” warned Bainimarama. Read more
The archbishop of Suva, Peter Loy Chong says the Catholic Church wishes to congratulates Fiji as a nation for returning to parliamentary rule. He also said “We congratulate Frank Bainimarama for leading us to elections and for his party’s election victory.” Archbishop Peter made this statement, as Fiji celebrated the 44th-year of independence last Friday. Read more
Fiji’s former military ruler was sworn in as the South Pacific nation’s elected leader on Monday. The new democratically elected Prime Minister of Fiji Rear Admiral (Ret) Voreqe Bainimarama says he intends to govern for all Fijians. This was his message to about 4000 party supporters who attended the FijiFirst inter-faith thanksgiving church service at Read more
The prime minister of Fiji, rear admiral Voreqe Bainimarama is bold because he knows God is leading him, says newly appointed military commander Brigadier General Mosese Tikoitoga. He made the statement during a visit to the Sukanaivalu Barracks in Labasa on 27 March. Speaking in the iTaukei language, Tikoitoga said a lot of trying situations Read more
The Archbishop of Suva, Fiji, Peter Loy Chong says that Christians and non-Christians should challenge the Constitution because faith is not supposed to be private. The Constitution protects the right of every person either individually or in community with others, in private or in public, to manifest and practise their religion or belief in worship, Read more
Fiji’s system of patron-client politics must end if the nation is to resolve its coup culture and facilitate a path towards democracy, says the Archbishop of Suva, Peter Chong. He says the present system is divisive and breeds a culture of coups and silence. Chong said interim Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama has used the patron-client Read more
Pacific Conference of Churches(PCC) has welcomed the formation of the Pacific Islands Development Forum ( PIDF ) as as a move towards inclusivity but has warned against paying mere lip service to development in the Pacific. “From the perspective of the church and faith-based organisations, we have a huge constituency and network which can be used Read more
An anonymous commentator on the blog Fiji Today says the heavy beating the reputations of John Samy and Archbishop Mataca, the authors of the People’s Charter, have taken from prodemocracy advocates is unjustified. He says the accusation that they have remained silent, in the face of the abandonment by the interim government of the People’s Charter principles, is untrue. The Read more
Fijians are weighing up a controversial new draft constitution aimed at restoring democracy next year. There are concerns that the document could be used by the current military ruler Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama to maintain his hold on power. Critics say that what Bainimarama is doing amounts to a “constitutional coup”. In an interview on El Read more
People in Fiji have a fortnight to give their views on the regime’s draft constitution. Having scrapped its commitment to form an expert group to prepare a new constitution, Fiji’s interim government has instead given the people of Fiji a fortnight to provide feedback on the draft document. The draft document has been released and Read more