‘People should not heed the words of the departing dictator’

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Unity Fiji party leader and former Reserve Bank of Fiji governor Savenaca Narube. Picture: SOPHIE RALLULU/FILE

UNITY Fiji Party leader Savenaca Narube says Opposition Leader Voreqe Bainimarama is like a dictator who has realised “his reign was grinding to an end and that people have started to desert him”.

The former governor of the Reserve Bank of Fiji was responding to Mr Bainimarama’s statement on Tuesday night where he attacked Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka’s government.

“The nationwide sigh of relief and joy when the Rabuka coalition took over the government reflected the deep wounds and the destruction that the previous government had inflicted on the people,” Mr Narube said.

“The people should not pay any attention to the words of the departing dictator.

“Instead, we should all unite in urging the new coalition Government to begin investigations immediately on the human rights abuses, allegations of corruption and abuse of offices.

“The people are eagerly waiting for the clean-up to begin.”

He said for the FijiFirst party to still get 42 per cent of the votes in the last election was unexplainable.

“In his statement, Bainimarama was desperately trying to convince the people that he had contributed something valuable to the country in his 16 years of dictatorship.

“With nothing to cling to, he chose the imposed 2013 Constitution as his legacy to Fiji. We all know that the people of Fiji did not participate in the preparation of this Constitution, nor has Parliament passed it.

“Therefore, the 2013 Constitution is not the people’s Constitution but that of the FijiFirst party.

“Such a statement from Bainimarama is typical of dictators after they have fallen.

He said leaders like Mr Bainimarama did not leave anything good to be remembered for.

“The Bainimarama government will be long remembered not for the self-imposed Constitution, but for their fear tactics, intimidation, harassment, and abuse of human rights.

“In addition, their inept fiscal management has destroyed our financial stability that will take years to restore.

“Like other dictators around the world, there have been numerous allegations of corruption and abuse of offices in the last 16 years which included the payment of minister’s salaries by an accounting firm outside the Ministry of Finance, the Rewa Dairy case, the most expensive digger in the history of the world, and the $31 million per kilometre road.

“The laws have been applied differently to the members of the FijiFirst government and their families compared to other people.

“Sadly, these are the legacies that Bainimarama and his regime will be remembered for.”

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