Does the media beat up stories?
What is the truth behind the morning news stories? On the TV, on the radio, there is all this talk about Fiji and other countries such as Iraq and Lebanon, and it’s always sensational and about death or threats. Stories from Tonga last week. A story about Fiji this morning. We heard that the Australian ships heading for Tonga will now go back to be near Fiji!
On our morning TV we saw Alexander Downer, Australia’s Foreign Affairs Minister, speaking again, saying there is clear evidence that Commodore Frank Bainimarama is planning a coup in the next couple of weeks.
Police Commissioner Andrew Hughes in Fiji said that a total number of ten politicians, civil servants and former military officers are now under investigation for allegedly inciting the Army Commander Commodore Frank Bainimarama to act against the government.
Police Commissioner Hughes reveals that intelligence received has confirmed that these people have been actively involved in exploiting the military and advising the RFMF on its ‘clean up’ campaign.
Following the Fiji Police Commissioner, Hughes’s statement, Downer said that Fiji's justice system should be allowed to do its job and he supports the role of Andrew Hughes. Downer said Fiji police should do their work and if they feel they have charges to bring, then they should do that, and prosecutors should take those matters up and they should be considered by the courts. Downer said it’s not for the army to intervene in the legal processes of a country.
My view is that if the Fiji President was strong enough, we wouldn’t have got to this stage. He should have spoken up clearly and say threats are not on. The President, with his vanua power and his position as President is the one to stop this continuing trouble. Seems like lots of people just do not know what they are doing. Fiji is in a wilderness and needs strong direction. The spirit of the vanua of Fiji is haunting us now and surely wanting us to do the right thing.
What do you think? How can the current situation be solved?