Fiji rugby goes to the dogs

FIJI RUGBY SAVIOURS: Bainimarama and QEB Goon Ben Naliva.

The illegal regime has officially got its ugly hooks into Fiji rugby with the election today of Colonel Mosese Tikoitoga and Colonel Joeli Cawaki to the Fiji Rugby Union.

Cawaki and Tikoitoga were elected along with the cabinet minister Ilaitia Tuisesi and Rupeni Nacewa, a former private secretary to president Josefa Iloilo who is the new chairman. The president is the MP, Isakeli Tasere.

Also elected today were lawyer Joeli Baledrokadroka as legal director, accountant Napolioni Batimala financial director and businessman Cama Maimuria as a member of the board of trustees.

The illegal regime has been angling for control of the FRU since last year when it demanded the resignation of the union's board and executive members over alleged mismanagement of a Rugby World Cup fundraising lottery.

An investigation by the Fiji Commerce Commission conveniently claimed to have found discrepancies between ticket sales and receipts and alleged some lottery funds had been used to fund overseas trips by directors.

All board members offered to resign but the International Rugby Board insisted the election of new board members could only take place at the annual general meeting.

The IRB warned any violation of the union's constitution could result in Fiji losing its status as a member in good standing, effectively barring Fiji from international rugby.

But the international body has since taken a carefully conciliatory line with Fiji's military regime.  

Its chief executive Mike Miller said during a recent visit to New Zealand that he hoped it  would relax the travel sanctions against regime members, including Bainimarama, to attend the World Cup matches in September. 

Six of the new board members were elected today at the meeting in Sigatoka by delegates from Fiji's provincial rugby union and three by trustees. (Original source AP and FBC)

A perspective on Fiji's new best friend, China

LOOKING NORTH: Fiji's cup runneth over with Chinese dollars. What of the the future?

 

Can China Really Overtake the U.S. Economy by 2016? IMF Forecast:
By Martin Hutchinson, Contributing Editor, Money Morning


According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) "World Economic Outlook," China's output will surpass that of the United States in 2016 - only five years from now.

But don't worry. The IMF calculation is based on "purchasing power parity" (PPP), which does not reflect real money. It relies on projecting China's stellar growth rates five years into the future. And it relies on Chinese official statistics, which are more than a little questionable.

(In fact, after the media storm that resulted, the IMF apparently even soft-pedaled its prediction that China would leapfrog the United States in just five years; in a subsequent interview, an IMF spokesman reportedly said that, by non-PPP measures, the U.S. economy "will still be 70% larger by 2016." A recent World Bank forecast concluded that China could overtake the United States by 2030.)

This prediction - and the attention it continues to draw - serves a useful purpose, particularly if it's given the scrutiny that it deserves.

For global investors with China-based holdings, it reminds us of that country's long-term potential - and the fact that such potential is always tempered by near-term risk. For the rest of us, it reminds us that China's ascendance is inevitable - in fact, is already happening - and will be with us for a long time, even if that Asian giant isn't immediately going to overwhelm the rest of the world.

And for the elected leaders in Washington, the IMF report - false alarm or not - should serve as a wakeup call to attack and address the many problems that threaten the US’s global leadership.

IMF Report: A Closer look
We had some problems with this prediction from the moment it hit the headlines. Let's start with the IMF statistics themselves. They measure gross domestic product (GDP) on the basis of "purchasing power parity," rather than by market exchange rates.

That makes sense if you're comparing living standards: If you are talking about what the typical China consumer can buy, he or she is about one-sixth as well off as his or her Western counterpart, not one-twentieth.

However, the use of the PPP measure makes much less sense when looking at international trade or political power. That's because individual purchasing power includes such items as haircuts, which are much cheaper in Beijing than in the West (except, doubtless, at a couple of very overpriced salons in Shanghai or one of the other burgeoning financial centers) and cannot easily be traded internationally.

On the other hand, goods that are traded internationally are subject to global market forces and are generally about the same price everywhere they are sold. In fact, some of those goods may even be cheaper internationally, since our distribution system is more efficient and our tariffs lower.

That's also true of large-scale armaments; you will be able to get the People's Liberation Army (PLA) squaddies to work for much less than their Western counterparts, but the cost of a fighter jet or a missile with certain capabilities is pretty much standard around the world.
 
So even if the IMF's 2016 forecast was an accurate one, there's no way that China would be able to project as much military power as say the United States, or to distribute as much foreign aid and subsidies to client states.
For at least a decade beyond 2016 - and probably more - China will be a substantial Number Two (2) ... a market that can't be ignored ... but not Number One.
 
The travails of Timing
When you are estimating future growth rates, the farther out you go, the more inaccurate your predictions become: If you were to take China's current growth rate and project it forward fifty (50) years into the future, the Asian giant would have absorbed the whole of world GDP and be starting work on Mars.
 
Even a five-year projection - such as the one the IMF put forth - does not allow for the possibility that China will experience an economic hiccup before that period ends. 

The recent news that China has just fired the head of its $270 billion high-speed rail network for embezzlement, and is now running the trains 30 miles per hour slower than before for safety reasons, indicates that - in a command economy like China's - much of the apparently soaring output may have been wasted.
 
The Economist diary (1990) claimed that the centrally planned East Germany was richer than the free-market Britain; as a native Australian that recently visited East Germany, I can tell you that this wasn't the case - in fact, it wasn't even close.

IIndeed, when the Berlin Wall came down, we saw the former Comecon (Council for Mutual Economic Assistance) economies lose as much as 60% of their GDP as factories closed because their output was uncompetitive in the free market. Similarly, up to half of China's GDP may be wasted: Think of all the empty offices and apartment blocks, developed by state-guaranteed companies, all of which are held as assets on the balance sheets of China's banking system.
 
Long-term, there's no question that China has great potential. At the same time, however, I think it very unlikely that China's economy will make it to 2016 without a major banking crisis, which will knock back its GDP for several years.
 
Mongterm potential, near term peril?
The IMF numbers aren't the only ones that I feel are suspect - so, too, are many of China's growth statistics. GDP figures are announced immediately after the end of each quarter, which given China's size and diversity means they must reflect the wishes of the leadership more than any measurement of reality.
 
Sometimes, of course, the leadership may wish to record lower growth, to show that some monetary or fiscal tightening is working. But we bet that most of the time, the temptation is to "round up," as opposed to rounding down.

Far too many Western analysts and observers spend most of their time in the major urban centers, where growth has been fastest, and therefore aren't aware of, don't get to see, or even purposely ignore, stagnant areas or places where central planning has wasted billions. 

The prolonged rapture about the Chinese high-speed rail plan by a number of Western commentators is one good example of a case in which too many reporters took too many of China's claims at face value and failed to examine the challenges and problems that were hidden by the hype.
 
So our guess is that, even now, China's GDP and growth rates are not as impressive as reported.
 
The bottom line: China is big, getting bigger, and its growth can't be ignored - especially given its long-term investment potential. But there are near-term challenges, many of them substantial. 

If China does not have a major economic trauma, then indeed by 2030 or so it will be close to overtaking the US. But the US has a lot more than five years in which to make the necessary adjustments. Can the Western leaders (particularly the US Leaders) see this as a wake up call for their economies.

Fiji regime tries to silence rattling skeletons

DECEMBER D-Day: Skeletons in the 2006 Coup cupboard. And below: Francis Kean (left) seems to be 'missing' from the Naval base.

Denials and clarifications today from the illegal regime over the arrest of Henry Brown and the absence of Francis Kean from the Naval base.

Coupfourpointfive reported earlier this week that Brown was held at QEB over the Easter weekend and was released on Monday.

Tackled about it today by Fiji Live, police spokesman, Atunaisa Sokomuri, 'refuted' the  Fiji Police's chief operations officer was taken in by Frank Bainimarama's special forces.

Our informers say Sokomuri is trying to bury the Brown arrest because it reveals the regime's fear about Brown and others investigating corruption, like excessive salaries, and the 2006 Coup.

Brown, whose been helping CID officers conduct key investigations, has been privy to a lot of confidential and sensitive information, including the files on Bainimarama the DPP has said will not result in any charges because of lack of evidence.

But there's other statements, which were never submitted and which have been kept for future reference. These will be used when democracy returns to the country and will serve as a passport to freedom for some officers.

Coupfourpointfive bloggers have also been quick to note that Bainimarama's brother-in-law, Kean, hasn't been seen at the base.

Today, Bainimarama told Fiji Live that Kean  has not been replaced. Quote: “He is still the Navy Commander but has got an extra job,” before clamming up.

Editor's Note: In another development in the police force, the position of the deputy commissioner of police, Seikeli Lageri, who was accused of corrupt behaviour along with Brown, has taken extended leave. His job, meanwhile, was advertised in the Fiji Sun over Easter.

Wikileaks: NZ shamed over Fiji visit

By Michael Field

China tried to secretly fly senior leaders through New Zealand airspace and into Fiji but were "shamed" when New Zealand discovered what was happening, leaked United States diplomatic cables reveal.


The two cables exposed by WikiLeaks show the lengths to which New Zealand officials and Foreign Minister Murray McCully are going to end the military regime of Voreqe Bainimarama in Fiji.



They show that Fiji was feeling the impact of sanctions imposed on it and that a Chinese economic package had helped the country.



The cables by US embassy deputy head of mission Dan Piccuta reported on Australia and New Zealand trying to prevent Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping visiting Fiji in February 2009.



Mr Piccuta said New Zealand and Australian officials separately issued diplomatic notes saying Mr Xi's visit would "send the wrong message in light of international efforts to urge the government in Suva to carry out democratic reforms".


The cables imply Prime Minister John Key and then-Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd personally wrote to Chinese officials asking that the visit be cancelled.



Mr Piccuta said Chinese officials played down the visit, calling it a transit stop on the way to South America.



An Australian diplomat, Gedaliah Afterman, briefed the US, telling it that Australia and New Zealand were trying to get China to join the rest of the world in persuading Fiji to return to democracy.



"Afterman said that the Chinese sought to obscure plans for Xi's stop in Fiji by omitting the onward destination of Xi's aircraft in the Chinese Government's application to the New Zealand Government to transit New Zealand airspace," Mr Piccuta reported.



After the visit to Fiji, New Zealand embassy official Tara Morton told the Americans that "the Chinese appeared to have been `shamed' by the Xi Jinping transit". Ms Morton said her contacts had assured New Zealand "that such lack of co-ordination on regional issues would not happen again", Mr Piccuta said.



In Fiji, Mr Xi met Commodore Bainimarama and the military-appointed president, the late Josefa Iloilo.



In a separate cable written four months after the first, Mr Piccuta reported that a Fiji embassy official, Filipe Alifereti, had told them the sanctions were being "problematic" and were having a political effect in Fiji, but that China's help had changed that.



"Fiji remained strategically important for China and Beijing was privately candid about linking development assistance and economic engagement with `guaranteed' political support on issues of interest to China."



Ad Feedback But Mr Piccuta said Ms Morton had told them "the Chinese understood the political risks of being seen as undermining Western sanctions, and had taken steps at damage control with Australia and New Zealand".




The full text of the US cables on New Zealand and Fiji leaked by Wikileaks:





VZCZCXRO1441PP RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVCDE RUEHBJ #0383 0441118ZNY CCCCC ZZHP 131118Z FEB 09FM AMEMBASSY BEIJINGTO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2285INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE PRIORITYRUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA PRIORITY 9654RUEHSV/AMEMBASSY SUVA PRIORITY 0083RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON PRIORITY 0641C O N F I D E N T I A L BEIJING 000383

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/13/2029 TAGS: PREL EAID ETRD CH FI AS NZSUBJECT: AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND DEMARCHE PRC ON FIJI VISIT

Classified By: Minister Counselor for Political Affairs Aubrey Carlson. Reasons: 1.4 (b) and (d).





1. (C) SUMMARY:






On the eve of PRC Vice President Xi Jinping's February 8-9 trip to Fiji, Australia and New Zealand expressed concern to the MFA that such a visit would send the wrong message in light of international efforts to urge the government in Suva to carry out democratic reforms, according to Beijing-based Australian diplomats.





The MFA downplayed the Xi visit, calling it a transit stop on the way to Latin America.



In the event, however, the two sides signed new develop assistance agreements during the stopover, further frustrating the Australians and New Zealanders.





END SUMMARY.






2. (C) Australian Embassy Political Officer Gedaliah Afterman (protect) told PolOff February 11 that the ambassadors of both Australia and New Zealand demarched the MFA separately to express concern that Vice President Xi's February 8-9 visit to Fiji would set back international efforts to persuade the leadership in Fiji, who came to power after a coup in 2006, to reform.



The Australian Ambassador told VFM He Yafei that China should join international efforts led by the Pacific Forum to push Fiji toward democratic reform, but instead it seemed that China was using the opportunity to deepen ties with the country just when other countries were pulling back.



3. (C) According to our Australian colleague, VFM He responded that Vice President Xi's visit would only be a transit stopover on the way to Latin America.

As it turned out, however, China signed several development assistance deals in Fiji during the visit, and Xi met with President Iloilo and Prime Minister Bainimarama.



While Afterman suggested the value of the development deals was more symbolic than economic, he said that Australia and New Zealand were frustrated that these agreements and high-level meetings went further in sending the wrong message to Suva.



4. (C) Afterman said that the Chinese sought to obscure plans for Xi's stop in Fiji by omitting the onward destination of Xi's aircraft in the Chinese Government's application to the New Zealand Government to transit New Zealand airspace.



He said the Australians were alerted to Xi's plans shortly before the visit when Chinese officials applied for visas to transit Australia on their way to Suva.



5. (C) In a February 13 conversation with PolMinCouns, Australian Embassy PolCouns Robert Fergusson (protect) reiterated much of the above and added that his Embassy was awaiting possible instruction to go back to the MFA and complain about the Fiji visit and its more-than-just-a-transit substance.



Fergusson said the Chinese were observers at the Pacific Forum meeting at which the difficult-to-reach consensus was developed to push the Fiji Government toward reform.



Although not a party to the consensus, the PRC would have known the Xi visit and its results would be contrary to the hard-won Pacific Forum consensus.



PICCUTA






The second cable:






VZCZCXRO3652PP RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVCDE RUEHBJ #1679/01 1700839ZNY CCCCC ZZHP 190839Z JUN 09FM AMEMBASSY BEIJINGTO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4681INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE PRIORITYRUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA PRIORITY 9707RUEHSV/AMEMBASSY SUVA PRIORITY 0084RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON PRIORITY 0657C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BEIJING 001679






SIPDIS






E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/04/2039 TAGS: PREL EAID ETRD CH FI AS NZSUBJECT: PRC/SOUTH PACIFIC: INTERNATIONAL ISOLATION OF REGIME IN FIJI AN OPPORTUNITY FOR CHINA






REF: A. BEIJING 383 B. SUVA 82






Classified By: Acting Political Chief Ben Moeling. Reasons: 1.4 (b) and






(d).






1. (C) SUMMARY:






While Chinese government interlocutors continued to stress the centrality of "non-interference" to China's foreign policy, a Fijian EmbOff told us a new package of Chinese economic assistance to Fiji announced earlier this year arrived just as western sanctions were proving problematic, and so had a political effect.






Fiji remained strategically important for China and Beijing was privately candid about linking development assistance and economic engagement with "guaranteed" political support on issues of interest to China, such as Taiwan, even as the MFA downplayed the importance of checkbook diplomacy given improving cross-Strait ties.





According to MFA contacts, western-led efforts to push for political reform in Fiji were part of Fiji's underlying problem.





China, as a developing country and regional leader, had unique insights into Fiji's political needs.





According to a New Zealand EmbOff, the Chinese understood the political risks of being seen as undermining western sanctions, and had taken steps at damage control with Australia and New Zealand.






END SUMMARY.






China Sees Strategic and Economic Importance in Fiji






----------------------------------------------------






2. (C) MFA North American and Oceanian Affairs Division Deputy Director Zhou Jian told PolOff May 27 that Fiji was a friend and reliable partner as well as a regional leader with strategic importance in the South Pacific, a region rich in small-country UN votes.






Warm relations between the two countries were undergirded by the history of Fiji's relatively early diplomatic recognition of the PRC and continuing strong ties throughout the series of coups that beset Fiji in recent decades, including the latest in 2006. Beijing-based Fijian EmbOff Filipe Alifereti (protect) agreed in a meeting May 26 that China viewed Fiji as an important partner, noting that China valued Fiji as a useful transit point and for its proximity to important shipping lanes. Still, he argued, China essentially viewed Fiji as it did resource-rich African nations: a valuable destination for economic engagement but of marginal and possibly declining political utility.






Non-Interference Still the Mantra






---------------------------------






3. (C) Zhou insisted that China's traditional position of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries guided China's Fiji policy.






He stressed that since the 2006 coup, China had maintained its position emphasizing stability and economic development while urging the Fijians to work together to resolve their political problems.






He claimed that the PRC had maintained constant contact with the military government and had urged them to continue dialogue with donor countries such as Australia and New Zealand.






He insisted that maintaining social stability and economic development in the island nation was the common goal of all parties, including the U.S. and China.






Western-led Pressure Part of the Problem






----------------------------------------






4. (C) Framing the international community's efforts to help resolve the on-going political crisis in Fiji as part of the problem, Zhou urged the international community to maintain dialogue with the military government and "listen to its perspectives."






He suggested that western powers were compromising Fiji's sovereignty by pushing for political reforms, and stressed the importance of understanding Fijian culture and its emphasis on consensus-building.






He highlighted China's engaged but low-key approach toward Fiji in the context of the Pacific Island Forum (PIF).






He insisted that China did not seek to establish a "sphere of influence" in the South Pacific or undermine third countries' interests there.






Political Support "Guaranteed" Due to Economic Influence






--------------------------------------------- -----------






5. (C) Alifereti asserted that there was little need for the Chinese to push directly for political support from Fiji on issues of Chinese interest, because such support was "guaranteed" and China's interests were well-understood by Suva.






He indicated that such political support was a simple consequence of the enormous economic influence China had on the island.






In addition to assistance, trade and investment ties, the Chinese government was providing Fijian government officials with training on a range of skills in China, Alifereti reported.






This included training military officials, a practice that began after the 2006 coup, he added.






Economic Ties Grow, Driven by High-level Interest






--------------------------------------------- ----






6. (C) Zhou told PolOff that China had signed at least four economic agreements with Fiji during Vice-president Xi's controversial February transit stop in Fiji on his way to Latin America (reftels), but insisted that the MFA had few details of the deals.






Repeating claims that the transit stop was "nothing special" and arranged out of mere convenience, he reported that one of agreements was a 10 million RMB grant but the details of its use were still under discussion.






Zhou insisted that China was providing "project assistance," and not simply cash.






He noted that during Premier Wen Jiabao's 2006 visit to Fiji China announced deals worth almost 400 million RMB to Fiji as a part of a larger package of aid to the South Pacific, but the execution of these funds had been bogged down by political turmoil in Suva.






He denied media reports that China had doubled its assistance to Fiji in the three years since the coup, insisting that Chinese aid had remained level or declined since 2006.






He expressed Chinese frustration with the inability of the Fijians to move forward with the grants, noting that MOFCOM was awaiting a list of projects the regime would like to see implemented before initiating a feasibility study.






China Economic Activity Just in Time to Counter Sanctions






--------------------------------------------- ------------






7. (C) Alifereti acknowledged that China's economic engagement was growing at a time when Fiji needed the support.






While skirting the issue of Australian and New Zealand-led efforts to isolate the regime in Suva, he did point to a planned UK investment in the sugar sector that was recently dropped due to the political situation in Fiji as evidence of economic sanctions causing concern for his government.






In light of those concerns, Alifereti applauded the "good timing" of the soft loans announced during Xi's stop-over.






In addition, he contrasted the styles of western and Chinese investors in Fiji:






Australians and New Zealanders normally sought to raise capital from within the island, which in his view increased the financial risk of projects, while the Chinese brought cash to the island from the outside and clearly "wanted to spend."






8. (C) Alifereti explained that Chinese cash was flowing in just as traditional sources of income were drying up.






A recent drop in remittances from Fijian troops serving in UN peace-keeping operations occurred at the same time that Chinese tourism to the island was growing quickly due in part to a new China-Fiji air service agreement and a relaxation of Fijian visa regulations for Chinese visitors.






Alifereti also noted that Chinese goods, which used to come through Australia and New Zealand at a heavy premium, had been flowing directly to Fiji thanks to direct shipping routes opened in February 2008.






Admiration for the China Growth Model






-------------------------------------






9. (C) Through this range of development assistance and soft power programs, Alifereti suggested that the message to Fiji was clear )- the Chinese development model had brought huge success to China without any need to institute political reform.






He asserted that Fijian culture resembled China's in the sense that both maintained that political problems should be solved "internally" and that Fiji was "not fit" for competitive politics.






Zhou from the MFA agreed, stressing the "consensus-building" nature of Fijian culture and China's unique ability to understand this.






MFA: China Not Undermining Western Efforts






------------------------------------------






10. (C) MFA's Zhou denied that China sought to take advantage of western efforts to isolate the regime in Fiji, underscoring China's desire to cooperate with the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and others on development assistance to Fiji and other less developed countries (LDCs).






He stressed that Chinese assistance to Fiji had been in place since the establishment of China-Fiji relations and that no new projects had been begun since the 2006 coup. Zhou denied that this aid hiatus was due to the coup, but rather reflected the difficulties of working with the Fijians on the ground.






While some Chinese projects in Fiji continued, Zhou insisted they were projects that were contracted before the 2006 coup.






He admitted that China remained inexperienced as a donor nation, and offered that the MFA could cooperate on the ground with the United States and other donors.






Zhou noted, however, the MFA's relatively low-profile role in providing assistance, compared to MOFCOM, which had the lead on foreign assistance.






Looking Past Taiwan?






--------------------






11. (C) Zhou asserted that, with the recent thaw in cross-Strait relations, China's policy in the South Pacific was looking past its traditional focus on checkbook diplomacy to buy UN votes to shore up its claim to Taiwan, and the Taiwan issue had become "less of a priority" in Chinese foreign policy with the South Pacific.






PRC Knows It Went Too Far?






--------------------------






12. (C) Embassy of New Zealand PolOff Tara Morton observed that, since interventions by Australian and New Zealand officials, including at the Prime Minister-level, the Chinese appeared to have been "shamed" by the Xi Jinping transit. She add that their MFA contacts assured them that such lack of coordination on regional issues would not happen again. She stressed that the value of the deals signed in the transit was "massive" and potentially very destructive given the poor capacity of small South Pacific nations to repay large loans, and the value of the new assistance had obviously been underplayed by Beijing.





She added that the PRC had been candid with New Zealander interlocutors in linking Fijian support on the Taiwan issue to China's development assistance there.

PICCUTA

Regime keeps Fiji in a choker hold

Be afraid, be very afraid because the Public Emergency Regulations will be with us for a long while yet.

The illegal regime is not ready to take its foot of the throat of the nation because the hierarchy loves the power and the privileges, never mind that they're thieves who stole the right to govern.

It will, therefore, keep holding the citizens of Fiji to ransom using the Bible and the gun to help keep everyone in line.

Illegal attorney general, Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum, told Radio New Zealand the time is not right. 

"We're going through a reform period and it does require a particular path to take. It also requires that we have media organisations that are appreciative of the reforms taking place. There are a couple of media organisations that aren't."


Media organisations should be afraid, very afraid.

The following article has been around on the internet for a while but is worth another read. 


Ways To Get Rid of Dictators

1. The people overthrow the dictator (often put in place by foreign agencies) and throw him, along with his henchmen and family, out of the country – e.g., the Shah of Iran, Marcos of Philippines.
2. Organise a violent revolution and have the dictator killed – e.g., Ceaucescu in Romania.
3. Remove the dictator by legal means like elections but allow him to stay in the country. There’s a big risk that he comes back and seeks revenge – e.g., Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua.
4. Foreign powers (till then maintaining the dictator) force the dictator to exile without armed intervention – e.g. Mátyás Rákosi of Hungary was exiled by the Soviets to Kirgizia in 1970 to “seek medical attention”.
5. Foreign powers march in and remove the dictator (whom they either instated or helped earlier) – e.g. Saddam Hussein of Iraq or Manuel Noriega of Panama.
6. The dictator kills himself in an act of desperation – e.g., Hitler in 1945.
7. The dictator is assassinated by people near him – e.g., Julius Caesar of Rome in 44 AD was stabbed by 60-70 people (only one wound was fatal though).
8. Organise strikes and unrest to paralyze the country and convince even the army not to support the dictaor – e.g., Jorge Ubico y Castañeda was ousted in Guatemala in 1944 and Guatemala became democratic.
9. Hope that the dictator ages into senility, stops doing any more “harm”, and eventually dies when all enemies attend the funeral and praise him – e.g., Fidel Castro of Cuba.
10. Invite him to seminars and conferences and declare him the “good guy” – e.g., Muammar Gaddafi of Libya has suddenly become the good guy in world media.
11. Rejoice that the dictator has a change of heart and ways (but only after he dies) – e.g., "el Caudillo" or Franco of Spain decreed that after him Spain would become a constitutional monarchy with an elected Prime Minister.

Fiji's Prisons chief under investigation for denouncing regime

DOBBED IN: Lieutenant-Colonel Ieferemi Vasu.

Sour feelings over missing funds appear to have led to a fall out between the police commissioner, Ioane Naivalurua, and the Commissioner of Prisons, Ieferemi Vasu.

 
Informers say Naivalurua has ordered Vasu be investigated after the latter lost his temper and accused Naivalurua of taking 'vaulable resources' from the prisons to the police force.

 
Vasu is reported to have flown into a rage while Naivalurua was in China and accused senior prison officers, including the assistant commissioners, of covering up the former Commissioner's monetary dealings.

 
He is said to have yelled: "This government is illegal and all acts are illegal," during his tirade.

 
A spy told Naivalurua, who then reported it to the dictator, Frank Bainimarama. Naivalurua also ordered that everyone who was at the incident be interviewed; the findings will be  presented to Bainimarama.

 
Naivalurura's detractors say there was  widespread misuse of the prison poultry farm earnings while he was running the prisons. They say no records were kept and that about  $150,000, disappeared into thin air. 

 
Critics also claim he snaffled valuable documents such as the Yellow Ribbon Projects and took them to the FPF to make himself look good. They say he is now using Vasu's 'illegal regime' comments to cover his tracks.

Fiji's assistant police commissioner released from custody

SUPPING TOGETHER: Police commissioner, Ioane Naivalurua, with Brown last year on the controversial trip North where they were accompanied by Naivalurua's wife to the outrage of officers.

The assistant police commissioner, Henry Brown, is home after spending Easter at QEB, where he was being held for military questioning.

But informers say he continues to be under army surveillance.

Brown was arrested on Easter Friday by Frank Bainimarama's special forces unit but the exact reason for his detainment remains unclear.

Brown had been singled out as one of the corrupt officers in the force but he was also part of the team investigating the 2006 Coup.

More to come on this story.

Arrest of deputy triggers claim of Naivalurua sell out

Interesting developments - the assistant commissioner of Fiji police, Henry Brown, was arrested two days ago at Nadi Airport.

The details are sketchy but it has been confirmed Brown was taken into custody on Easter Friday by the illegal prime minister's special task force. He was taken first to Nadi Military Camp and then to QEB to be interviewed.

Fiji's Police Commissioner, Iowane Naivalurura, had fingered Brown and others deemed corrupt but who have also been investigating the 2006 Coup with CID officers.

Moles say Naivalurua has clearly sold Brown and the other men out to protect himself. More ructions in what is already a troubled force.

Brown was made assistant police commissioner just last year. He was the former director of police intelligence bureau.

Life's just a taki for Bainimarama and Naliva

SCRUM: Frank Bainimarama living it up with some of the Fiji players and Ben Naliva getting his share.

Nothing like the Anzac Day celebrations to highlight the dishonour in the RFMF midst.

While former and serving soldiers are being remembered and honoured today in New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific, Fiji's motley lot are prostituting themselves to illegal leaders and happily lapping up the spoils of war.

Look no further than the above picture of Major Ben Naliva, the ring leader of Frank Bainimarama's QEB Goon assault squad: he's right in among the action at the Hong Kong Sevens and loving it. 

No doubt his family, too, are benefiting from being part of the privileged First Families of the Illegal Coup 2006.

What a betrayal of the history of Fiji's military and a sorry contrast to the heroic efforts of soldiers from Niue, Tonga, Samoa, the Cook Islands and Papua New Guinea who were today remembered for their efforts in both World Wars and other modern day conflicts.