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frank bainimarama Quotes

Frank Bainimarama Quotes

 

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Commodore Frank Bainimarama overthrows the government in Fiji.Tuesday, December 5th, 2006

Quotes

    • 'All the nation has been saddened by the extent to which the country has fallen during the last week. I have therefore, with much reluctance, assumed executive authority.' (29 May 2000, announcing that he had taken over the government from President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara).
    • 'If we don't act, this country is going to go to the dogs and no investor will want to come here.' (8 December 2004)
    • 'You have to give it (the tiger) room. If you don't give it room, it will bite you.' (4 January 2005; seen as a veiled threat to politicians not to interfere with the military).
    • 'If we don't put our foot down, they will release every man and his dog.' (Criticizing the government's policy of releasing political prisoners).
    • 'I don't have to be nice to people who are causing great damage to the nation ... I refuse to be nice to people who want to overthrow what the military and the security forces have been doing to maintain law and order in this country in the past five years since the illegal overthrow of the Labour Government ... I refuse to be nice to people like Jioji Kotobalavu and Qoriniasi Bale. I don't have to be nice to anyone trying to destabilise what the army has built.' (30 May 2005)
    • 'The military will dish out the same fate we dealt George Speight and his group to anyone whom we think deserves this treatment ... This warning is to anyone who will try and destabilise the country and we will see them as George Speight.'
    • 'Not only is it frustrating to see these people get an early release for political expediency, it makes a mockery of all the good work done by the judicial system to bring about the rule of law.'
    • 'Hundreds of George Speight supporters took to the streets, burned the TV station and shot a policeman. They did that because they knew that the military, the police, the judiciary and the DPP had been neutralised. That is exactly what we are going to face when they pass this Bill. It is not going to happen overnight, it might start with a Fijian passenger not paying his fare to an Indian driver, or a young Fijian boy climbing over the counter to steal sweets in an Indian shop.'
    • 'Unfortunately we have people in Fiji who stand ready to take advantage of situations such as these. The end result will be anarchy.'
    • 'They (the Provincial Councils) are accepting it only on the grounds that the current government is Fijian-dominated and on the grounds of religious principles but they do not know the real meaning of the Bill.'
    • '(The Military) will have no qualms about removing a government that will bring back chaos.'
    • 'The RFMF must stop the Bill from passing or get rid of the Government if it is passed. We can recover without this government, we cannot recover from this Bill.' (N.B. The last two quotes were edited out of a statement signed by Bainimarama, before it was presented to the parliamentary committee).
    • 'Let's do right in the eyes of God!'
    • 'Coups will be taken lightly if we condone this Bill, without justice there is no peace. If you honourable chiefs agree that those involved in the coup be forgiven, it will prove that we support the wrong and will be at odds with the integrity of God.'
    • 'Our Fiji today is a new Fiji where individual freedom is protected and not a Fiji solely for Fijians. Wise decisions from this august house will promote multiracial harmony and true friendship.
    • 'This Bill is not about crime committed within one group of people but involves many races living in Fiji. Therefore we can not apply one law onto another. We need to protect the whole population; the different faiths; cultures and traditions.'
    • 'The Bill will legitimise the 2000 coup and will weaken the law and order agencies. All the good work of rebuilding Fiji to what it is today will be undone. The freeing of anyone (even if their crimes are politically-motivated) will show to the world that we are a nation that condones law breakers. It also means that we support terrorists as the Police Commissioner has commented.'
    • 'Why should only a few people be freed and not others when we are all serving under the same law?'
    • 'When we wrong God, he does not let us go, he makes us pay for our wrongs but through the death of his own son Jesus Christ. When God's people (Jews) wronged him, he weakened them in battle and caused them to be captives in Babylon for 70 years.'
    • 'The military stand is that reconciliation is only possible after justice is served.'
    • 'Who's promoting the Bill? These are people in the current Government who participated in the 2000 coup. Some have been convicted, others are facing trial, there are still others left whom the long arm of the law should get at.'
    • 'Following the 2000 coup, this august house did not agree to forgive the perpetrators but you decided that justice will take its course. You are confronted with a similar decision now. The military humbly requests that you display the same wisdom then to protect our land now.'
    • 'Remember the words of the Bible in Amos 5:24, 'Let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-falling stream'.'
    • 'It is sad that they had forgotten that wise decision and have also forgotten the rest of the multi-racial society within which we live.'
    • 'The military will continue to voice its concerns in relation to the effects of this bill. We will rather air these concerns now than be called in to try to rebuild a society that has been devastated by civil upheaval for this is where we see our destiny if we continue down this path with the Bill.'
    • 'Those threats they (Apisai Tora and Tomasi Vakatora) came up with should be condemned. He (Tora) has come up with the same threats that politicians like him throw up before elections. That if any other party especially Labour wins, there will be instability ... These people are forcing the population to vote out of fear. These types of talks have to be condemned now.'
    • 'This confirms the RFMF view that the Bill has nothing to do with Reconciliation and everything to do with the selfish agenda that George Speight brought into Parliament in 2000 to gather support and ensure his leadership. We better stop lying to ourselves, we better stop these people lying to us.'
    • 'As long as this bill hangs over our heads there is no credibility in what people in leadership do.'
    • 'The passing of the bill will be a continuation of all the events of 2000.'
    • 'I told Mr Downer that I was disappointed with his comments and said that we should stay out of politics. I told him his country has not experienced a coup to feel what the military went through here. He can't compare the situation there to this side.'
    • 'We were never involved in politics. It was the political party that pushed their agenda, the Bill, forward and we only reacted to the consequences the Bill would bring.'
    • 'We are not interfering with any political agenda or plan. We are only doing our job and that is on the grounds of security.'
    • 'This is where we are coming from. The Bill is a continuation of the 2000 coup and it is the consequences of the Bill that we are looking at.'
    • 'We are not going to take this Bill for granted. We asked them (the Daily Post reporters) to leave the room because they are for the Bill. And if they are for the Bill, this means they are anti-RFMF.'
    • 'We will maintain our stand despite criticisms.' (on being told by Downer that the international community would not be happy about the Military's intervention in the political arena).
    • 'We will not be soft when it comes to the bill. The military has already made its stand clear on the bill and we will not work with those who support the bill. And neither will we change our stand.'
    • 'From now on, the military will first find out what their (Methodist Ministers') stand is on the Bill. If they are for the Bill, they will not go with the troops. If they are against the Bill, then we will allow them to travel with the troops.'
    • 'I will not allow the pastors who support the Bill to relay a different message to my troops, especially when the military is not for the Bill.'
    • 'This government continuously bring in racist policies and programmes to justify its existence to the indigenous community. Thes are policies that were created by those who took part in the events of 2000, which we all know were mere lies created to influence the community at large to support the cause of the opportunists - policies that are hurting the general populace and are so divisive that they have ended up taking away our rights and freedom.'
    • 'If they lack the moral strength and the courage to continue the good fight the military is willing to return and complete for this nation the responsibilities we gave this government in 2000 and 2001.'
    • 'They have their heads continuously buried in the sand in the hope that they do not have to answer to any of their wrongdoings. This smacks highly of a bullying government lacking character.'
    • 'To the government the military says this is no petty issue. You have the choice to make it right for the nation.'
    • 'The military gave investor confidence back to the country and tourism will continue however the rot must stop.'
    • 'I don't think they should be discussing the Bill. It represents the lies of those that took the people into Parliament. The same opportunists are using the GCC to push the Bill through.'
    • 'There are two things that need to be taken away. First the lies and this government which needs to follow the law and imprison those implicated in the coup. The chiefs are being used just like those that have been made to believe that there is $6million in the bank for them. This Bill was pushed by the SDL party, the very same people that supported what happened in 2000 and there are opportunists seating in the council looking to mislead the council.'
    • One must remember that the factors that bring about peace and harmony in any country are many and not only confined to the word democracy.
    • As an example, last year I visited China on the invitation of their military force, and during the visit I witnessed a country that is not only prosperous and peaceful despite the fact it is regarded by many as not democratic.
    • The indigenous people are very nationalistic, rightfully so, but our nationalism is often abused and manipulated by politicians and opportunists to suit their purpose.
    • 'The military has heard that if people support Chaudhry, that is a vote for instability. We will wait for those that threaten instability, the military will support any government that is elected. No one should think that a vote for Chaudhry would cause instability. These are the words of liars and opportunists that want to mislead the people because they want power. These are the same opportunists that told the lies than to get into Parliament and are doing the same again, the very same traitors that went to Viseisei to ask the people to agree with a plan to ask the President to step down.'
    • 'There is no strong leadership in the Government to say 'do the right thing'. By not having programmes to educate people that what happened in 2000 was wrong, we will continue to live in an area of instability like that of 2000.'
    • 'I will advise the people because they cannot continue to advise a government that continues to make it okay for those that went to jail to get back into society. By not educating the people about doing what is right, it is willfully lying and misleading them.'
    • Colonel Ioane Naivalurua, Land Force Commander: 'Courageous, strong and ... a saviour of Fiji in this time of need'. (23 June 2005)
    • Senator Adi Koila Nailatikau: 'The commander is doing a wonderful job because he is not only speaking in his personal capacity as Commander. He is speaking as the Commander of the Fiji battalion in Fiji and those serving overseas, and he has the support of the silent majority.' (24 July 2005, referring to Bainimarama's opposition to the Reconciliation and Unity Bill (q.v.).
    • Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer: 'I do not see the Military Commander of Fiji as a political player in all this. Let me make this very clear: it is not the job of a military commander to play politics; it is the job of the military commander to command troops and the Government is to decide where those troops get deployed, whether to Iraq or RAMSI. It is not the role of the commander to play domestic politics.' (29 September 2005, on Bainimarama's opposition to the Reconciliation and Unity Bill (q.v.).
    • Senator James Ah Koy:
    • Josaia Waqabaca: 'Commander Bainimarama is clean and fighting for the truth. The stand he is taking is going to save the Fijian race. Today, in the streets ordinary Fijians are talking about the truth and cleanliness, which is hard to find in this government.' (11 January 2006; quoted in Fiji Sun). (Waqabaca is a former enemy of Bainimarama's. One of the perpetrators of the 2000 coup, he was imprisoned in 2001 for plotting Bainimarama's abduction, but has since had a change of heart).
    • Maciu Navakasuasua: 'Commander Bainimarama holds the key in putting this country on the rightful path.' (11 January 2006; quoted in Fiji Sun). (Navakasuasua is another coup-convict who has changed sides since).
    • Ropate Sivo, General Secretary of the Conservative Alliance: 'I ask Frank to remain where he is and not to interfere in politics. He should not think that he will always be commander because there are other capable people that can do the job. He is only hungry for power and just because he helped bring the present people into power as an interim government, that does not give him the right to threaten the present government.' (Quoted in the Fiji Sun, 9 March 2006.)
    • Saula Telawa, President of the New Nationalist Party: 'He (Bainimarama) needs to place more faith in God, only God has the answer, we cannot keep bringing up the past. In making decisions about the people, we need to have faith. What has been done should be forgotten as always dwelling on it will not bring about anything good. He is only making things and the future difficult.' (Quoted in the Fiji Sun, 9 March 2006.)
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