Fijian dictator Frank Bainimarama rejects election claims...

Fijian dictator Frank Bainimarama rejects election claims...

Fiji dictator Bainimarama rejects election claims...



Frank Bainimarama has rejected claims that the 2014 election will not go ahead, dismissing Lieutenant Colonel Tevita Mara as a "little kid who doesn't know what's happening".




Fiji's regime leader Frank Bainimarama has rejected claims that the 2014 election will not go ahead, dismissing the man who made them as a "little kid who doesn't know what's happening".



A former Fiji government insider, Lieutenant Colonel Tevita Mara, fled to Tonga earlier this month while on bail on charges of plotting to overthrow Bainimarama.



Holed up in the capital Nuku'alofa, the former head of the main infantry regiment has thrown a string of accusations of corruption and violence at his former boss.



Lt Col Mara accused the regime of "losing its way" since it took power in a 2006 coup, and said Bainimarama and his attorney-general, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, had no intention of holding the 2014 election that both Canberra and Wellington have been pushing for.



This was just a "ploy" to soften sanctions and to secure loans, Lt Col Mara said in a statement this week.



Fiji's government has refused to comment to international media on the issue but has told local news website FijiLive that it has every intention of going to the polls.



"I said elections will be held in 2014 so it's going to happen," Bainimarama told the site.



"Don't listen to him, he is not a soothsayer. He is a little kid who doesn't know what is happening around him."



Meanwhile, Tonga is understood to have received an extradition order from Fiji calling for the fugitive's immediate return to Suva to face a charge of sedition along with another senior officer, Lieutenant Colonel Pita Driti.



Lt Col Mara has repeatedly said he would be denied a fair trial as Fiji's judiciary was controlled by the regime, a claim the chief judge has dismissed as "totally untrue".



New Zealand's prime minister John Key this week said he would consider removing the army man from the list of banned officials so he is able to travel to New Zealand.



"The ban that we have is a travel ban on those that are members of the regime or are related to members of the regime. In the case of Mr Mara that is no longer the case," he told Radio New Zealand.



Bainimarama hit back, telling FijiVillage that New Zealand would further strain its relations with Fiji if it made such an offer.



Acknowledgements: -AAP

Labour's election year conference starts - high hopes for the future...

The Labour Party conference has opened in Wellington with the party's president Moira Coatsworth promising bold policies to turn around Labour's fortunes.

In notes for a speech to party faithful at Wellington's town hall, Ms Coatsworth said Labour would campaign on the issues that worried New Zealanders, including the rising cost of living, asset sales, giving children the best start in life and decent jobs.

"Our polls are rising. We need to turn out 2000 more party votes per electorate and we are determined."

Around 500 party delegates are in Wellington for the conference which comes hard on the heels of an unpopular budget which cut KiwiSaver and Working for Families entitlements from some families and has been panned for the lack of impetus behind plans for economic growth.

Ms Coatsworth said the dramatic rise in the cost of living was plunging many homes into hardship.

"And we see nothing being done about it. The reality is that the answer to the growing crisis of hardship and inequality is the same as it was 80 years ago: good, decent jobs, warm and affordable housing, the opportunity to train and learn and get new skills – the skills of a modern, healthy, wealthy nation.

Ms Coatsworth stressed the environment as one of the major policy areas to address and reversing inequality as the other.

"The current government's policies now continue to increase inequality at an alarming rate. Billions of dollars in tax cuts are going to the rich, while ordinary families struggle to feed their children healthy food or take them to a doctor at night or in the weekend. Many families have gone hungry as they choose between paying the school fees, buying the uniforms or putting kai on the table."

New Zealand needed a coherent plan for economic recovery.

"As well as the environment, the recession, the Christchurch earthquakes, spiralling youth unemployment, the cost of living and our debt burden all require bold responses.

"Labour understands we have a huge opportunity to use our reputation, our skills and our technology to transform our economy. We know that this economy includes exports and high value production. It is a knowledge economy. It includes rebuilding savings, reducing debt and maintaining our independence as a nation. It includes living the living standards of all New Zealanders and it means doing this in ways that really are clean and green."



- Acknowledgements: Stuff.co.nz

John Key announces election date for New Zealand...

Image via WikipediaJohn Key has announced that the general elections will be held on November 26 2010, at the end of this year. He also stated he would not consider any coalition with Winston Peters and NZ First.

Well Winnie hasn't actually said that he and NZ first will stand this year, but you can bet they will announce their future some time.

Is he contemplating another another alliance and coalition with the (Fascist) ACT NZ Party and the brown middle class in the Maori Party?

Act is totally dependant on Rodney Hide winning his electorate seat, and the Maori Party actually surviving to the elections, let alone getting elected. There is now the spectre of Hone Harawira hanging there above them like some New Zealand version of the Sword of Damascus.

What does this do for Phil Goff and Labour? Despite the earliest call for an election date ever, Goff will have the best possible preparation by an opposition ever. Has he the nous to pull this off?  The wider electorate is quietly hoping he can - surely Kiwis have had enough of the separatist policies of the last couple years.

Key's announcement to partially privatise four state energy companies has to benefit Labour, any way you look at it. Kiwis don't want their assets/family silver privatised.

Reducing taxes for the rich and increasing GST by 2.5% to 15% hurts the lower paid and those on fixed incomes.

We don't know of or can think of any surprises he could have at present. The SAS will have one more rotation in Afghanistan, although these special forces super-stars will have their numbers reduced by half.

Key wants cuts to the defence budget and all other public service departments. Really?  But the other half of the present rotation in Afghanistan is being saved for the Rugby World Cup tournament - what dangers is he expecting for world leaders who attend the RWC?

I presume Johny Key will announce massive increase in the number of jobs created by his bicycle - ways; this was his pet project when first elected? Yeah right!

Related articles

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• A good day for a cunning Prime Minister (lifeandpolitics.wordpress.com)
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• New Zealand Leader Sets Election (online.wsj.com)
• Key, Goff set for big sell at Ratana celebration (nzherald.co.nz)
• 'Liz Hurley is hot': New Zealand PM John Key slammed over 'sexist' remarks (dailymail.co.uk)
• United front presented at Ratana (nzherald.co.nz)
• No silly games over election date (homepaddock.wordpress.com)

Are the polls true - or will there be a left coalition...

Are the polls true - or will there be a left coalition? Will Helen Clark and Labour squeak in with the Greens and the Maori Party? Will Winston and NZ First get that 5% to survive?

Of course there will be change, but do you really want Roger Douglas back in government? You'll get him if Act does well! He is No 3 on their list.

I can tell you the "real" people don't want a bar of National and Act. We want real leadership, jobs and security, which National can't deliver!


I don't think John Key would survive his term before Bill English rolls him, in any case.

Tomorrow is tomorrow and...

Just what do the Aussie election results mean for the West...

Just what do the Australian election results mean for the West? What do they mean for Bush's foreign policy initiatives? The Aussie boys will be coming home pretty soon George Junior!

The Australian left of centre Labor Party won the Federal elections by a landslide. Now all the states and the Federal government are all Labor administrations.

The new Australian Prime Minister, 50 year old Queenslander, Kevin Rudd, has stated that Australia will sign the Kyoto protocol, something George Bush opposes, and will be withdrawing Australian combat troops from Iraq.

Mr Rudd is a Mandarin speaking former diplomat. He is also only the second Queenslander to be elected as Australian prime minister. He is expected to forge even closer ties with New Zealand and other friends and allies. He assured George Bush of the centrality of the US alliance in Australia's approach to foreign policy.