By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor
A court ruling in favour of Fiji’s dismissed anti-corruption chief has “embarrassed” Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, a New Zealand-based Fiji politics academic says.
University of Canterbury distinguished professor Steven Ratuva told RNZ Pacific Waves that while the Fiji High Court decision on Barbara Malimali offered “clarity” on the separation of powers, it added “to the weight of responsibilities” piling up under Rabuka’s leadership.
On Monday, the court ruled that Malimali’s dismissal was unlawful — a decision she said “vindicated” her. Rabuka immediately announced that he would be appealing the decision, but later told local reporters that he would “consider” resigning if the appeal failed.
“[Resignation] is an option,” he said.
Despite this, Rabuka’s Information Minister Lynda Tabuya told reporters on Tuesday that the prime minister had the full support of the cabinet.
“It was a resounding sentiment in cabinet that we would not accept his resignation,” she said in a post-cabinet press briefing on Tuesday, adding that Rabuka had “unanimous support . . . to continue to lead this country and continue to lead us.”
Rabuka had not admitted to any wrongdoing and reports in the media “need to be corrected,” Tabuya said.
Fiji military commander Major-General Jone Kalouniwai also weighed in on the turn of events, telling local media that the army is maintaining “a [situational] awareness of what is happening” given that the country was heading into an election period.
“It’s important for us to understand what’s happening. Looking at it from a security perspective, things can cascade into a different situation,” he told The Fiji Times.
Dr Ratuva said all the issues Rabuka was having to deal with were “leading him to breaking point”.
“The fact that he has signalled his willingness to resign if the appeal doesn’t come through, is something which only [Rabuka] himself will have to decide,” he said.
“A lot of people have been asking for his resignation in the last few months for different reasons, particularly in relation to the way some of these complex challenges have been handled by the government.
“So it depends very much on what’s going to happen after the appeal, and the process might go on for some time . . . even the election might come in between.”
Fiji is expected to head to the polls anytime between August 7 (earliest) this year and 6 February 2027 (latest).
Dr Ratuva said Fijian opposition parties will try to use some of these issues faced by Rabuka as part of campaigning.
“Anything can be leveraged as a means of manoeuvring your opposition, so certainly it is something which will arise during the election campaigns,” he said.
He said other issues such as the cost of living, health, infrastructure, rising crime, drugs, would become campaign issues during the election.
The government under Rabuka, he said, would be on the defensive in terms of making sure that they would be re-elected.
“But then that depends very much on how they are able to handle these issues, and of course, the choice of the voters ultimately,” Dr Ratuva said.
“The number of scandals and the number of crisis, which have defined the rule of this particular coalition has diverted attention away from the real issues on the ground, so they have to live with it and the consequences are going to be felt in the next election.”
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz
