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Issue No: 603; 20 March 2001
The appointment of Ratu Tevita Momoedonu as "Prime Minister" of Fiji by the then Acting President Ratu Josefa Iloilo last week, has been called patronage and nepotism. The comments were made by former Speaker of the House of Representatives and Alliance Government Minister Tomasi Vakatora on Fiji TV news last night. Ratu Tevita is the nephew of Ratu Josefa Iloilo; Ratu Tevita's mother is Ratu Josefa's sister. By appointing him to the position of "Prime Minister", even for less than a day, Ratu Josefa has enabled his nephew to collect a lifetime pension of $700 per fortnight. Prime Ministerial emoluments entitlements have it that a Prime Minister who has served for less than a year is entitled to a lifetime pension of 20% of the Prime Minister level salary. The pension `entitlement' has been condemned widely in Fiji. Many view it as another of the numerous scams of corruption one finds in Fiji now. Today's Fiji Times has also condemned the right to the pension claim which Ratu Tevita Momoedonu has made. NGO's like the Fiji Trades Union Congress and the Fiji First Movement have also condemned the act. Momoedonu's purported appointment, which was unconstitutional, is expected to be the subject of a court case now. Patronage, nepotism and corruption have skyrocketed in Fiji since Qarase came to power. So much so that this has become a major disincentive to investment in the country. Meanwhile numerous members of the Qarase regime are closely related to one another. It has also been recently revealed that numerous senior civil servants who played prominent roles in the destabilisation of the elected government are also closely related to one another, and to a prominent politician whose party lost the last election. |
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People's Coalition Government - Fiji Islands |
