Paper calls for Waqanisau sacking

Issue No: 723; 2 May 2001

 
The Fiji Sun has called for the removal of the Official Secretary in the President's Office for bringing disrepute to the Office of the President.

The call has come after the Official Secretary, Jeremaia Waqanisau claimed that ethnic Fijian journalists were responsible for bringing division within the ethnic Fijian community.

In strong editorial today the paper states:

It's the last place one expected to hear such racial comment to generate from.

The President's office is supposed to be symbol of unity in any country…
Most important he must remain neutral from all political and racial conflict.

But sadly, it has happened. The Presidential office has decided to play the race card.

And most inaccurately it has accused media organisations like TV One and others of "trying to destabilise the Fijian Community".

What a preposterous and irresponsible comment.

If one wanted to ensure that Fijians are pitted against each other, the only thing to do is to generate lies or withhold truthful information from the community and people will automatically begin to become suspicious of each other.

The media doesn't have to do this because it has already being done by Fijian leaders (political and others) who are hungry for power.

The same leaders had been making statements from May 19th last year and are still making statements today.

Because the leopard won't change its spots overnight, the public should know who to believe and who not to believe.

If the people writing the President's statements cannot produce comments that are straight down the line, fair and sensitive, maybe the Government should find people who can do that.

Jeremaia Waqanisau, who wrote the statements attributed in Page 1, is not a suitable to be taken.

He has accused former President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara and other people who can look beyond the veneer of respectability of making "continuous and unending wild accusations that are not in the spirit of National Reconciliation and Unity".

He is also saying that the "public continues to be hell-bent on destabilising activities".

To stress how preposterous Mr Waqanisau's comments have become, read some of the things he says: "The unfortunate thing is that it is now obvious that Indo Fijian reporters are pitting Fijians and these Fijians don't seem to understand the orchestrated campaign going on and designed to destabilise and further split the Fijian community - particularly by TV One".

Sentiments written by Mr Waqanisau sounding emotional, ignorant, only try to hide the truth and actually would cause more instability.

They would only derail the Government's reconciliation effort.

It's so important that the President's Office must be seen to be unbiased and non-racial for the sake of the country, therefore we cannot afford to have people like Mr Waqanisua making statements from there.

 

People's Coalition Government - Fiji Islands
Disclaimer
Webmaster
Last update: August 27, 2001