Issue No: 880; 25 June 2001

This time, it has twisted a sentence from an interview given by the elected Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry and gave it a meaning totally different from the context of the interview statement.

In an interview, a Fiji Times journalist asked Chaudhry: "Do you intend to return as prime minister". Chaudhry responded: "If I have the mandate, yes". The question was the last in a series of questions asked on the Fiji Labour Party and other political parties.

The Fiji Times led the Saturday issue with a page one lead: "I want to be PM again: Chaudhry". The Chaudhry interview was not published. It appeared on page 7 today.

Chaudhry has reacted strongly to the Fiji Times. In a statement, he stated:
"This is sheer mischief making. The interview was given to The Fiji Times on the understanding (and assurance) that it will be run as a complete piece on Monday in their Face to Face column. The paper had absolutely no right to take bits out of that interview and give it their own twist and emphasis without publishing my exact words," Mr Chaudhry said. . "If they wanted to use bits of the interview for a story it should have been run alongside, and on the same day, as the full interview." (see http://www.pcgov.org.fj/press_rel/chaudhry_ft_22june.htm).

The Fiji Times publisher reacted by saying: "We make no apology for publishing that".