Controversial, profanity-laden remarks made by the head of the Fijian Teachers Association (FTA) while defending Indigenous chiefs and threatening to “roast” critics in earth ovens have sparked a major political storm.

On Monday, FTA general-secretary Paula Manumanunitoga made a Facebook post weighing in on the constitutional reform debate currently dominating the country.

It comes as Fijians prepare to mark their 56th Independence Anniversary on Saturday.

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Manumanunitoga specifically challenged those who he believed questioned the place and role of iTaukei chiefs in the governance of Fiji.

“Saying they do not have a place in the administration of this country, didn’t anyone tell you how and why you’re here in this country instead of your original country?,” he wrote in all capital letters in the post.

“How quickly you have forgotten how you have come to exist here in Fiji? You and your kind are here because of the decision our chiefs made to cede Fiji to Queen Victoria of Great Britain in October 1874.

“So shut the [expletive] up and mind your own business before we catch you and roast you in earth ovens !!!! You’re free to go anywhere, do whatever business you like but do not be disrespectful to belittle our chiefs or become thick-headed by whatever you’ve achieved in this country.”

Widespread criticism
His post, which is public, remains online and has attracted widespread criticism from political figures and the public.

Major political leaders have condemned Manumanunitoga’s remarks, calling them “disgraceful”, “disturbing” and “racially divisive”.

The Fijian government has remained silent on the comments with no statements made by Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka or his Information Minister Lynda Tabuya, who is usually vocal against harmful and divisive digital communications.

However, Fiji’s Women and Children’s Minister Shashi Kiran has called for his resignation, to which Manumanunitoga has also hit back, saying Kiran had not released any statements when “they were swearing at our chiefs”.

Fiji’s parliamentary opposition leader Inia Seruiratu and the National Federation Party leader Professor Biman Prasad have both called for Fiji police to investigate his statements.

Seruiratu wants police to determine whether Manumanunitoga has committed any offences under Fiji’s laws relating to threats, incitement to violence and communal antagonism.

“No individual, regardless of their position, ethnicity or standing in society, should be above the law,” he said.

Free speech ‘with responsibility’
Social Democratic Liberal Party (Sodelpa) leader Aseri Radrodro said while Manumanunitoga was entitled to his views “freedom of expression must be exercised with responsibility, maturity, and respect”.

“There comes a time when we must draw a clear line between standing up for our traditional leaders and resorting to hostility, vulgarity, and explicit threats against our fellow citizens,” Radrodro said.

He warned that such rhetoric risks creating deep ethnic divisions among Fijians.

“Our chiefs are integral to our history, identity, and the fabric of our nation, and they should not be subjected to personal attacks or contempt. However, defending our chiefs does not require threatening others or telling our fellow citizens to ‘shut up’ and leave.”

The United States has designated a prominent Chinese businessman in Fiji for “significant corruption” on behalf of China-based actors.

Zhao Fugang, owner of the Yue Lai Hotel in Suva and the Overseas Chinese Service Center located within it, is alleged to be a senior member of a syndicate involved in drug smuggling, money laundering, and human trafficking, according to the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP).

In a statement on Wednesday (Thursday NZ time), the US State Department said Zhao actively pays bribes to Fijian citizens to “advance China-based government, business, and criminal interests”.

• READ MORE: Chinese Communist Party-backed businessman in Fiji is a top Australian criminal target

“His actions constituted significant corruption and adversely affected US interests in Fiji,” the statement read.

The designation renders Zhao and his immediate family ineligible for entry into the US.

An OCCRP investigation in 2024 revealed that the hotelier has been in the crosshairs of Australian and other Western intelligence agencies since mid-2023.

It said his business interests stretch from tourism to property development, and his personal relationships have extended as high as former Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama.

Stayed silent
Zhao has stayed silent on those allegations.

He has established himself as a prominent figure in Fiji’s social scene, often seen at Chinese cultural and celebratory events alongside key government figures — both during the Bainimarama era and under the current administration.

RNZ Pacific has asked Zhao via his hotel for comment. RNZ Pacific has also requested comments from the Chinese Embassy in Fiji and the Chinese Association of Fiji.

Meanwhile, other US corruption designations in the Pacific this year have included Palauan politicians Hokkons Baules — also for alleged links to China — and Anderson Jibas.

Cracks are starting to show within Sitiveni Rabuka’s coalition government ahead of a looming general election and a potential national referendum, as Fiji prepares to mark its 56th anniversary on Saturday.

This follows the National Federation Party (NFP) and the Social Democratic Liberal Party (Sodelpa), both the minor partners that helped Rabuka return to power, publicly calling out the prime minister for fast-tracking a constitutional reform process.

NFP leader Professor Biman Prasad, who said earlier that his party fully supported the joint parliamentary process to review Fiji’s proposed Constitution (Amendment) Bill to change the 2013 Constitution, shifted his stance after Rabuka pre-emptively announced a referendum date.

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“We (NFP) have said all along very clearly that the new constitution, once and if it is passed and approved, the implementation of that constitution should not be rushed,” Dr Prasad, who was one of three Fiji deputy prime ministers, said on Monday.

However, in a statement yesterday, he declared that the NFP “outrightly rejects” Rabuka’s attempt to fast-track the process, comparing the approach to the previous Voreqe Bainimarama administration’s unilateral implementation of the 2013 Constitution.

He said Rabuka’s announcement was inconsistent with Section 160(3) of the 2013 Constitution on holding a referendum.

“This is not how to formulate a genuine, meaningful, and fair constitution for all our people,” Dr Prasad said.

“It is now clear that [Rabuka] is pre-empting the outcome even before the bipartisan special parliamentary committee, which was unanimously agreed to by Parliament last week, has met and started scrutiny and consultation with the people on the draft constitution bill.”

“The prime minister must reconsider his position and respect the people.”

The election and referendum timelines
Fiji is expected to hold elections by February 6 at the latest as the Rabuka administration’s term legally comes to an end on December 24. Rabuka has delayed announcing an election date, previously telling RNZ Pacific that it depends on the constitutional reform process.

The prime minister prematurely announced the referendum date for December 9 after the government’s Constitution (Amendment) Bill passed its second reading last Friday. He also announced that he would write to the Electoral Commission to suspend all election-related campaigning until after the referendum.

During the crucial second reading, the government secured 38 votes (out of 53) in favour of the bill to meet the required two-thirds majority of 36 MPs needed to progress the legislation to the next stage.

The Electoral Commission has stated that it would “give the matter serious consideration” before making any decision.

“We will deliberate and consider the extent of the discretion provided under section 15(2) of the National Referendum Act 2026 that provides guidance when the discretion is activated, and whether it should be exercised, including the reasons for and against doing so and the potential impacts of either approach,” it said in a statement.

Demand for ‘constitutional order’
Sodelpa is calling on Rabuka to “immediately respect constitutional boundaries” regarding the national referendum process.

“The rule of law and constitutional order in Fiji cannot be subordinated to executive convenience or political scheduling,” Sodelpa leader Aseri Radrodro, who is also Rabuka’s Education Minister, said in a statement.

The party said no one was above the law and that all parliamentarians must make decisions that prioritised the Fijian people.

Some of Fiji’s leading civil society organisations have warned that the Electoral Commission cannot lawfully suspend general election campaigning at this stage.

Fiji’s opposition condemned the announcement, saying that Rabuka was “putting the cart before the horse”.

Justice Minister Siromi Turaga has defended the process, stating on Monday that the government would systematically inform the Fijian people about the bill.

But Dr Prasad said parliamentarians cannot do a deal on the constitution behind closed doors.

Back to the people
He said the government must first go back to the people to ask them what they think about the constitution bill.

“That will take time,” he said.

“All our citizens must understand what the draft constitution says and what it means for them. We could never do this in 30 days.

“If this process must be finished after the next election, so be it.”

Dr Prasad said announcing a referendum was not Rabuka’s decision, as under the law, only the president could do that.

“And only after the bill has been passed by Parliament. How does the Prime Minister then expect the people to vote for a constitution they have barely seen?”

“This announcement [of a] referendum and the process is wrong. The whole point of a new constitution is to bring our people together. It is not to divide us further.”

More than 723,000 eligible Fijian voters have registered to cast their vote at the general election.

Fiji’s prime minister has called on global leaders coming to the country to see and listen to the people on the climate frontlines as the pre-COP31 meeting is gets underway today.

Sitiveni Rabuka addressed an interfaith church service yesterday ahead of the meeting this week.

He said climate finance must reach the communities that need it — “not someday, but now, and as an act of justice, not charity”.

• READ MORE: Other Fiji climate crisis reports

While Australia and the Pacific’s joint bid to host COP31, the United Nations annual climate summit — lost out to Türkiye — it was agreed the Pacific would host the pre-COP meeting.

A leaders’ event will also be held in Tuvalu.

The main COP gathering will be held in Antalya, Türkiye, from November 9-20, with Australia serving as the president of negotiations.

The Fijian government said in a news release that regional leaders, ministers, diplomats, faith leaders, youth, civil society organisations, NGOs, community members and children gathered for the service yesterday.

It said the prayers and performances reflected the realities of Pacific people already living with the increasing impacts of climate change.

“The Pacific is waiting for a Jubilee. We carry a burden we did not create,” Rabuka said.

Palau wants apology
Meanwhile, Palau’s climate change coordinator is calling for an apology from major greenhouse gas emitters.

Xavier Matsutaro spoke to Pasifika TV ahead of the pre-COP meeting.

He said there had been a lot of talk on the mechanics and principles of it, but it was time for major emitters start the healing process by apologising for causing loss and damage to begin with.

“I think when harm is caused from human to human, from person to person, the appropriate thing to start with is an apology.

“Then when the resource, when the means to address it, comes, then it will be much more meaningful. And we have nott had that dialogue at all.”

The Journalists Association of Samoa (JAWS) is demanding answers over the removal of a journalist’s camera and the deletion of photographs taken while she was covering a public event.

According to the Samoa Observer, Prime Minister La’aulialemalietoa (La’auli) Leuatea Schmidt’s son reportedly deleted photographs taken by one of the newspaper’s female reporters at a police event held at the Government Building in Apia on Tuesday morning.

According to the report, the journalist was told by one of the La’auli’s security personnel that “there is a law that prevents the Samoa Observer from taking any pictures of the Prime Minister”.

• READ MORE: Samoa Observer ban remains, government says
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RNZ Pacific has contacted the Samoa government for comment and is yet to receive a response.

JAWS said it was “deeply disturbed” by the reported treatment of the Samoa Observer journalist by members of PM La’auli’s security detail.

The Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) reported that the group has called for the circumstances surrounding the incident to be properly established.

JAWS said journalists attending public events have a professional right and responsibility to observe, record and report what took place.

Includes senior officials
This includes when senior public officials or people connected to them are present.

Samoa’s government on Friday issued a response, saying it respected media freedom and free expression, but that a ban on the Samoa Observer was still in place.

The government said it was not stopping other private and independent media outlets from accessing government and public events.

However, JAWS said any legitimate security concern should have been dealt with through lawful and proportionate procedures.

“Security cannot become a pretext for obstructing legitimate journalism,” it said.

JAWS also said that issues or disagreements with media organisations should not be handled through physical interference with equipment or the deletion of material.

“If there are concerns about the conduct or reporting of a journalist, there are established avenues for complaint, correction and legal redress,” it said.

JAWS has called for an investigation to establish who removed the camera, under whose authority it was taken, whether photographs were deleted, who authorised the deletion and the legal or procedural basis for the actions.

Fiji’s lawmakers have passed legislation allowing the rollout of a needle exchange programme aimed at containing the rapid rise of HIV from intravenous drug use.

The HIV/AIDS (Amendment) Bill 2026, which will introduce evidence-based harm reduction programmes, is being hailed as a “lifeline” for the country.

Fiji now joins Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea as the only Pacific nations with a formal needle and syringe programme.

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Following the passing of the Bill by Parliament on Thursday, Fiji’s Health Ministry described it as a “monumental milestone” in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Fiji has one of the fastest-growing HIV rates in the world, with the government declaring an HIV emergency last month as one in 60 Fijian adults is now living with the virus.

“To be clear: this does not legalise illicit drugs,” the Ministry said in a Facebook post.

“It legalises compassion. It builds a protective bridge of healthcare to the most vulnerable among us.”

Grounded in human rights
The Health Ministry said the legislation was grounded in human rights, confidentiality, and freedom from discrimination.

“It allows our frontline health heroes, pharmacies, and peer outreach workers to distribute sterile equipment, condoms, PrEP, and life-saving counselling safely and without fear.”

Fijian Health Ministry Dr Atonio Lalabalavu said the Bill sets out what harm-reduction may permit.

“This includes the free distribution of skin-penetrating instruments, including needles and syringes, condoms and condom lubricants, Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), and other means of HIV prevention,” he said.

“It may also provide facilities for the safe return and management of used items, targeted counselling, information in HIV/AIDS awareness and materials, and referrals to HIV treatment, rehabilitation, mental health and other health and social support services.”

The Bill also allows other measures to be approved by the health minister on the recommendation of the HIV/AIDS Board where those measures are necessary, Dr Atonio added.

The new president of the Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) wants to strengthen the region’s newsrooms.

Neville Choi, who is also president of Papua New Guinea’s Media Council, told RNZ Pacific that the PINA secretariat needed greater support, accountability and transparency.

Choi said strengthening the PINA secretariat was his initial focus as president.

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He also wants to see national media associations empowered.

“Because the national media associations should be the contact point for all the media in each of the countries,” he said.

“Those are the two main things: strengthening; in any way we can to strengthen and provide more accountability and transparency to the PINA Secretariat, and give them more help and assistance, and see what they need.”

He said the Pacific’s media organisations were facing rapid changes brought about by advancements in technology, particularly artificial intelligence (AI).

AI widely discussed
The use of AI was a widely discussed topic at the PINA Media Summit in Fiji last week.

“Understanding how AI works, and effectively using those and incorporating those into our newsroom workflows, AI is just the start of it.

“We feel in PNG that AI is still a tool, and that we need also need to strengthen the human oversight over all of our newsroom processes, which is the core of what we do.”

Choi believes larger media organisations have a role to play in supporting smaller media outlets facing challenges.

He said while “media in the Pacific is now stronger than it [once] was, it can get stronger”.

“We can be more united. We have a lot of small island state media who are still doing it tough,” he said.

“They have a lot of challenges, and the bigger media organisations within the region can help them by empowering them, providing mentoring and training – that’s one of the main focuses also for PINA.”

Meanwhile, PNG’s Media Council and National Broadcasting Corporation have jointly agreed to host the next Pacific Media Summit in Port Moresby.

As the Pacific Islands region reels from a series of recent maritime tragedies, a regional climatologist says it is imperative that boat operators take extra caution in a time of turbulent weather.

There have been dozens of fatalities from incidents at sea in recent months in Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu among other Pacific countries.

Although an official or confirmed death toll is not yet known for Vanuatu’s MV Matui tragedy on September 11, it is likely that dozens of people died.

• READ MORE: Vanuatu ferry disaster: ‘It’s a miracle anyone survived,’ says rescuer

A common factor in this and other maritime tragedies in the Pacific over recent months has been rough seas and weather conditions, and coincides with a time when the El Niño phase is getting into full swing across the Pacific.

El Niño has caused extreme heat in parts of the world, extensive drought in the Western Pacific and disruptions to ocean currents through the tropical Pacific.

A senior climatologist with the Pacific Regional Environment Programme, Philip Malsale, said El Niño had created a lot of movement of warm waters towards the Eastern Pacific, as a high pressure system moved up closer to the equator, with an active monsoon trough over the Western Pacific as well.

But he told RNZ Pacific that El Niño was not necessarily directly to blame for the rough seas and marine conditions in which various boats had got into trouble.

“Well there is some connection, but not directly. I think it is more related to the weather conditions — but also we need to take into account our season now,” Malsale said.

“We are in the winter season when we have the strong trade winds that are persistent at this time of the year.

“We have the high pressure system move up to the towards the equator, and we have dominant southeast trades (tradewinds), those kind of systems can also cause high pressure gradient over the countries, and it influences a lot of the weather synoptic situations across the countries like Tonga, Vanuatu, Fiji, Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea.”

Regional met talks
Malsale, who is from Vanuatu, last week joined regional counterparts in Tonga for the 8th Pacific Meteorological Council Meeting.

A big point of discussion was how to strengthen weather and climate services and make warnings more effective, at a time when some boat operators choose to ignore them and go out to sea, endangering lives.

Malsale and other weather experts are underlining that taking these warnings seriously is absolutely critical for people going to sea.

“We have mandated organisations such as the national weather services in countries. So boat owners or shipowners, captains should reach out to the national met services, find out what the current situation is, before they can plan the trip over to the islands.”

Vanuatu’s government is considering linking marine weather warnings to permissions for which boats can operate under particular conditions.

“Just because the warning is too general, but we can link that up to certain boat size or ships capacity,” Malsale said.

“So you put a certain warning, on which category of ship that is referred to in terms of not sailing or not carrying passengers to other islands.

Climate extremes
Discussions at the Met Council summit also focused on the ongoing wider challenges of climate change and the more extreme conditions it brings.

“There was agreement among all the Met Services to put this as a priority as well on the latest science to help the COP negotiators from the Pacific,” Malsale said.

“This is one area of services that that the national Met services want for our donors to continue to provide funding for.”

Weather experts have warned that the El Niño phenomenon developing in the Pacific Ocean is already the strongest ever recorded.

Malsale said the peak is still to come later this year and into 2027.

“That’s the forecast like to peak between probably November and January 2027. But these are only the indicators that we’re monitoring, but the impact can peak later on during the year.

However, he added that with cyclone season just around the corner, there could be even more impactful weather in store for the Pacific.

Fiji’s prime minister is not giving any hints about when exactly the country will head to the polls.

The island nation is expected to hold its fourth general election under the 2013 Constitution by 6 February 2027 at the latest.

Under Fiji’s current electoral system, the entire country forms a single national constituency, with more than 723,000 registered voters on the electoral roll as of June 30, according to the Fijian Elections Office.

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However, a major constitutional review report released publicly on Tuesday has recommended sweeping changes to Fiji’s governance.

Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka’s government has indicated that a potential change to the country’s supreme law is on the cards by Christmas Eve.

In an interview with RNZ Pacific in Savusavu, northern Fiji, Rabuka said he did not yet have an election date.

“No, we have not set a date for the elections,” he said.

Parallel parliamentary work
Rabuka said that once the government settled on a “definitive date”, he would advise the president, who would then issue a writ for the election.

The prime minister said that an election date would need to be considered alongside the parallel parliamentary work being undertaken to amend the constitution.

“[The election date] will have to be worked out considering all the work that is now going to be taken through Parliament … the processing of the amendment of the [2013] Constitution and the preparation time required by our elections officials.”

Rabuka also confirmed that Fiji was due to conduct its national census next year.

“Without the figures from the census, which is due next year, we will have to have an intelligent projection of the census figures from 10 years ago and see if we can work out a map on constituencies etc, if they are going to be incorporated into the determining features of our elections.”

However, he has also told local media that the February 6 deadline remained unchanged.

“There have been suggestions [to extend the deadline for the elections], but it is outside the law as I see it now,” he said in response to a question from fijivillage.com.

Fiji’s Constitution Review Commission wants a new governance system for the country and the coup immunity provisions of the 2013 Constitution repealed.

Its also recommending giving the Great Council of Chiefs constitutional recognition, scrapping the current electoral system, replacing the current parliamentary system, and pushing the military to focus on external defence.

These are among the recommendations contained in a review report which was tabled in the Fiji Parliament and made public on Tuesday.

• READ MORE: Other Fiji constitution reports

The Constitution Review Commission’s 236-page report, which includes a new draft constitution, was endorsed by Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka’s cabinet last week.

The report rolls back many of the defining features of the Fiji’s 2013 Constitution.

Since gaining independence from Britain on 10 October 1970, Fiji has had four constitutions.

Hinted at Christmas Eve
The cabinet maintains that tabling the commission’s report in Parliament does not mean government had accepted or adopted all of its mission’s recommendations.

However, the Fiji government has already hinted the country could have a new constitution in place by Christmas Eve.

The Constitution Review Commission was set up in March and, after conducting nationwide consultations on Fiji’s 2013 Constitution, it delivered its report to the president on August 30.

Among the most notable features in the report, the commission is recommending the removal of broad immunity protecting people involved in past coups.

The report also sets out the commission’s recommendation of a new constitution and sweeping changes designed to overhaul Fiji’s governance.

Different political system
It has recommended replacing the country’s current single-chamber 55-seat Parliament with a two-house legislature.

The proposal would see the creation of a 60-member bicameral legislature made up of a 41-member House of Representatives and a 19-member Senate.

The commission recommends a Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) electoral system.

This would be a hybrid model featuring constituency-based, or first-past-the-post, along with proportional party-list seats, enabling both local accountability and national proportionality.

The commission also recommends establishing an independent Constituency Boundaries Commission and abolishing the single national constituency.

The president of the Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) says journalists need greater protection when reporting on organised crime networks.

Speaking at a panel discussion on organised crime in Savusavu, Kalafi Moala said journalists investigating drug trafficking face increasing threats to their personal safety.

Moala, who is also RNZ Pacific correspondent in Tonga, recalled an incident involving a journalist from Tonga’s Kele’a newspaper who reported on Tongan gangs.

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A gang member went to the newspaper’s office the following day and threatened the journalist.

Moala pointed out that in Tonga alone, organised crime has become more sophisticated.

He said as crime grows, continued reporting and scrutiny are needed, but journalists must be protected from threats and violence while doing their job.

Pacific media professionals from across the region are in Fiji for this year’s PINA Media Summit. The summit, which officially began today, will shine a spotlight on issues facing many Pacific newsroom across the region.

Moala told RNZ Pacific he hoped the summit will address some of the fundamental issues facing journalism in the region.

“In terms of storytelling, in terms of engagement with government and other powers, how do we do research to be able to do stories? How do we fact-check our stories?

“Those are fundamental things that I think it needs to be brought back and re-emphasised in our training. And the reason for that is there are a lot of young people that are coming in.”

More than 200 people are taking part in the PINA summit. Moala said this was its biggest gathering yet.

He told RNZ Pacific that PINA still needed to exist.

“It is an association where it allows us to be able to stand together on the key principles of our profession, of our faith. It is always better to stand together than to stand alone.”

Women in media
A Fiji media leader says Pacific women in media continue to face challenges in the industry, including accessing information from government agencies.

Rosi Doviverata from the Women in Media Fiji organisation said delays in responses can hold up reporting on issues affecting communities.

She told RNZ Pacific Waves reporters could sometimes wait two or three months for answers.

“That can be really frustrating, and we have people in the community asking why have not you reported this, and that is mainly because we are waiting on ministries to respond to those issues,” she said.

Speaking prior to the launch of the PINA media summit in Savusavu, Doviverata said support from colleagues and editors could help Pacific female reporters advance in their careers.

“For us in Fiji, we have seen we are where we are because of that male allyship,” she said.

“We are active, we are engaging with different organisations, because of that support.”

Concern is mounting among Fiji civil society over signs the government may extend the length of Parliament in order to push through constitutional changes.

Fiji’s government has hinted that a new constitution could be in place by Christmas Eve.

Cabinet has endorsed the Constitution Review Commission’s report to be presented in Parliament and has supported a request for a special sitting this week.

• READ MORE: Fiji targets new constitution by Christmas Eve as watchdog warns of ‘self-coup’ risk
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In a joint statement, leading civil society groups warn that a rushed constitutional process could amount to a “self-coup” if it delays the next general election.

Elections are due to be held by February 2027, but the Rabuka-led government has not announced a date yet.

The civll society groups have called on MPs across party lines to reject any constitutional timetable that risks taking Fiji beyond the democratic life of the current Parliament.

The groups include the Centre for Democracy and Dialogue, the Fiji Council of Social Services, the Fiji Women’s Rights Movement, FemLink Pacific, the Pacific Centre for Peacebuilding, and the Social Empowerment and Education Programme.

They called on the government to guarantee that “if any major change to the electoral system is proposed, it must be subject to a clear transitional provision stating that the next general election will proceed under the existing electoral framework”.

“The people of Fiji will be given adequate time, clear information and a meaningful opportunity to consider any proposed Constitution before any referendum is held.”

With an election looming and political parties in campaign mode, the Fiji government has hinted that a new constitution could be in place by Christmas Eve.

The move has been described by a local civil society organisation as a “grave threat” to democracy and the rule of law, while one of the minor parties in the Sitiveni Rabuka-led coalition government has distanced itself from “any attempt to rush constitutional reform”.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Fiji government said Cabinet had endorsed the Constitution Review Commission’s (CRC) report to be presented in Parliament and had supported a request for a special sitting on 22 September.

• READ MORE: Other Fiji Constitution reports

The CRC, established in March this year, conducted nationwide consultations and received submissions on Fiji’s 2013 Constitution before submitting its report and a draft constitution bill to the country’s head of state on August 31.

According to the government, the commission’s report identifies areas for reform of the 2013 Constitution.

Rabuka and other critics have long argued that the 2013 Constitution was imposed by the Bainimarama administration following the 2006 military coup.

The constitution also introduced equal citizenship for all Fiji nationals and formally adopted “Fijian” as the common national identity for all citizens, regardless of ethnicity.

“Cabinet’s decision to table the report does not constitute acceptance or adoption of all the commission’s recommendations.

‘Detailed consideration’
“The Cabinet Subcommittee on the Review of the Constitution will continue its detailed consideration of the recommendations, including their practical, legal and policy implications, and will report back to Cabinet on the way forward. This will include consideration of any transitional arrangements that may be required.”

It added that the proposed process provides that the CRC’s report will be debated in Parliament during its sitting from September 28.

“Subject to the passage of the Bill and subsequent parliamentary processes, a referendum is proposed to be held between November and mid-December 2026.

“If approved through the required processes, the new Constitution is proposed to come into effect by 24 December 2026.”

However, the Centre for Democracy and Dialogue, formerly known as Dialogue Fiji, has warned that the proposed timeline to introduce a new constitution by December 24 raises serious constitutional, legal and democratic concerns.

The centre’s CEO Nilesh Lal said the government’s proposed timeline would plunge Fiji into a period of “undemocratic rule”.

Lal said the democratic authority of Fiji’s Parliament was time-bound.

“It is derived from the mandate given by voters at a general election and expires after a defined period, 4 years in the case of the current Parliament,” he said.

‘Legally impossible’
He said a constitution coming into force in late December could make it “legally and administratively impossible” to hold a general election within the required period following the dissolution of Parliament under Fiji’s 2013 Constitution.

“If constitutional reform is used to delay the next election, extend Parliament, or allow the executive to govern beyond the life of an elected Parliament, it would amount in substance to an autogolpe, or self-coup,” he said.

Rabuka’s former deputy PM and National Federation Party (NFP) leader Dr Biman Prasad said his party would not support a “rushed process”.

“We have had constitutional upheavals in this country,” Dr Prasad told FBC News.

“In fact, we have had four constitutions and constitution-making process ought to be open, transparent and accountable. It must be the document that has the broad support of our people.”

Opposition: Rabuka ‘acting recklessly’
Fiji’s opposition leader Inia Seruiratu has also weighed in on the issue, urging the government to slow down and explain to the Fijian people “why it is necessary to have a new Constitution in force by Christmas Eve”.

“The people must be given adequate opportunity to understand what is being proposed, what they may gain, what they may lose and how the proposed Constitution will change the way Fiji is governed,” he said in a statement on Friday.

He warned that Rabuka and his Cabinet were “acting recklessly”.

“I am calling on the government to slow this process down,” he said.

The Labour Party is promising visa-free travel to Aotearoa New Zealand for Pacific Islanders.

Deputy Leader Carmel Sepuloni said Pacific Island Forum countries would be allowed in on an NZeTA for three months at a time — like 61 other countries, if the government changes.

She told RNZ Pacific it was a long-overdue decision that recognises cross-border connections.

• READ MORE: Other Pacific-New Zealand travel reports

“We’re talking about seamless travel between Pacific countries and New Zealand … and a recognition of the cost and burden that the current system puts on New Zealand Pacific families,” Sepuloni said.

“Our relationship has matured enough for us to be able to move to a place that they have access to the same electronic system that 60 other countries have. It’s the right thing to do.”

It comes after New Zealand First promised a two-year clemency period for Pacific overstayers last week. Pacific Islanders’ share of the total overstayer population has increased this year, according to Immigration New Zealand (INZ).

In February, Winston Peters accepted a petition by Samoan activist Arthur Anae to make visa-free travel a reality. He said last week that it “possibly could happen in the future”.

“The first thing you’ve got to do is regularise what it means … you leave at the end of that specific time, or before,” he said.

“As I said in that speech months ago in the forecourt of Parliament: cousins don’t rip off cousins.”

The Green Party has also signalled its support for the visa waiver. National would not be drawn on its position, saying the party would announce its immigration policy in due course.

Pacific overstayer rates on the rise
Visa overstayers in New Zealand have decreased over the year, but the share of Pacific Island visa overstayers has risen, according to INZ figures released Thursday.

INZ noted approximately 26 percent of overstayers were from Pacific Island countries, up from 25 percent last year. Meanwhile, the overall overstayer population is down 8.7 percent.

It is estimated out of an overstayer population of 19,153 currently in the country, 2541 are Tongan, and 1462 are Samoan.

Of arrivals on a temporary visa from June 2023 and 2026, 2.14 percent of Tongans overstayed, as did 1.25 percent of Samoans. These figures are well above the average of 0.13 percent for all arrivals.

According to INZ, no Pacific Island countries have been able to enter the country visa-free since 2003, when the waiver for Tuvaluans, i-Kiribati and Dei-Naoero (formerly Nauruans) was removed.

Before then, Tongans, Samoans and Fijians were kicked off the waiver in 1987, less than three months after being added, with more than 5200 arrivals, and fewer than half of those leaving once their visa expired.

Since then, INZ has regarded Pacific nationals as high-risk overstayers, despite the fact the US, China, India and the United Kingdom had overstayer numbers comparable to Tonga and Samoa — only their rates were lower because their total legal arrivals were higher.

Not addressing overstaying
When asked whether it would make overstaying more likely, Sepuloni said the policy announced on Thursday was not meant to address overstaying.

“The expectation is that the rules still apply … and our expectation is that people will follow them,” she said.

“By and large, our Pacific people follow the rules. It’s not like we have our people coming from the Pacific, and they are overwhelmingly choosing to break the rules. It’s the complete opposite, actually.”

As for NZ First’s clemency policy, Sepuloni said she thought it had not been thought through very carefully.

“I’ve dealt with a lot of immigration cases as an electorate MP, and there are always individual circumstances that don’t fit in a box.”

“It worries me that they’re saying they’ll give this two years clemency, and at that point, if you are not regulated, they will deport you, and you will never be allowed to come back.”

Anae: I’m over the moon right now
Despite the Labour policy more closely aligning with its stated goal, Anae said he was still backing New Zealand First.

“What New Zealand First has said is something that we’ve been raising for some time: the unfairness on the overstaying numbers,” Anae said.

“I’ve always treated [Labour] equally as everybody else … I think the problem that I’ve had with them is their lateness in making a statement.”

He said he felt as though there was momentum behind a political consensus on visa-free travel.

“What I’m thinking right now is this: we know Winston’s going to support us. Now we know Labour is there and I’m sure the Greens and Te Pāti Māori will support us, which means we have the numbers.”

He said for Pacific people seeking to attend weddings and funerals whose visas were not processed in time, or for those wrongly deported due to administrative errors by INZ, this could bring closure.

“We are asking for justice. We want to be treated equally as anybody else. Nothing more, just to be the same.”

Fiji’s Health Minister Dr Ratu Atonio Lalabalavu has formally declared a national HIV emergency in the country.

In a pre-recorded video press statement on Tuesday, Dr Lalabalavu said the decision was backed by Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka and his Cabinet due to the “seriousness of the epidemic”.

The health minister confirmed that the government’s current estimates indicated that one in every 60 adults in Fiji is living with HIV.

• READ MORE: ‘Horrendously high’ number of HIV infections in Fiji babies, says health researcher
• Dr Lalabalavu urges responsible drinking
• Other Fiji HIV reports

“Five years ago, the estimate was one in 1667. In 2024, we recorded 2060 new HIV diagnoses,” he said.

“HIV prevalence among women attending antenatal care reached around two percent. That means one out of 50 pregnant women now has HIV. These figures tell us the response must reach further and follow through more consistently.”

This week, a health researcher told RNZ Checkpoint that a “horrendously high” number of newborns were dying due to HIV-related complications in Fiji.

The NZ government’s SafeTravel website is warning people traveling to Fiji to avoid activities that could increase their risk of infection.

Second-fastest growth in Asia-Pacific
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), Fiji has the second-fastest-growing HIV epidemic in the Asia-Pacific region behind Papua New Guinea (PNG).

An estimated 9000 Fijians were living with HIV as of March this year, and officials pointed to high-risk drug use contributing to the rapid rise.

Dr Lalabalavu said every diagnosis must lead to care and every person starting treatment needed support to remain on it.

He said authorities would move quickly to introduce new interventions and scale up established services backed by evidence.

“That means expanding testing, treatment, and access to pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP. It also means accelerating the introduction of a formal needle and syringe programme and long-acting injectable prevention.”

He stressed that treatment was central to the government’s response.

“It helps people living with HIV stay well, and when it achieves and maintains an undetectable viral load, it prevents sexual transmission.”

Coordinated implementation
Fiji’s Sexual Reproductive Health and HIV Programme Management Unit is expected to coordinate implementation, working through divisional and sub-divisional health services, and with community partners.

Dr Lalabalavu said Australia, New Zealand, the Global Fund, India, and the United Nations Joint Team on HIV and AIDS, and other partners were supporting the country with its HIV response.

The Fijian government had also proposed the establishment of a parliamentary standing committee on HIV and related matters, he said.

“To anyone who has been diagnosed with HIV, a diagnosis does not take away your future. Effective treatment can help you live a long and healthy life. Keep taking your medicine as prescribed, even when you feel well.

“I call on families, communities, faith leaders, schools, employers, and partners to join in this response, encourage testing, support people to stay in care, and challenge stigma wherever you encounter it.”

A “horrendously high” number of babies in Fiji are dying due to HIV related complications, says a health researcher, as the prevalence of the disease grows there.

The New Zealand government website SafeTravel says people travelling to Fiji should avoid activities that could increase their risk of infection.

In March this year, it was estimated 9000 Fijians were living with HIV and officials said high risk drug use was adding to the rapid rise.

• READ MORE: One in 60 Fijian adults now living with HIV
• Other Fiji HIV reports

Victoria University senior health researcher Sharon Mclennan told RNZ Checkpoint the situation in Fiji was “pretty bad” and had been driven partly by increased drug use.

“You see a lot of needle sharing going on, and that has been the fuse that lit this incredible increase in HIV.

Years of underfunding of the health service had also contributed to the problem, she said.

Mclennan said there had been a rise in mothers testing positive and babies being born with HIV.

“About one baby per week is being born and around about one baby per month is dying of HIV related complications… it’s horrendously high, it’s very high.”

Mclennan said there had been a push to get more people tested for HIV, but there remained issues with the availability of tests and social stigma.

“People don’t want to talk about it, because then they’ll be found out for behaviours that are not socially acceptable and they may get shunned or questioned.”

Fiji did not have a needle exchange programme, Mclennan said, but it was being discussed and planned for.

New Zealand had a role to play in helping Fiji deal with the problem, Mclennan said.

“Last year New Zealand gave $4 million towards Fiji’s Ministry of Health for support for HIV, we can certainly step that up. We can step up technical assistance.”

That included supporting Fijian people and their families living in New Zealand, she said.

“There’s a lot of movement between here and the islands… and so making sure that our Pacific populations know and are aware of HIV testing and treatment services here.”

Most New Zealanders travelling to Fiji were unlikely to be at risk, she said.

“I think the risk if you’re travelling for a family holiday over the school holidays is pretty low. But it’s still good to see that the government is taking notice and providing New Zealanders with some advice.”

A Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson said New Zealanders travelling to Fiji should get comprehensive travel insurance, and register their details on SafeTravel.

Naoero, formerly known as Nauru, has opened its embassy in Jerusalem, becoming the third Pacific Island nation to do so.

Naoero’s Vice-President Lionel Aingimea said it sent a message to the world about where the island nation stood.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said Israel had committed to sending Naoero medical equipment and water purification systems.

• READ MORE: Why most Pacific government’s stand with Israel
• Other Pacific and Israel diplomacy reports

Sa’ar visited Suva in June after the Fiji government opened its own embassy in Jerusalem last year in a ceremony attended by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Papua New Guinea opened an embassy there in 2023.

Sa’ar said earlier this year that Samoa was also expected to open its Jerusalem embassy this year.

Aingimea said opening an embassy in Jerusalem was a “major political decision”.

‘Strengthening of Israel ties’
“We see opening an embassy here in Jerusalem not only as a strengthening of our ties with Israel, but also as a message to the world of where we stand,” he was quoted as saying in a statement released by the Israeli government.

“There was never a thought in the minds and hearts of Naoero that we would open an embassy here in Jerusalem this year,” he said.

“What changed it? It was born in discussions between myself and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar in Fiji. I took it to Cabinet, and Cabinet endorsed it. It was an easy decision to make.”

He added that Naoero’s support for Israel had been “unwavering”.

“Naoero is historically one of Israel’s most reliable and consistent diplomatic allies at the United Nations.

“The United States stands at 93 percent of its votes supporting Israel, the Federated States of Micronesia at 88 percent, and Naoero at 71 percent. Mark my words: that 71 percent will increase very quickly.

“True friends stay consistent through both good times and hard trials, and that is who Naoero is to Israel.”

On the second day of the Pacific Islands Forum leaders’ meeting in Palau, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was asked about the potential participation of Torres Strait Islanders in the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) — one of the forum’s three sub-regional groups.

Albanese, alongside his ministers Chris Bowen and Pat Conroy, was holding a press conference at the leaders’ meeting venue in Koror. Bowen holds the climate portfolio while Conroy is Australia’s Minister for Pacific Island affairs.

Conroy responded on behalf of his prime minister.

• READ MORE: West Papua: The Pacific’s new test of Indonesia’s sovereignty narrative
  
• The Pacific’s cocaine highway: will Australia’s $600m deal really help?
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“I was honoured to be the first Australian minister to attend a Melanesian Spearhead Group as an observer in Fiji [in June 2025],” Conroy began.

“Obviously, there’s a process that is going through where the Melanesian Spearhead Group consider whether Australia would be an observer at the MSG. We’re obviously keen to make that happen because we see value in having the people of Australia as an observer through the Australian government at the Melanesian Spearhead Group.”

No mention of the people of Torres Strait Island was made, even after the reporter attempted a follow-up question.

The MSG, which as a starting point acknowledges Torres Strait Islanders as part of its Melanesian family, holds a different view.

The group’s newly appointed Director-General Dr Anna Naupa, speaking to reporters the previous day, said the MSG’s preference was for Australia to include its Melanesian communities, like Torres Strait Islanders, when engaging with it.

“Because of our attention to our Indigenous Melanesian peoples, very much that is the preference, is that we bring and we connect our communities with each other,” Dr Naupa said.

It is a difference in outlook that reflects some of the wider challenges to Australia’s engagement in the Pacific region.

Sometimes the subtleties and nuances of regional politics can be lost or completely dismissed by the Australians.

Climate contradictions
Other times it feels like Australia does not fully appreciate — outwardly at least — how closely watched it is by smaller Pacific nations.

For example, one of the major developments at the leaders’ meeting was the release of a report from the UN Environment Programme, which stated that overshooting the Paris Climate Accord goal of 1.5C was now unavoidable.

It came a day after Albanese’s government supported the opening of a new fracking project in the Northern Territory.

It was also confirmed during the week that Albanese’s government had approved the expansion of an open-cut coal mine in Queensland.

Vanuatu’s Climate Minister Ralph Regenvanu, fresh from a climate media briefing on the UN report release, pointed the finger squarely at the Forum’s largest member in Koror.

“Australia is a great partner for the Pacific in helping adaptation and renewable energy pathways, and that’s all good,” he said.

“But as I said … in the press conference, fossil fuels remain the primary driver [of rising temperatures]. And if you expand fossil fuels, you’re not recognising the declaration you signed up to yourself, which is Boe, which says it’s the greatest single threat to the peoples of the Pacific.

“So that is a contradiction that Australia needs to find a way out of,” Regenvanu said.

Climate featured heavily
Similar to previous years, climate change featured heavily in the leaders’ meeting communique this year.

Leaders signed off on the Belau declaration for urgent and inclusive climate action to keep 1.5C within reach through it. As part of that, the Boe Declaration was recalled.

Leaders also reaffirmed that “climate change remains the single greatest threat to the security, livelihoods, wellbeing and future of the peoples of the Pacific”.

For his part, Albanese did not miss a beat when questioned about whether his government’s commitment to the climate crisis was geniune.

“We all need to do more,” he told reporters.

He also made the point that Pacific leaders understood Australia’s current reliance on fossil fuels and “have respect for the position that we’ve taken” — directly contradicting Regenvanu’s words.

“They also understand with the transition [away from fossil fuels] — because they’re dealing with it as well — that the transition can’t happen overnight, that it requires strategies and policies to be put in place,” Albanese said.

It’s not new for countries in the Pacific to have different outlooks — but when it comes to these regional big issues, there’s a gap between the Australian view and those of the Pacific islands that may suggest a lack of understanding of the latter by the former.

Security arrangements
In regard to traditional security, Australia’s been building an array of treaties and bilateral agreements with different partners across the region over several years and particularly in recent months.

These include the Ocean of Peace Alliance or Veitacini Treaty with Fiji, which other parties may eventually join, the Nakamal agreement with Vanuatu, the Pukpuk treaty with Papua New Guinea, the Nauru-Australia Treaty and the Falepili Union with Tuvalu.

Despite that, it will likely have come away from this year’s forum feeling slightly short-changed because there were signs of a handbrake being applied on this security stuff, amid concerns from Pacific islanders about where it’s all heading, and how quickly it’s going that way.

As part of the Forum’s peace and security agenda, the Joint Heads of Pacific Security (JHOPS) which is headquartered at Australia’s Department of Defence, has been tabled under the review of the regional architecture.

The JHOPS brings together the heads of police, military, customs and immigration agencies from across the region. Japan and the US are observers.

Civil society group Pacific Action Network on Globalisation (PANG) has raised serious concerns about the insertion of JHOPS and a regional deployment framework into the forum-led security architecture.

Its main concern is the lack of scrutiny over the process, and the potential legal structures that may result which lock Pacific nations into security arrangements they hadn’t foreseen or agreed to.

Further consultation needed
In Koror, PANG along with the Pacific Regional NGO Organisations Alliance was represented by Joey Tau.

He told RNZ Pacific he was pleased leaders had only agreed in principle to recognise JHOPS as part of the Forum-led security architecture, noting in the communique that further consultation would be needed.

Similarly, the Waqa Moana maritime security initiative targeting illicit drug trafficking, backed heavily by Australia, was only agreed to in principle by leaders, with the overall decision seeking more consultation.

To add to that, the proposal from the Solomon Islands for a regional security treaty, which Australia’s said it was open to, has been kicked down the road. Leaders chose to note the proposal and acknowledged further consultation among members.

Overall, as Tau, pointed out, there are still major questions over the direction of the reform of the forum’s regional architecture, and the processes and people guiding it.

“We’re in a state where, not only external parties, but member states who are part of the whole architecture are driving security agreements, compacts, initiatives, without proper consultation,” he said.

For Australia, which has steadily increased its activity and engagement in the region, particularly around security, it may be questioning where exactly the speedbumps emerged at last week’s Forum leaders’ summit.

The resourcing it brings will always afford it a seat at the table, and there is no doubt its investment in the Pacific in areas such as sport, particularly rugby league has gone down well.

But understanding how to discuss contentious issues and negotiate in Pacific circles are not skills that come automatically with “big ticket” agreements and promises — they are honed through relationships, experience and being in the room.

Time in the region will also let you know that more often than not, decisions turn on a dime, as the absence of several leaders from the forum showed last week. It’s all part and parcel of politics in the Pacific region.

Melanesian countries are pushing Indonesia to facilitate a long-requested visit to West Papua by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights or have its membership in their regional bloc reviewed.

A request for the visit was made by Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) countries back in 2019, but it has still not gone ahead, despite ongoing human rights violations in the Indonesian-ruled Papua region, known internationally as West Papua.

Frustration has built up among the Melanesian countries in the intervening years that Jakarta has not yet allowed the visit to take place.

• READ MORE: West Papuan leader calls on Pacific Forum to ‘break its silence’ and denounce Indonesian military violence
• Other West Papua reports

Now the members of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) say that if a visit by the Commissioner’s office is not facilitated by Indonesia in order for a report on human rights issues in West Papua to be produced by their next summit in 2027, then Indonesia’s associate member status in the MSG will be reviewed.

The full members of the MSG are: Papua New Guinea, FIji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia’s FLNKS Kanak independence movement. The United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) has observer status at the MSG, and Indonesia has associate member status.

The MSG has issued a statement from the current PIF leaders summit in Palau, saying Melanesian leaders “urged continued engagement with Indonesia to facilitate access by the end of Indonesia’s term as President of the Human Rights Council on 31 December 2026”.

MSG members requested the bloc’s current chair, Fiji, to write to Indonesia to allow the visit of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to West Papua to produce a report on human rights issues in Papua, and to have the report delivered for consideration at the next MSG summit in 2027.

2027 MSG Summit review
Leaders “affirmed that if these actions are not undertaken the Associate Member status shall be reviewed accordingly at the next MSG Summit in 2027”.

They also requested MSG member country embassies in Jakarta to “support appropriate follow-up and engagement on this matter”.

The members are also considering a proposal for MSG leaders to meet Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto on the margins of the UN General Assembly in New York last this month.

Since taking office last year, Prabowo has overseen an increase in Indonesian military deployments to West Papua where a long-running conflict with the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) has escalated in recent months, causing mass displacement of some Papua village communities in the High Papua region.

Authorities in Fiji are offering contradictory accounts of a nationwide effort to remove beggars and street dwellers from public spaces, with questions over warning notices and what support is available for those affected.

The agencies involved have been unable to clearly identify what those services are and who is responsible for providing them, or what happens to people after they are moved from their public places.

The ongoing lack of clarity has raised concerns among civil society organisations that the enforcement effort may be getting ahead of the support systems needed to make it work.

• READ MORE: Other Fiji homeless reports

Last month, The Fiji Times reported that city rangers were serving warning notices to individuals soliciting alms in public areas. The notices stated that behaviour such as persistent begging or obstructing of footpaths were offences and could lead to “enforcement actions”.

The operation has been advertised as a joint effort between the Lautoka City Council, Fiji police, and the Women, Children and Social Protection Ministry.

RNZ Pacific has repeatedly sought clarification on how the operation works in practice, on what would trigger a warning notice, what happens when someone refuses to leave, what support programmes are offered for street dwellers, and what role each agency plays.

The office of the Minister for Women, Children and Social Protection, Sashi Kiran, declined to comment on the ministry’s role in supporting street dwellers or on what programmes being offered to people being moved from public spaces.

The office of Police Commissioner Rusiate Tudravu would only say police were there to “ensure the safety of all parties” and would “use necessary force” if required.

When RNZ Pacific asked what that meant in practice, and what powers police would use if people refused to leave public spaces, no detailed explanations were provided.

RNZ Pacific’s specific questions to both the ministry and police remain unanswered.

‘No forced relocation’
The Lautoka City Council chairman and acting CEO Ratu Tevita Momoedonu, however, was more forthcoming, and rejected suggestions people were being forcibly removed from streets.

“There is no forced relocation here. We can’t force anybody,” he said.

He described the initiative as welfare-led, saying street dwellers were being profiled and offered relocation to shelters and rehabilitation services.

“We don’t warn people. We profile them, and we call them in meetings, and then we suggest to them the importance or the benefits of being relocated,” he added.

When asked about the support programmes being offered by the ministry, Momoedonu said they could not help.

“I can’t help you either, because the [Lautoka City] Council, we have our own jurisdictions here. We only help social welfare in profiling,” he said.

“The rehabilitation part, the relocation part, it is their (ministry and police) responsibility, not us. If they are not answering to you people, then [they] neither do us.”

Directives may be issued
While Momoedonu denied that warning notices were being used as part of the relocation effort, he did acknowledge that council notices could be issued for breaches of bylaws, and that people involved in criminal activity could be removed.

“If there are bylaws that are violated, then we can issue directives? When there are criminal elements — drinking in public place, taking drugs in public place, disturbing the peace. These are criminal elements.”

He said police assist the Lautoka City Council and welfare officers when street dwellers resist engagement, although he commented that police do not “enforce relocations”.

In Nadi, Fiji’s international gateway, a similar operation is underway.

A pamphlet from social worker Mohenesh Singh describes “Operation Loloma” as an effort to take beggars off the streets, profile and screen them, and provide “alternative means of livelihood”.

“Together, we can create lasting solutions that address the root causes of begging,” the pamphlet reads.

“The information collected will see an an individual case plan drawn up for each beggar so that the welfare of the disadvantaged individuals are taken care of by the various networks we have in the country.”

RNZ Pacific contacted Singh for comment, asking what street profiling looked like, and what support was offered for street dwellers. He declined to comment about their operation.

FCOSS ‘caught by surprise’
Civil society groups which are also involved in working on the issue say they have been left in the dark about the Lautoka initiative.

The Fiji Council of Social Services (FCOSS) executive director Vani Catanasiga said she first learnt about Lautoka City Council’s warning notice enforcement when contacted by RNZ Pacific.

“We were caught by surprise, so, I just heard that it was happening in Lautoka,” Catanasiga said.

“I was aware about it in Suva, sort of, efforts or clean up… but I wasn’t aware about Lautoka.”

Catanasiga said Fiji’s civil sector has repeatedly raised concerns around the lack of co-ordination between Fijian agencies that are working with vulnerable people.

The Lautoka operation, she said, could serve as a “case study” in what happens when co-ordination between involved parties breaks down.

“Unfortunately, in this case, it has to do with a vulnerable group. They’re already vulnerable, they’re already confused, they’re already in need of support, compassion,” Catanasiga said.

“When we don’t address persistent coordination challenges, it really just does a lot more harm. It exacerbates the harms that they already face.”

Absence of communication
In this case, Catanasiga said the issue is an absence of communication, and clarity in roles between the different agencies involved.

The additional lack of publicly available detail is concerning for organisations who are meant to be working with vulnerable people, she added.

She described the operations as “optics-led” and said while sympathised with the relevant authorities and people in authority trying to make a difference, the lack of transparency was concerning.

“It’s not to penalise those who want to do something about it. It’s about [asking], ‘okay, have we applied the right processes?’

“Sometimes in our effort to to do this, we miss the more essential work of doing the due diligence. And sometimes we react … a lot of our approaches are reactionary because it looks bad.

“It’s not an excuse to miss the essential steps of safeguarding [and] due diligence that we must apply to our work, particularly around social protection [and] checking on the social safety nets that are supposed to be there.”

‘Unsustainable’
Catanasiga also suggested authorities were relying on Fiji’s long-dormant law on minor offences to justify moving beggars and street dwellers from public places, targeting activities such as begging, loitering and drunk or disorderly behaviour.

“I understand there is a Minor Offences Act that was never operationalised. It was never applied.

“So, I think that they’re using that to justify the removal of people from the streets. So begging, all those sorts of activities, loitering, it’s covered under that act.”

While Catanisaga said she fully supported efforts to move homeless individuals into dignified work and safe housing, the current operations will be unsustainable.

“I’m just concerned about the back end processes that are supposed to be in place, the support system. If not, our efforts to get people off the streets is not going to be sustainable,” she said.

Moving forward, Catanasiga said the agencies involved to deal with the issue need to come together to complete the programme they have started.

“We always talk about dignity-centred approaches [to deal with vulnerable people]. This [initiative] is not dignity-centred approaches,” she said.

“We want to support our government, and more importantly, we want to support people who are in vulnerable positions.”

New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters has blasted Solomon Islands cabinet ministers who moved against their leader on the eve of the Pacific Island Forum Leaders Meeting in Palau.

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Matthew Wale has been forced home to deal with a motion of no confidence from his Home Affairs Minister Manasseh Maelanga.

Three Cabinet ministers, including Maelanga, have resigned from his GREAT coalition government.

• READ MORE: Solomon Islands ‘dangles over the edge of political instability’ as three ministers quit
• Missing leaders won’t derail Pacific Islands Forum outcomes, says secretariat
• Vanuatu Special Envoy calls for PIF to ‘reopen’ issue of Pacific access to West Papua
• Solomon Islands PM Wale rushes home from Palau after confidence challenge launched
• Other PIF reports
• Other West Papua reports

More ministers are rumoured to follow suit, including Finance Minister and former Prime Minister Gordon Darcy Lilo, potentially tipping the numbers against Wale’s favour.

Speaking to reporters in Palau ahead of the summit’s opening ceremony, Peters struggled to hide his disdain.

“To think that a motion of no confidence was moved when you’re at a critical Pacific event concerns me about the people who moved the motion,” he said.

“For goodness’ sake, could you possibly have waited until your brothers, sisters and cousins have sorted out the Pacific in the meantime, just for these few days?”

Returned within hours
Wale, who reportedly first learned of the motion after landing in Palau, was on a plane back home within hours.

Peters said that the departure weighed heavy on fellow leaders, considering several heads of government had opted not to go.

“He had to get the next plane, and President [Surangel] Whipps Jr had to take him. That shows how saddened Whipps was by that, we all were, that Wale had to go home. But at least they’re trying.”

The leaders of Kiribati, Samoa, Vanuatu and New Caledonia are also sitting out the summit. Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka may stay at home, despite earlier plans.

Peters is in Koror for the next two days before swapping out with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. He refused to speculate on why so many Pacific leaders were not present.

However, reasons for their absence could include health, he noted.

Rabuka’s absence would mean a planned bilateral with his New Zealand counterpart on Thursday morning would not go ahead. Luxon said on Monday that he was not deterred.

Wale faces the fire
Barely three months into the job, Wale now faces a challenge strikingly similar to the one he had helped orchestrate against his predecessor, Jeremiah Manele.

It began with a mass resignation: 10 ministers in one fell swoop, complaining that then-Prime Minister Manele made too many decisions without consulting Cabinet.

While Manele refused to call parliament, a group of MPs wore him down, and he gave way on 7 May. In the aftermath, Wale was elected prime minister by 26 MPs in a parliament of 50. It would take that many to oust him.

Maelanga, an early contender against Wale in the PM stakes, has now made a claim nearly identical to Manele’s challengers, saying Wale had made unilateral decisions “on matters of national importance” while neglecting “proper consultation with, or the approval of, Cabinet”.

Solomon Isands journalist Lisa Osifelo told RNZ Pacific Waves that the situation was fluid.

“We might be expecting more resignations from ministers in the next couple of days,” she said

“There were probably a lot of things that have come out in the media… political appointees, the termination and the non-renewal of contracts [in] various ministries, that has probably contributed to what we’re seeing now.”

She said it was unclear how large or influential the rebel group is — but Maelanga is likely a front-man.

Wale ‘will be regrouping’
“I know [PM Wale] will be regrouping a few of the members … maybe get back to the drawing board, renegotiate, and bring their grievances or whatever they have back to the table.”

It is unclear whether Maelanga’s grievances about “unilateral decisions” include the government’s foreign policy platform.

Since Wale took office, he pledged to review the controversial security deal signed with China in 2022, reset the Australian relationship, signed a shiprider agreement with the United States, and deepened ties with Japan and New Zealand through MoUs — promising that the Solomons was a “friend to all”.

Speaking as PIF chair in July, Wale said there was “growing consensus” among Pacific states for a regional security treaty.

At the leaders’ summit this week, Winston Peters speculated that the idea would be discussed, but that Wale’s absence was a “setback.”

The first of PIF’s leaders meetings began last night.

With the final list of leaders attending the 55th Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Leaders Meeting in Palau still unconfirmed, the regional body’s policy hub is moving to emphasise the robustness of potential decisions and outcomes from the week.

The annual summit is supposed to bring together leaders from the Forum’s 18 member states to discuss and progress major regional issues. However, as of Monday morning, five members were going to be in Koror without representation at the top level.

Kiribati President Taneti Maamau and Solomon Islands Prime Minister Matthew Wale are the two late withdrawals.

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Maamau has reportedly been unable to arrange travel in time for the meeting and also had a parliamentary sitting he needed to attend. His absence has raised a lot of concerns over cohesiveness of PIF following tensions over a lack of agreement among members at the PIF Foreign Ministers Meeting earlier this month.

Members failed to reach consensus on a statement [condemning China’s missile test at that meeting. The dummy warhead landed in Pacific waters near Tuvalu last month.

Naoero (formerly Nauru) and Kiribati, which have strong ties to Beijing, were understood to be the members which did not support a statement on it. Both those countries were also understood to be isolated from the wider collective for their stance in Suva.

Naoero’s President David Adeang confirmed this morning he would be in Koror.

Wale forced to return home
Meanwhile, Wale did make it to Palau, however he was forced to return home after a motion of no confidence was filed against his leadership.

Samoa, Vanuatu and New Caledonia are also not represented in Palau at leadership level. Instead, their delegations are being led by deputy leaders or senior ministers.

There is also uncertainty over Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka’s attendance. He has had to remain in Suva due to urgent domestic issues It sounds unlikely that he will make it.

The absence of several leaders at the meeting is being described by Australian and New Zealand media as a “regional turmoil” and a “blow to regional unity”.

But, despite the reduction in leadership-level representation, the PIF Secretariat — which is the engine room of the PIF — says progress at this week’s meeting would be significant and enduring.

Secretariat deputy secretary general Esala Nayasi told media this morning issues being tabled at the leaders’ meeting, which officially kicks off tonight, “have gone through [the PIF] officials’ meeting, and also [the PIF] Foreign Ministers’ meeting.

“So they have been quietly deliberated on, [and] their national positions that have been shared.

Come with a mandate
“We would expect, for those that are in the room — whether leaders or represented at ministerial level — they would come with also mandate to speak on their issues.

“We have comfort in our processes to deliver outcomes that is consistent and aligned on key issues.”

Nayasi was asked whether Kiribati’s decision not to send a minister could be characterised as a boycott. The Micronesian island nation is being represented by David Teaabo, the Director of Foreign Service and the former Ambassador to China.

Nayasi said that was not the view of the secretariat, and pointed to the fact Maamau was joining in a session today virtually.

“There’s no view or thought whatsoever of any case of that,” he said.

Nayasi also told reporters he would have an updated list on Tuesday morning of confirmed attendees.

Meanwhile, the meeting’s opening ceremony will be held at the Palau National Gymnasium this evening.

The week will build up to the leaders’ retreat on Thursday, where the heads of the 18 members’ delegations spend the day together without any outside parties, including their own advisers.

The 55th Pacific Islands Forum leaders meeting officially kicks off tonight in Koror, Palau.

The runway leading in is already proving eventful, with at least one partner withdrawing its leader last-minute.

For those who are not acclimatised, the mugginess of Koror’s 30 degree heat is stifling.

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After five minutes in the sun, you’re sweating and whatever you’re carrying feels a few kilos heavier. Finding relief, even if it’s momentary, quickly becomes a priority.

The fury at which geopolitics is wrapped into this year’s Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) leaders’ meeting is a lot like Koror’s heat — even though you can’t see it, it’s all-encompassing and impossible to avoid.

Already, questions have been raised over the last-minute withdrawal of Kiribati President Taaneti Maamau. Now, it is also uncertain whether Naoero (formerly Nauru) President David Adeang will be attending as planned.

Maamau’s late withdrawal, and the current lack of certainty around Naeoro’s President Adeang, goes to the heart of problems around unity and outside interference in the PIF.

Lack of agreement
At the end of the PIF foreign ministers’ meeting in Suva earlier this month, the lack of agreement from members over a statement condemning China’s missile test dominated headlines.

The dummy warhead landed in Pacific waters near Tuvalu last month.

Naoero and Kiribati, which have strong ties to Beijing, were understood to be the members which did not support a statement on it. Both those countries were also understood to be isolated from the wider collective for their stance in Suva.

The lack of agreement means the issue of a statement on the missile testing was deferred to Koror. In the last few weeks, officials across the region have been working on a statement that is due to be submitted and considered this week by leaders.

Despite that, four PIF states — Australia, New Zealand, Palau and Marshall Islands — decided to go their own way after the Suva meeting and sign a joint statement released by the US government criticising China for the missile testing.

Palau and Marshall Islands, alongside Tuvalu, are the three PIF states which have formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan.

New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters, who is representing his government in Koror before Prime Minister Christopher Luxon arrives, made his displeasure over the lack of a result in Suva clear at the time.

No reasons laid out
“They didn’t actually lay out any reasons, apart from their disagreement, and not wishing for us to make the clear statement such as ‘we are opposed to missiles being fired into the Pacific.

“That’s what the statement should have said, and we’re still waiting for that to get laid out.”

It seems that disharmony has rolled straight from Suva into the beautiful islands of Palau.

Maamau’s decision not to attend this week, and instead send David Teaabo, his Director of Foreign Service and the former ambassador to China, means any potential statement on missile testing will not have sign-off from Kiribati’s top representative or an elected official.

It also sends a clear message over Maamau’s current discontent with the PIF. And if Naeoro’s Adeang also withdraws, there will be concerns over unity and stability of the PIF — particularly as that will leave the week short two leaders from the Micronesia bloc.

Furthermore, alongside a potential missile statement, there are high hopes for leaders to agree on the specifics of the partnerships policy which was endorsed by leaders in Solomon Islands’ last year.

The policy means the PIF partners, currently 21 dialogue partners and a group of development partners, would be divided into tier one and tier two, with the top tier having greater access to member states.

Key dialogue partners
Unsurprisingly, the behemoths-in-the room on this agenda issue is where China and the US would sit. Both are dialogue partners under the current set-up and have high-level representation in Koror.

China has its Special Envoy for Pacific Island Countries Affairs, Qian Bo, on the ground, while Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau is leading the US delegation.

Taiwan, which is currently a PIF development partner, will also be jostling for a place in the tier system. It has sent its Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung to Koror, along with a large delegation to Palau.

Notably, Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka has also withdrawn from his planned schedule in Koror last-minute due to urgent domestic issues, however he may still arrive later in the week for the leaders’ retreat.

Early yesterday, Solomon Islands Prime Minister Matthew Wale also left Palau after less than 24 hours after a motion of no confidence was tabled back home against him. Wale is the current Chair of the Pacific Islands Forum, who was supposed to hand over the chairmanship to Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr in Palau.

Sāmoa, New Caledonia, and Vanuatu have also decided not to send leaders, however this was signalled in advance, and the states’ delegations are headed by deputy prime ministers or senior ministers.

With such significant issues due to be discussed this week, framed and threatened by the burgeoning geopolitical tension between the US and China, a lack of appropriate representation from PIF members does not bode well.

Genuine consensus and open debate among all members is critical in the current climate, particularly as outside interests continue to exert influence in pursuit of their own agendas.

Fiji is now in a generalised HIV epidemic, which means the virus is firmly established and spreading within the general population.

The number of people living with HIV in Fiji has risen sharply over the past decade.

Fiji’s Health Minister Dr Ratu Atonio Lalabalavu declared an HIV outbreak in January 2025.

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The number of Fijians living with HIV had risen to at least 9000, or nearly 1 percent of the population, as of March, according to the head of Fiji’s HIV response.

The figures indicate that Fiji has a higher HIV prevalence rate than Australia and New Zealand, where the rate is estimated at 0.1 percent.

In Parliament this week, the Health Minister revealed that new infections continued to rise, with an estimated 1700 in 2025, roughly three times the level in 2018.

“2026 UNAIDS estimates indicate that about 9100 people were living with HIV in 2025, and possibly as many as 12,000, up from fewer than 700 in 2010,” he said.

“[For] adults from 15 to 49 years, prevalence has reached 1.6 percent, crossing the threshold that defines a generalised epidemic.”

Dr Lalabalavu said his ministry had increased testing and treatment, but Fiji had not yet reached the point where new infections were declining.

He said the government was expanding HIV testing, treatment and prevention, including PrEP, a daily medicine that helps prevent HIV.

The minister noted that high-risk drug use, in particular sharing of needles and syringes, was playing a significant role in the rapid rise of new HIV infections in Fiji.

“We have not yet reached the turning point,” he said.

Papua New Guinea’s Foreign Minister says he expects the issue of West Papua will be discussed at the upcoming Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) leaders meeting in Palau.

This comes as the issue of human rights abuses and conflict in Indonesian-ruled Papua region, often known internationally as West Papua, appeared to have slipped off the regional agenda.

After the PIF foreign ministers met in Suva earlier this month, there was no mention of West Papua in the meeting’s outcome statement.

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Most of the talk was about regional security arrangements and the region’s response, or lack thereof, to a recent Chinese nuclear-capable interballistic missile test into Pacific waters.

West Papua is a standing item on the Forum’s agenda, but has generated a decreasing amount of discussion in the past several years as Indonesia strengthened ties with Pacific Island countries.

However, PNG’s Foreign Minister Justin Tkatchenko has indicated to RNZ Pacific that the West Papua issue will be discussed by Pacific leaders in Koror next month.

There has been little to no apparent progress after Forum leaders last year tasked the Forum Secretariat to work constructively with Indonesia on a proposed visit to West Papua by PIF leaders envoys in 2026, in consultation with the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) Secretariat.

Stalled PIF progress denied
Tkatchenko denied that Indonesia had stalled progress on a proposed visit by Forum leader envoys to West Papua.

“No, I don’t think [Indonesia had stalled progress] at all,” he said.

“Indonesia is very open to the situation now. I think it’s just making a time and date and making it happen. I’m sure it can be brought up in the next meeting in Palau by the leaders, and if they need to work on that, so be it.”

However, there has also been a clear lack of action on a PIF resolution in 2019 to request Indonesia grant access to West Papua for the UN Human Rights Commissioner to come and look into alleged abuses.

Tkatchenko said Indonesia’s government under new President Prabowo Subianto has been open about Papua issues.

However, he said the escalating violent conflict between Indonesian military and West Papuan independence fighters in recent months had not came up for discussion in Suva.

“Well nothing was mentioned at the Pacific Island Forum Foreign Ministers Meeting in that regard, but I did make it clear that we respect the sovereignty of Indonesia, and we did elevate them for the leaders to ensure that Indonesia was in a strategic relationship with all Pacific Island Forum’s members.”

The Foreign Minister suggested Indonesia’s role at the Forum could be a growing one, “as they hold 20 million Melanesians in Indonesia, which is bigger than all of the Pacific Islands and us put together”.

“So, they hold a very important place when it comes to the representation of Melanesians in the whole of the Pacific, and especially in the Pacific Island Forum. So, that was put forward and mentioned, and the leaders will discuss that in Palau in the next coming weeks.”

PNG relationship with Indonesia
Tkatchenko said that from a PNG perspective, they had made it clear to their neighbour that they were willing to help Indonesia address its problems in Papua, if they would like help.

“And we have the indications through the new president of Indonesia and the Foreign Minister’s discussions with myself that things are moving forward for the betterment of West Papuans now and into the future.

The PNG minister was reluctant to point fingers at Indonesia over the unrest in its Papuan provinces, particularly Highland Papua.

“We have our own issues, too. I mean, we’ve had massacres and very unfortunate tribal wars and conflicts between our own people in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea that would equal or outdo what is happening in Indonesia.

“So we have our own law and order problems that we are also trying to address in that regard.

“But any human rights violation, of course, is always a worry, depending on what the circumstance is. And you know, they are our brothers and sisters, and we are concerned. And if the Indonesians need our assistance, so be it.”

Pacific Islands Forum leaders are due to meet in Palau at the start of September.

Cross-border help
Meanwhile, Tkatchenko said PNG Foreign Affairs officials had been in Jakarta finalising a cross-border treaty, which allows for help to PNG’s Ok Tedi mine in Western Province near the international border.

“The Ok Tedi mine at the moment’s in a bit of strife where the river has now basically dried up and has now gone from a river to a creek. So, the freight, bringing all the freight and goods and fuel to Ok Tedi has now ceased because of the river not being able to access proper water depths to flow the boats and barges up to the appropriate points.

“We have now got a road going through and bridges going through Indonesia for them to access fuel and goods and everything in from Indonesia.

“We have all agreed, and and this is also working with all the West Papuan landowners and the Indonesians, and of course our agreement that we have signed just recently.”

The Fiji Police Force has yet to charge any suspects four months after the alleged murder of the reportedly infamous Jone Vakarisi while he was in military custody.

Vakarisi, 37, who was widely known for being on the wrong side of the law and reportedly linked to criminal networks, died on April 17 after being taken for questioning by soldiers to the Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF) headquarters in Suva.

His death was initially attributed to pre-existing conditions by the RFMF commander Ro Jone Kalouniwai, who was later forced to issue a “correction” when police classified Vakarisi’s death as murder after a copy of Vakarisi’s death certificate was leaked online, exposing massive blunt force trauma to his head and chest.

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Vakarisi’s sister Melehola Tagaga told RNZ Pacific Waves at the time that he begged for his life at the military barracks in Suva before allegedly being “bruatlised to death”.

Several weeks later in May, Kalouniwai admitted that the RFMF was “at fault” for Vakarisi’s death, describing it as an “unintentional” and “regrettable” incident.

However, more than 120 days after Vakarisi’s death, an active murder investigation remains open, while no one has been charged or presented in court.

In late July, the Fiji Sun reported that the case file on Vakarisi’s death was expected to be forwarded to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

investigators ‘completing interviews’
“Police Commissioner Rusiate Tudravu confirmed yesterday that investigators were completing interviews with those involved before finalising the file,” the newspaper reported on July 21.

“I can state that people need to trust the process that we are following. Investigation has been done,” Tudravu was quoted as saying.

Earlier this month, the police commissioner told local reporters that investigators continue to carry out house-to-house inquiries, collect witness statements, and examine forensic evidence as the probe intensifies.

He also called for “patience, understanding, and continued public support” for the joint police and military taskforce.

Local and international human rights groups condemned Vakarisi’s death in military custody, saying it reflected a “culture of impunity” within Fiji’s military forces.

Amnesty International’s Pacific researcher Kate Schuetze said the RFMF’s shifting excuses regarding Vakarisi’s death raised “more questions than answers”.

The Fiji High Court has ruled that the Commission of Inquiry report into the appointment of Barbara Malimali as FICAC Commissioner, in its entirety, is null and void.

Justice Dane Tuiqereqere also found that the COI report was unlawful, and that its adverse findings were irrational and it has been quashed

It has also been found that President Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu and Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka failed to provide the applicants with natural justice.

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Malimali challenged the report with former Attorney-General Graham Leung, and lawyers Wylie Clarke and Laurel Vaurasi.

Local media said the judge has determined that the President, the Prime Minister and the Commission of Inquiry, breached principles of natural justice for not giving the applicants the opportunity to respond to the adverse findings against them.

Fiji Village News said Justice Tuiqereqere ruled that the work of the Commission of Inquiry after 1 February 2025, including the report, is ultra vires or unlawful.

He found that the extension of the Commission of Inquiry beyond 31 January 2025 was ineffective.

As a result, the actions of the Commissioner after that date, including the completion of his report dated 1 May 2025, were unlawful, Fiji Village News stated.

Justice Tuiqereqere has also found that adverse findings and recommendations against the applicants including Malimali, former Attorney-General Graham Leung and lawyers Wylie Clarke and Laurel Vaurasi were unlawful, including those relating to a meeting at the FICAC office on 5 September 2024.

‘Praise God for the win’
The applicants had further challenged the decision by the President, on the advice of the Prime Minister, to release the Commission of Inquiry report publicly.

Malimali and her lawyer Tanya Waqanika are on the island of Kadavu and responded to the ruling in a Facebook post, saying justice had been served.

“Praise God for the win,” Waqanika said in her post.

“It has been a hard battle fighting to clear Barbara Malimali’s name from the COI taxpayer funded $4m (and counting) crocodile hunting failed expedition.

“Barbara Malimali and me are here in my village and we just received the news that we WON our HBJ No 9/26 Judicial Review case against the Fiji Government (well, all the Respondents names are Govt representatives).

The judge also said the COI Chair, David Ashton-Lewis, should have provided a draft of the adverse findings against the applicants to them and an opportunity to respond before compiling the report.

The Commission of Inquiry was the brainchild of Rabuka.

In June, the High Court rejected the Prime Minister’s attempt to stall its ruling that the country’s former anti-corruption chief was illegally sacked.

In February, Justice Dane Tuiqereqere found that the President — on the advice of the Prime Minister — “unlawfully” dismissed Barbara Malimali, the head of FICAC