Rabuka’s Legacy – Tossing Democracy, Devaluing Fijian Dollar
Social Democratic Liberal Party (SODELPA) interim leader Sitiveni Rabuka delivering a lecture on democracy is the height of hypocrisy.
He stood in Parliament and lectured: “We also probably heard or read about the Battle of Marathon where the big mighty army was defeated by the small army of Athens. A messenger had to run with the message all the way from the battlefield to the Senate that was sitting in Athens that afternoon. He ran 26 miles and 385 yards to deliver the message that they had won and died after delivering this message. That was the beginning of what we call now ‘democracy’ or ‘demokratia’ in Greek. Democracy is used internationally or globally now.”
Yes, Mr Rabuka and that is the very democracy you tore apart with your actions of 1987.
Mr Rabuka did not just overthrow the democratically elected Bavadra Government, he later went on to overthrow the chiefs; he completely disregarded the decisions made by chiefs for him to return to the barracks. Today, he wants people to think that his respect for democracy and chiefs have changed. He started the culture of coups in Fiji. He sat a dangerous precedence and here we are today, still paying for his bad decisions.
His lectures on democracy sounds very, very empty, especially if we remember that had it not been for the precedence sat by him in 1987, Fiji today would have been very different.
Before his rape of democracy in 1987, Fiji’s currency was stronger than the US dollar.
The person responsible for the largest contraction of the Fijian economy prior to COVID-19, is now wanting to set up a committee to revive the economy.
Because of his actions, there were three devaluation of the Fijian dollar – twice in 1987 and once when he was Prime Minister in 1999.
What does devaluation mean and how does it affect the people?
Devaluation is an arbitrary reduction in the value of one’s currency. It means that it is now worth much less than other foreign currencies. A weaker Fijian Dollar means that imported goods now cost more. It means that people will be able to buy less with the same income or wages. Given that we don’t produce all the goods, it makes everyone poor.
The Fijian Dollar was devalued by 33 per cent in 1987 and 20 per cent in 1999. So, in total, the Fijian Dollar was devalued by around 53 per cent by the direct actions of Mr Rabuka! Imagine the Fijian Dollar today that would be twice the value. It would be almost at par with the US Dollar. It would mean that fuel price would be less than $1/liter. This is Mr Rabuka’s legacy – the rape of democracy, collapse of the National Bank of Fiji and three devaluations.
He is the last person to lecture us on democracy.