Biman Mum On Coup Position

National Federation Party (NFP) leader Biman Prasad has chosen not to reveal the reason why the NFP failed to stick to its word on working with coup leaders .

Mr Prasad, in the lead up to the 2014 and 2018 General Elections, strongly condemned coups and coup makers.

The NFP had told its supporters then, that they would never support coups and the unlawful removal of any democratically elected government.

In 2014, the then Acting NFP General Secretary, Kamal Iyer, in a statement responding to the Fiji Sun said the NFP hasn’t, isn’t and would never support any act that removes democratically elected governments unlawfully.

In the same statement, Mr Iyer had specifically mentioned Mr Rabuka’s name saying that it was unfortunate that Mr Rabuka believed that the coup culture that plagued Fiji since 1987, has made every Fijian believe that it was better to overthrow governments with the barrel of the gun.

In April 2020, while speaking in parliament, NFP leader Biman Prasad said: “I have never supported a coup in this country and I have never supported a coup-led government.”

However, in April this year, NFP leader Mr Prasad and The PA leader, who was also the 1987 coup instigator, Sitiveni Rabuka, signed a Memorandum of Understanding that supports the work the two parties would undertake in a postelection coalition.

In a campaign meeting in Tavua earlier in the year, Mr Prasad had said despite the events of 1987, he trusts The People’s Alliance party leader Sitiveni Rabuka to take the country forward.

“Yes, we remember ‘87. We know what happened 35 years ago, but we also know that Mr Rabuka, after the 1992 election, worked with our then leader Jai Ram Reddy who was the leader of the Opposition,” Mr Prasad told voters in the campaign meeting.

“They worked together and brought the 1997 Constitution. Mr Rabuka invited Mr Jai Ram Reddy, the first Indian leader to go and address the Great Council of Chiefs,” he said.

When questioned on why he did not say the above in the lead up to the 2014 and 2018 election, Mr Prasad said: “Fiji Sun has been biased towards NFP and I have said this, if Fiji Sun comes out clean and says like CFL and Fiji Times to be independent and they don’t have favourites, they don’t favour any political party, then I will start talking to the