FIJI: It's All True, Says Rabuka

It's All True, Says Rabuka

SUVA: Former Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka maintained that the new and controversial insights in his biography, Rabuka of Fiji, were all true, the Fiji Sun reports.

He said everything in the book was written in the way he told the author, Australian academic Professor John Sharpham.

Speaking at a press briefing yesterday, Rabuka said the difference between the books No Other Way and Rabuka of Fiji were [that] the former was a "story" while the latter was his "first biography".

Rabuka hinted that while he was the only one involved in the coup, there were others who were only informed but not involved.

Rabuka said he had nothing to do with other plans for another biography on him.

He said his book would be good reading material for students of politics.

"Not only has it revealed my person, my thoughts, my beliefs and my struggles, it also gives a background to the politics of our nations and the politics of the region," Rabuka said.

"I now propose that it is time that people of the newly independent states in the Pacific re-look at themselves, their democratic compositions and the constitution handed to them during independence.

"I propose that perhaps it is time that these newly independent nations do a political audit to see whether the applicability of their constitutions handed to them at independence still applies.

"We need to stay abreast with developments and democratic developments and compositions. Leaders of the Pacific need to keep in constant touch with developments in their own country and the developments around them," Rabuka said.

He said Pacific leaders should not be nationalistic in their leadership but rule with broad perspectives.

Meanwhile, a former [unnamed] army officer [who took part in the May 1987 coup] has claimed Rabuka is set to make money from the sale of his book.

The army officer, who is now a law graduate, was part of the May 1987 coup. He spoke to the Sun yesterday saying that Rabuka had "forgotten" about those who had helped him complete his mission.

"The sad thing is that we were never given any explanations about the exercise, or the consequences," he said.

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