Issue No: 126; 18 October 2000
The elected Prime Minister, Mahendra Chaudhry returned to Fiji last night after a successful mission that took him to
Australia, New Zealand, India, UK, Europe, Canada and the US.
The PM gave a press conference an hour after arrival where he reiterated that no country can survive without democracy.
He said: "the international community wants democracy as soon as possible and no country, not even Fiji, has a future
without democracy".
Hundreds of supporters, together with Presidents of the Fiji Labour Party Jokapeci Koroi and the PANU, Ratu Sairusi
Nagagavoka, converged at the Nadi International Airport to welcome the Prime Minister, who was taken out of the airport
complex by the regime's protocol officers through the VIP gates. They later converged at the Mocambo Hotel where the PM
stayed overnight.
Meanwhile, today's Daily Post wrote a gutter level editorial calling the PM "Tu Ma", (standing for Ratu Mahend) a term
which terrorist Apisai Tora used to refer to him when Tora lost the 1999 election. The editorial went to the extent of
saying "the total effect of the campaign you did abroad . was far worse than what George Speight and his mob did when
they threw out democracy on May 19". The Daily Post is partly government owned; its acting editor Mesake Koroi is a
close relative of interim regime Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase.
END
Regime Ministers Absent From Lau Meeting
Issue No: 128; 18 October 2000
The interim regime did not attend the Lau Provincial Council meeting which just ended on the Ono-i-Lau island.
It is believed that the Lau Provincial Council sent word to the interim Prime Minister that he and his delegation were
not welcomed to observe the meeting. Reliable sources say that the interim Prime Minister, Laisenia Qarase, and three
other ministers had planned to go to Ono-I-Lau to attend the meeting. They later argued that they could not go because
of bad weather. Privately it is understood that they stated the possibility of a military intervention last Friday as
the reason for them to stay in Suva.
The Lau Provincial Council passed a resolution of support for Qarase as a son of Lau, while its Chairman, Ratu Sir
Kamisese Mara made a scathing attack on Lauans who participated in the May 19 terrorist activities.
END