PM pays tribute to late Ratu Joni Madriwiwi in Parliament

Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama says the late former Vice President and the Turaga Roko Tui Bau, Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi was a great and learned man.

While offering his condolences on behalf of the government and the FijiFirst in parliament today, Bainimarama also quoted some write ups of the late Ratu Joni.

He says at an Education Workshop in Suva, Ratu Joni said that it was a mistake to view indigenous rights as superior to human rights in general.

Bainimarama says Ratu Joni said the ILO Convention 169 concerning indigenous and tribal people in independent countries clearly stated that indigenous rights were not separate from human rights, and could not be asserted at their expense.

The Prime Minister says Ratu Joni said that articles referring to a self-contained system of governance for indigenous people were for traditional and cultural matters, and did not legitimise or authorise indigenous supremacy.

Bainimarama says Ratu Joni rejected arguments by some politicians that when the United Kingdom granted independence to Fiji in 1970, they should have handed power back to the chiefs - calling this position legally untenable.

He says Ratu Joni opposed calls for the establishment of a Christian State in Fiji, saying that it would hinder a correct relationship between the overwhelmingly Christian i-Taukei and mainly Hindu and Muslim Indo Fijian community.

The Prime Minister went on to say that the late Ratu Joni once called on his fellow chiefs to maximise the effectiveness of income generated through tourist facilities built on native owned land.

He says that Ratu Joni had also said at the NFP Meeting that the message must be the NFP’s willingness to embrace a more inclusive and non-racial type of politics that is more substantial than merely having an i-Taukei as President of a party.

Bainimarama says Ratu Joni was the Vice President after the events of 2000 and he tried very hard to work a way out between Bainimarama who was the Army Commander and the then Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase in the impasse that was in place then but Bainimarama says unfortunately Qarase could not commit himself to the two issues which Bainimarama and Ratu Joni believed would bring about racial division and the loss of economy.

He says the rest is history.