Do not listen to the sweet voice of the snake - Bainimarama

Do not listen to the sweet voice of the snake.

This was stressed by the Prime Minister and FijiFirst Leader Voreqe Bainimarama while responding to Rabuka’s comments on his reasons for returning to politics.

While speaking in the iTaukei language, Bainimarama says that Rabuka is comparing his leadership to a ship that ran aground a few years ago and that Rabuka himself has come to lead us.

He says that people should not listen to the snake’s voice as it comes to take our ship and run it aground permanently.

Bainimarama says that when Rabuka was the captain of our ship and was in the leadership position for about 7 years, he took us to a very bad place.

He says that Rabuka started the talks about coup in 1987 that brought about racial differences which resulted in the ill-treatment of Indo Fijians.

Bainimarama says that Rabuka continues to preach from a pulpit, but has forgotten the discrimination that happened against Indo Fijians.

Bainimarama says he came along to fix all this.

He says that Rabuka has a lot of reasons on why they carried out the 1987 coup.

The Prime Minister says that one of those reasons given by Rabuka is because he was told by the Great Council Of Chiefs to conduct the 1987 coup and another reason he told the military was that he did this to stop the destruction that will be done in town.

He says some people from Dreketi had asked Rabuka why he conducted the coup and he said that he was told by the GCC.

Bainimarama says that another reason he shared while speaking on Straight Talk with our News Director Vijay Narayan was that it was his decision to conduct the coup as he wanted the Alliance Government to come back and he did not want Bavadra’s government.

He says that Rabuka is only saying all this to get votes from the iTaukei.

Bainimarama says that Rabuka stated that he did not like Bavadra’s leadership because someone else will be behind Bavadra who will be calling the shots just like this current government, adding that there is the Prime Minister but someone else is leading.

He says that he wants to tell Rabuka that it ends here, as this has always been the old Rabuka and not even the new Rabuka.

Bainimarama says this is the same Rabuka that conducted the 1987 coups and the Rabuka that the military knows that was part of the 2000 coup.

Meanwhile SODELPA Leader, Sitiveni Rabuka spoke about his return to politics in the SODELPA Rally in Lautoka.

Rabuka said that when he felt that Fiji hit a reef, he decided to come back.

Rabuka also shared a story he vividly recalls of being on board a patrol boat that hit a reef and he compared the captain of that ship to the current Prime Minister.