Tui Cakau refuses to speak after statement

The Tui Cakau Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu has refused to say anything to Fijivillage after we contacted him on a statement released by Ratu Naiqama and Marama Na Roko Tui Dreketi Ro Teimumu Kepa.

Fijivillage was alerted about the signed statement released by Ratu Naiqama and Ro Teimumu only to the antigovernment blog sites.

We asked Ratu Naiqama if we can question him on the issues raised in the statement.

He said he will not take any questions and will not make any comments.    
We also asked him why they are only releasing statements on the antigovernment blog sites but he said he will not say anything.

We contacted Ro Teimumu Kepa and when we introduced ourselves, she said that she could not hear us.

We have called her several times but there is no answer.

In the statement, the two chiefs said the international community should not recognize the 2013 Constitution.

They said the original and properly consulted version is the Yash Ghai Draft.

They also said that they have maintained all along that the perpetrators of the 2006 coup will do well to go before the chiefs and the people of Fiji for remorse rather than to rely on the provisions of the new constitution.
 
In the signed statement, the two chiefs said that they will continue to do all they can, within the bounds of what they can do within the laws of the country to campaign for the recognition of the group rights.

They also want the restoration of the Great Council of Chiefs, raised concern on the removal of the name Fijian for indigenous Fijians by Decree and the nationalization of companies established under matanitu iTaukei including all provincial companies and Fijian Holdings Limited.

They said their rights are breached when the reference to indigenous Fijians as Fijians was replaced by the label iTaukei and application of the label Fijian to all citizens of Fiji.

Ro Teimumu Kepa and Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu said those individuals that disagree with native group rights should simply declare their choice, cut off their connection with their native groups and delete their names from their Vola Ni Kawa Bula.

Meanwhile, in an earlier statement, Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama had made it clear during the disestablishment of the Great Council of Chiefs that we should all look at ourselves as citizens of one nation.

He explained why the GCC had to be disestablished.