Fiji TV says sorry for not making Bainimarama a winner

Michael Field

Fiji’s military dictator Voreqe Bainimarama has won an apology from the country’s free to air broadcaster after it ran a personality phone texting competition in which he came second.

Fiji TV subsequently changed the result giving Bainimarama the winning personality of the year award and stripping it from the original winner, Premila Kumar of the Consumer Council.

Bainimarama, who ended democracy with an armed coup in 2006 and refuses to restore democracy until 2014, said the text polling, was undemocratic.

He claimed Fiji TV closed the competition a day early and did not count 1500 votes that had all come in for Bainimarama a day after it closed.

Anti-regime blog sites claim all the votes came in from two mobile phones used by the military.

When Kumar’s triumph was first announced on January 1, the regime's attorney general Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum complained to the Commerce Commission and also ordered an inquiry by the military created Media Development Authority "in respect of unethical practices".

Fiji TV changed the result on January 7.

On Friday Commerce Commission chairman Mahendra Reddy ruled Fiji TV had breached a military commerce decree and demanded it issue a public apology during the top segment of its news broadcast. It has carried the apology this weekend.

He ordered that all money made on the promotion be given back and apologise to 10 people who scored votes in the competition.

Without giving the numbers of the votes, Reddy said those submitted the day after Fiji TV closed the competition were not counted.

The blogs claim the 1500 were from two phones with around 800 texts marked “FB” – for Frank Bainimarama – rather than the required “VB”.

The day before the 1500 votes were lodged, Kumar was leading with 464 to Bainimarama’s 200.

22 January 2012 - Sunday Star-Times

 

Fiji dictator angry at losing poll

Michael Field

Fiji’s military dictator Voreqe Bainimarama has ordered two regime inquiries after he failed to win a television text competition for personality of the year.

The regime’s attorney general Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum told a press conference in Suva that the poll result has been changed and Bainimarama is first – beating out a woman who won it on January 1, Premila Kumar of the Fiji Consumer Council.

Bainimarama, who ended democracy with an armed coup in 2006 and refuses to restore democracy until 2014 at the earliest, claims the text polling run by semi-privately owned Fiji TV and Vodafone, was undemocratic.

"The allegation is that members of the public could text in and give their vote and the announcement was going to be made on the first of January,” Sayed-Khaiyum says.

But they closed the poll on December 30 and ignored 1500 votes sent in on December 31 – and almost all of the votes on the last day were for Bainimarama. The uncounted votes appear to make up almost all of the submitted text votes.

Sayed-Khaiyum says Fiji TV has apologised and on January 9 reversed the result awarding the title to Bainimarama.

But the regime has sent a formal complaint to the Commerce Commission and to the Media Development Authority “in respect of unethical practices”.

The authority was established by military decree and has dacronian powers to close down media outlets or force them to change owners – as they did to the Rupert Murdoch owned Fiji Times.

Under the revised Personality of the Year results, Bainimarama apparently scored 1700 votes to Kumar’s 464.

13 January 2012