Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka has indicated that he is prepared to demote his deputy prime minister and finance minister, Biman Prasad, to the backbench if he faces charges from the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC). Prasad is currently being investigated by FICAC for allegedly failing to declare all of his assets, income, and liabilities prior to the last election.
Rabuka mentioned that he has previously set a similar precedent with a former Minister for Fisheries, Kalaveti Ravu, who now serves as a backbencher. The Prime Minister noted that former Deputy FICAC Commissioner Francis Puleiwai, who unexpectedly resigned on Thursday, had authorized Prasad’s arrest on the same day.
Rabuka stated, “Yes, that is the standing procedure with me and Professor Biman Prasad had already briefed me on the possibility. There is nothing executive about that; that’s what she has said to the media. It did not come to us that he had been arrested. As soon as he is arrested, it will come to me, and when he is charged, he will have to carry out what is stated in the laws.”
In response to the investigation, Prasad said that the matter is now with his lawyer, and he refrained from making further comments. “My lawyers have been handling the complaint from the beginning, and they have communicated with FICAC, clarifying that there is no basis to the allegations and no grounds for charges,” he stated. “That’s where the matter ends for me, and I don’t wish to make any further comments.”
Fiji Sun attempted to contact the newly appointed FICAC Commissioner Barbara Malimali regarding whether she would reassess the charges against Mr. Prasad, but she has yet to respond before this edition went to press. Malimali is the second individual appointed to this significant role, with Rashmi Aslam serving as the first FICAC Commissioner since the agency’s establishment in 2007, taking office in 2012.