Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka has indicated that he would not hesitate 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 under investigation for allegedly failing to declare all of his assets, income, and liabilities prior to the last election.
Rabuka referenced his previous decision to demote former Fisheries Minister Kalaveti Ravu to a backbench position as a precedent. The situation escalated when former Deputy FICAC Commissioner Francis Puleiwai, who abruptly resigned on Thursday, gave the green light for Prasad’s potential arrest on the same day.
Rabuka affirmed, “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 comply with the laws.”
Prasad, meanwhile, has stated that his legal team is managing the matter and has opted not to comment further. He remarked, “My lawyers have been handling the complaint from the beginning and have made it very clear that there is no basis in the allegation and no basis for charge. That’s where the matter ends for me.”
The newly appointed FICAC Commissioner, Barbara Malimali, was contacted regarding the potential reassessment of Prasad’s situation but had not responded by the time of publication. Malimali is the second individual to hold this significant role, following Rashmi Aslam, who was the inaugural FICAC Commissioner since the agency’s establishment in 2007.