In Brief: Regime leader’s party registered

Fiji’s Prime Minister, Rear Admiral Frank Bainimarama, has lodged an application to register his proposed Fiji First political party.

Regime leader’s party registered

FIJI – Fiji’s Prime Minister, Rear Admiral Frank Bainimarama, has lodged an application to register his proposed Fiji First political party. Rear Admiral Bainimarama submitted the application, with more than 40,000 signatures, to the elections supervisor, Mohammed Saneem, in Suva. Fiji Village also reports that Dr Jiko Luveni has been appointed the president of the proposed party, with the Attorney General, Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum, the general secretary. The two vice presidents are Tui Macuata, Ratu Wiliame Katonivere, and the former Labour Party senator Bijai Prasad. Prasad says he left Labour to join Fiji First over differences with the Labour leader, Mahendra Chaudhry. Bainimarama says people from all walks of life signed up for his proposed party during his recent nationwide registration tour. The police have said they are investigating a complaint the prime minister has breached the electoral decree by campaigning before his party was registered.

At odds over drug gang allegations

PAPUA NEW GUINEA – A Papua New Guinea police commander says there is no evidence of West African drug gangs operating on the border with Australia in the Torres Strait. SBS reports that Australian Immigration Minister Scott Morrison last week warning that African organised criminal groups in PNG were an emerging threat. The just released Australian Crime Commission’s annual Illicit Drug Report, makes no mention of PNG or the Torres Strait. Morrison has been quoted saying he plans to plug the gap and match the criminals with a fleet of new boats for high-speed pursuits up rivers and over reef systems. But SBS reports the Western Province police commander Chief Inspector Silva Sika saying drugs and gun smuggling mostly originate in the Highlands region.

Strong El Nino predicited this year

New zealand – The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research in New Zealand, or NIWA, says an El Nino weather pattern is likely to develop in the Pacific mid-year. A scientist, Andrew Lorrey, says El Nino occurs every three to seven years, and there are some indications that this year’s could be a particularly strong event. Dr Lorrey says during El Nino, the South Pacific Convergence Zone (SPCZ) rainband shifts north of where it usually sits, which can result in changes in rainfall patterns, sea-surface temperatures and tropical cyclone occurences. “Some of those countries might see unseasonably high rainfall, which normally sit to the north of the SPCZ rainband. And in addition, we typically see tropical cyclone activity increase for countries east to the dateline in El Nino years.”

‘No snooping’, says Fiji election head

FIJI – The Fiji Election Supervisor, Mohammed Saneem, has told Fiji media that his office will not spy on voters to police Section 63 of the regime’s Electoral Decree. The regime threatens people in Fiji with up to ten years in jail if they are caught making an election-related comment on the phone or via the internet in the two days before the September election. Saneem, who is tasked with enforcing the decree, said that certain activities are not monitored by his office. Last month, a Vodafone spokesperson said it lacked the facilities to monitor calls and text messages, and its process for accessing phone records could only be done through a police or court search warrant.

Strong earthquake felt in Solomons

SOLOMON ISLANDS – Another strong earthquake has been felt in Solomon Islands. A tsunami alert was issued for Makira Province The jolt was short and sharp and caused people to run out of their homes and offices and some to run for higher ground. The United States Geological Survey recorded a magnitude 5.3 quake 41 kilometres south south west of Honiara at 2.24am. Solomon Islands was hit by a series of strong earthquakes and aftershocks last month as it recovered from devastating floods.