Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka sporting a gold Rolex watch (circled). Photo: Facebook / Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka
Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka has refused to answer allegations that he received a FJ$150,000 (about NZ$113,000) Rolex watch in exchange for pardoning a wealthy businessman facing criminal charges.
Photos of Rabuka flaunting the gold bling have been circulating on socia media and a former prime minister is demanding answers.
Labour leader Mahendra Chaudhry said on the party's Facebook page on Friday that it was time Rabuka came clean.
"It is alleged by a reputable journalist that Rabuka was given the watch after Mahendra Motibhai Patel, the former chairman of Prouds, was pardoned last September on abuse of office charges," he told RNZ Pacific.
"The pardon was unusual and this is a very serious allegation. The Prime Minister must respond," Chaudhry said.
"A gift like this is unheard of, there are provisions in the ministerial code of conduct which lays down rules about accepting gifts and theyhave got to be declared."
"You cannot accept gifts above a certain amount and if they are personal items you need approval for that. But its the Prime Minister who administers that," Chaudhry said.
"Rabuka is expected to table a Code of Conduct bill next week , that would be an opportune time for him to explain."
Fijian-born journalist and blogger Graham Davis, the editor of the Grubsheet blogsite, who was former Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama's press secretary, told RNZ Pacific that the watch is similar to the one Rabuka was given after he instigated two coups in 1987.
"Patel gave Rabuka (then a military colonel) a gold Rolex worth $FJ18,000 after the coups that upended democracy and bought Fiji to its knees," Davis said.
"The Motibhai family of Ba held the franchise for Rolex watches but Rabuka promptly sold the gift," he said.
Davis questions whether Patel,85, has given Rabuka a new one as a "thank you gift", after receiving a presidential pardon on Rabuka's recommendation.
"Patel must be the first criminal in Fijian history to be pardoned after not serving his sentence," Davis said.
According to the government, Patel, a former chairman of Post Fiji, was charged with abuse of office in 2006 and convicted in absentia in November 2014. He was sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment but by that time had already moved to Australia.
Patel submitted a petition to the Mercy Commission in April 2023, which was dismissed.
His lawyers sent the commission a letter for reconsideration of his petition in June 2024 and he was pardoned, contingent on his not reoffending.
In deliberating, the commission took into account his age, the length of time he was away from Fiji, and his substantial contribution to the country as extenuating circumstances.
'Go and ask Rabuka' - Patel
Patel, who lives in Sydney, has denied giving Rabuka a new watch.
"The truth is that nothing has been given, I do not give gifts like that, I do not do that," he told RNZ Pacific.
Asked if he gave Rabuka a Rolex in 1987, he said: "No, I did not give anything to anybody, I have got no other comment to make. If you want to know more about it go and ask Rabuka."
Patel owns The Fiji Times and has a regular Saturday column, in which he has repeatedly flayed the 2013 Constitutution, describing it as "wicked" and a "threat to iTaukei" (indigenous Fijians).
Motibhai Group chief executive Kirit Patel, his cousin, said Proud's Rolex franchise wound down two years ago.
"Mahen is an old man now, he has nothing to do with the business. You should investigate corruption in your own government," he said.
Chaudhry claims corruption in Fiji is widespread.
"Let me tell you, the corruption here is so sickening, right from the bottom to the top, it iss bleeding the country."
"It runs into millions of dollars when you look at government contracts," he said.
RNZ Pacific has contacted Rabuka's office multiple times, but the Prime Minister remains tight-lipped on the issue.
A member of Rabuka's staff said he had been wearing the gold Rolex since before he entered parliament.
