The military council and the Methodist Church

The Military Council and the Methodist Church
The surprise announcement by the dictator (telegraphed all the way from Vanuatu!) that he wiii now meet with Methodist Church leaders tells us three important things.
First, the reversal is a sure sign that Frank’s bluff has been called.
Second, it throws a revealing light on the ongoing power struggle within the RFMF and the vital role of the shadowy Military Council in determining how Frank deals with the Methodists.
And third, it backs up freedom blog reports that Land Forces Commander, Pita Driti, was ordered by the dictator to take leave after being observed hob-nobbing with former Methodist Church head, the outspoken Reverend Manasa Lasaro.
When Frank Bainimarama decided to take on the Methodist Church, he blundered into double trouble because his military are overwhelmingly followers of the Methodist faith.
The ensuing split in the RFMF over the dictator-versus-Methodist Church confrontation goes right through the middle of the armed forces and even extends all the way up to the Military Council.
The Military Council is the body which Bainimarama said on 6 December 2006 would exist only until such time as an interim government was appointed. But it lives to this day.
We should not forget that it was the Military Council that ultimately prevailed over the dictator, forcing him against his will to sack the interim finance minister, Mahendra Pal Chaudhry.
On Tuesday, as soon as Frank was out of the country on his way to Vanuatu, the Military Council once again demonstrated that it has a mind of its own.
It did nothing to stop the Standing Committee of the Methodist Church from convening a meeting, despite the fact that such a gathering was in clear breach of the PER.
The mentally challenged and over-promoted Lieutenant-Colonel Neumi Leweni threatened members of the Standing Committee with arrest if the meeting went ahead, but nothing happened!
That’s because the Military Council deliberately sat on its hands, which gave the Standing Committee a “Leave Pass” and made Leweni’s shrill threats sound as hollow as his stupid head.
This monumental cock-up at the highest levels of our illegal military regime leaves the dictator very exposed. His authority has been seriously undermined.
He now knows that his meeting with the Methodist Church leadership will be crucial to his survival.
And that’s not just because he bit off more than he can chew by engineering a confrontation with our biggest religious body.
The other crucial issue facing the dictator in this unfolding dramais the prospect of another standoff with the Military Council.
And that makes you very, very nervous, doesn’t it Frank?
Fiji Democracy Now