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As military dictators go Bainimarama ain’t that bad

by Tracey Spicer

25 Aug 05:55am

Filed under: Dictatorships, Fiji, Frank Bainimarama, Politics

9 comments

If there was an award for ‘most popular military dictator’ Commodore Frank Bainimarama would win hands down.

What's not to love. Frank Bainimarama kills time during a coup. Photo: Renee Nowytarger

Muammar al-Gaddafi came close by hugging the Lockerbie bomber this week, but his habit of farting like a horse – and murdering thousands of his own people – relegated him to second.

Fiji’s coup leader, and Prime Minister, is viewed by the international community as a paranoid, unpredictable maverick.

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Sam says:

05:21pm | 30/09/09

Tracey, Re: Gaddafi “and murdering thousands of his own people – relegated him to second”... What are you refering to? The bloodless coup in 1969? care to provide a link or back up your “murder” claim with some evidence? I’m curious, because it sounds like libel to me, and having… Read more »
Tracey says:

02:03pm | 26/08/09

Jeremy, I appreciate your opinion. But for the record, I didn’t speak to people ‘the regime wanted me to speak to’. My conclusions were drawn from chatting to many, many locals in the course of travelling through the country. There were no official ‘interviews’ lined up by government representatives. I… Read more »