Joni Madraiwiwi: Trending quotes

“For it is only when we all believe that the Constitution and the rule of law protects all our people and their rights, can these guarantors of rights be assured.”

Joni Madraiwiwi

Speech to the Fiji Law Society, 2 July 2005.

People , Law

“We celebrate who we are although we come from different communities. We are one nation, one people. We have differences and these cause problems and tension at times but we are not on the brink of inter ethnic strife.”

Joni Madraiwiwi

Opening address, Fiji Week celebrations, 7 October 2005.

People , Communication , Problem , Time

“We have survived bitter divisions in our society. Reconciliation requires us to put aside our differences and forgive the injuries done to us just as justice is essential to that equation. Those who have done wrong and broken the law must be punished. There can be no setting to rights or settling of accounts without that element. Until that is done there will be no finality to our collective nightmare. Until we all accept that simple fact the sense of hurt and betrayal continue.”

Joni Madraiwiwi

Our Country at the Crossroads - 2001 Parkinson Memorial Lecture Series, 15 August 2001 http://www.usp.ac.fj/journ/docs/news/wansolnews/wansol1508013.html.

Justice , Law , Forgiveness , Sense

“The strength of Commonwealth lies in its diversity and it to be mindful of bearing economic, social, political and cultural systems which comprise its membership … Its commonality lies in its connection to humanity, in the main it has provided an invariable forum whose members to open and continue meaningful issues of concern.”

Joni Madraiwiwi

Opening address to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association conference in Nadi, 6 September 2005.

“When you (Military personnel) serve in uniform, you serve your country, not your mataqali, yavusa or particular vanua. You serve the larger vanua that encompasses all of us.”

Joni Madraiwiwi

Poppy Drive speech, 21 October 2005.

Country

“Those who decry the rule of law as a Western principle or an imported construct, misunderstand the concept. It is about abiding by a set of standards for the well-being of society as a whole.”

Joni Madraiwiwi

Speech to the Fiji Law Society, 2 July 2005.

Law

“It is not easy to remain motivated in the face of widespread apathy and self-indulgence.”

Joni Madraiwiwi

Speech to the Lautoka Rotary Club (Centenary Dinner), 12 March 2005 http://www.fiji.gov.fj/publish/printer_4326.shtml.

Motivation

“Reconciliation and forgiveness is inextricably linked to the identity and unity we develop as a nation.”

Joni Madraiwiwi

Opening address, Fiji Week celebrations, 7 October 2005.

Forgiveness

“There is some suggestion that the Fijian model ought to be adopted as being the first people, the host culture, the landowners and the majority of the population. I have no issue with that proposition, so long as it is acceptable to all other communities as well.”

Joni Madraiwiwi

Opening address, Fiji Week celebrations, 7 October 2005.

People , Communication

“We must begin to trust each other if this country is to progress the way we want it to. But before that we have to lay the preparatory work to engender that trust by building relationships every day.”

Joni Madraiwiwi

Opening address, Pacific Islands Political Studies Association (PIPSA), 24 November 2005.

Way , Country

“It is not a matter of who can give the most but rather the spirit in which one participates in nation- building. And I apply that term to whatever useful exercise one is doing at any given time.”

Joni Madraiwiwi

Opening address to the Leadership Fiji 2006 program, 9 March 2006.

Exercises , Time

“Until that point (where national unity prevails) is reached, the journey to it must be seen and appreciated for what it is: in a society such as ours where divisions exist both inter-ethnically and within communities the process of nation building of which the rule of law is an integral part requires a deft balancing of priorities in a fair and inclusive manner. This allows everyone to be a part of the challenges that we need to face together. The path to this point has been tortuous and at times strained because we have invariably compromised some of the detail of the rule of law by honouring the letter if not the spirit of the decisions handed down by the courts. However, it has also been a critical learning experience where we have had to combine political reality with legal principle. The result is an imperfect one but the rule of law is stronger for having weathered these sustained assaults on it.”

Joni Madraiwiwi

Siwati Memorial Lecture, Honiara, Solomon Islands, 24 September 2004 http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0409/S00253.htm.

Law , Communication , Reality , Decision

“It will be impossible to achieve this (keeping the people together) if the elders and chiefs have their own way and are too proud of their chiefly status to not bring themselves down to the people.”

Joni Madraiwiwi

Speech to the Lau Provincial Council, 11 May 2005.

People , Way

“To say that power should have been returned to the Fijian chiefs is to ignore what occurred between 1874 and 1970.”

Joni Madraiwiwi

Address to an educational workshop, Suva, 13 July 2005.

“The critical element is inclusiveness. It is only when the model we adopt and implement is one all can accept, can the prospect of genuine and lasting reconciliation be real.”

Joni Madraiwiwi

Opening address, Fiji Week celebrations, 7 October 2005.

“This is a small country with limited resources. Can we afford the time spent on endless debates about ethnicity and identity?”

Joni Madraiwiwi

Opening address to the Tourism Forum at the Sheraton Resort, 7 July 2005.

Time , Country

“There is no denying the powerful emotions appeals to ethnicity can arouse. We need to develop linkages that will subdue or weaken such appeals. This will lie in deepening relationships across ethnic boundaries. It cannot be forced but must be encouraged by all in any position to do so. Because we need to expand and strengthen the interethnic connections which already subsist to mitigate the siren calls of ethnicity when they are made.”

Joni Madraiwiwi

Speech to the Lautoka Rotary Club (Centenary Dinner), 12 March 2005 http://www.fiji.gov.fj/publish/printer_4326.shtml.

Lie

“This was to no doubt reaffirm Indo-Fijian bravery, they suffered greatly under indenture and were often unfairly and needlessly provoked. They bore it with fortitude and grace.”

Joni Madraiwiwi

Poppy Drive speech, 21 October 2005.

Suffering

“Opportunity marries with circumstance and is midwife to the resultant bartering of public office. The mutuality is advantage to the parties involved merely facilitates the spread of such practices. When it reaches the point of being commonplace and is pragmatically perceived as the most practical means of getting things done, it has become systemic and difficult to eradicate.”

Joni Madraiwiwi

Opening remarks to Transparency International Pacific Regional Meeting, 13 April 2005.

“There will necessarily be a tension between the church and tradition on one hand and human rights on the other.”

Joni Madraiwiwi

Address to the Pacific Regional Workshop on Leadership Development, Lami, Fiji, 9 July 2005.