Laisenia Qarase: Quotes about people

Laisenia Qarase is Prime Minister of Fiji. Explore interesting quotes on people.
Laisenia Qarase: 114 quotes1 like

“For our country, it is vitally important, as a factor for long-standing stability, that we always maintain a careful balance between the rights of individuals and communities, the special interests of indigenous people, including their right of ownership to their natural resources must also be protected.”

Laisenia Qarase

Address to the United Nations General Assembly, 17 September 2005 (excerpts)

“The foundation in which the Bill was introduced was for the Government to offer a political solution that was legally binding, because if the Government had not introduced the Unity Bill, the investigations will never end. Trial after trial and the list goes on. About 2500 people have been investigated. Those who turned up in Parliament was close to 20,000 people. I mean, if 10,000 to 20,000 people are going to be investigated, God knows when it will end.”

Laisenia Qarase

8 July 2005
Additional remarks about the proposed Reconciliation and Unity Commission

“They (the indigenous Fijian people) believe they (their demands for political power) are just and reasonable, given our history, racial division, present-day majority of Fijians, their ownership of the land and their indigenous identity.”

Laisenia Qarase

Excerpts from a parliamentary speech, 3 June 2005

“Recently we heard that a prominent parliamentarian converted government assets to his personal use. Very soon, we will hear of some prominent politicians evading tax deliberately. Very soon we will hear of people abusing their travel entitlements. We extend zero-tolerance to these kind of people and some years ago, we know that the former Prime Minister converted government funds to improve his own personal standing by renovating and upgrading his personal house. The member for Labasa Open went on a fishing trip at government expense … This is fraud. I do not know want you want to call it, but it is fraud, using taxpayers' money for personal use.”

Laisenia Qarase

Parliamentary speech, 23 November 2005 (excerpts)

“I emphasise again that people who participated in the 2000 uprising with criminal intent, as established by the police, will continue to be subject to the full force of the law. The Bill is not intended to provide relief to those who used the coup for their own gain or other criminal intent.”

Laisenia Qarase

14 June 2005
Additional remarks about the proposed Reconciliation and Unity Commission

“"We cannot bring the people together and concentrate all our energies on developing the country when the agony of 2000 is continuously haunting us." (27 May 2005, from a speech to the annual conference of his United Fiji Party).”

Laisenia Qarase

Additional remarks about the proposed Reconciliation and Unity Commission

“We cannot bring our people together, and give all energies to development, when the agony of 2000 lives on and haunts us through prosecutions and sentences. Five years have gone by and … there is no end in sight. I believe it is time now for fresh thinking and action.”

Laisenia Qarase

“I think the overwhelming Fijian support for the Bill is saying we are offering a hand of reconciliation, a hand of forgiveness, a hand of friendship, a hand of repentance and unity. I were in Chaudhry's shoes I would grab the opportunity to try and establish dialogue through this Bill with the Fijian people to promote reconciliation and unity and I will do the same with Mr Beddoes as well. He has expressed his opposition to the Bill. This is a rare opportunity for them to help bridge the obvious gulf between our people.”

Laisenia Qarase

Additional remarks about the proposed Reconciliation and Unity Commission, Response to continuing opposition to the Reconciliation, Tolerance, and Unity Bill, 30 July 2005

“The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, vesting every individual with equal rights, was directly opposed to the hierarchical social structure of indigenous Fijian society. Chiefs were at the apex by virtue of their birth and rank. The rest of the people had a communal functional role in this hierarchy.”

Laisenia Qarase

Excerpts from an address to the Commonwealth Workshop in Nadi, 29 August 2005