Instead of the dictator himself making the statement of defiance rejecting rumours that there is split between the Military Council and the Puppet dictator over the continued tenure of string puller Aiyaz, Frank had his Permanent Secretary issue the denial. He knows that Pio will do whatever he says, including telling whatever lies Franks calls for. He does this even though he knows Frank hasn’t got the guts to issue the denial himself. The Cassava Patch coward hasn’t changed his spots and never will. Coup Four and Half stand by the story they printed and FDN believes them, not Pio, the Puppet’s puppet.

With a big military boot swinging in behind his rear, the master manipulator, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, has made a bid to convince Lauans that he understands there’s a world beyond Labasa. He’s thrown out all sorts of hints about his government helping tourism to develop in Lau, but he should know that no-one will be convinced by this late conversion to an interest in Lau.

The secret Deloitte’s report on the operations of Fiji Sugar Corporation is now going to the sugar Taskforce. Deloittes are accountants, not sugar mill engineers, so what can they say about improving mill efficiency? It’s obvious FSC has paid for a dud refit, so how can accountants help with that? The real question is what did FSC management tell Deloiittes about the likely performance of their mills so that Deloittes could calculate the income they would earn? If they’ve lied to them about the performance to expect from the mills, which everyone can see now is as bad this year as it was last year, the report is useless.

The rumours that Sayed-Khaiyum is about to get the boot are getting stronger everyday. Aiayz can’t believe that the regime would get rid of him because he thinks they’d have no-one to tell him what to do, but he could be in for a rude shock. It’s true the dumb dictator will miss Aiyaz giving him lines to read and decrees to announce, which dumbo thinks make him look smart, but nobody else will miss the Ayaz arrogance. Victor Lal’s article on Coup Four and a Half outlines how the arrogance and corruption of Sayed-Khaiyum brought him into conflict with the Military Council.