Rabuka: Teacher's words planted coup seeds

Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka says a Queen Victoria School (QVS) teacher's warning about iTaukei being outnumbered sparked his decades-long concern about indigenous Fijians' political future.

Speaking at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearing on Friday, Mr Rabuka recalled confronting English teacher Mr Harrison in the 1960s during constitutional discussions before independence.

"He told us that iTaukei would be outnumbered and would be led in a pure democratic process by other races who had formed the majority. I didn't like what he said," Mr Rabuka said.

Years later in 1977, after friends in New Zealand ridiculed him about iTaukei losing elections, Mr Rabuka made a prophetic statement.

"I told them, if it happens again, you will hear of me," he said.

That promise materialised on May 14, 1987, when he staged Fiji's first coup.

Feedback: kaneta.naimatau@fijisun.com.fj