Commissioner of Inquiry Justice David Ashton-Lewis has accused a senior political figure whom he describes as a “wannabe prime minister” of betraying Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka while secretly engaging in “disgraceful” conduct.
Speaking on The Judge, a program aired by Radio 4CRB in Gold Coast, Australia, Justice Ashton-Lewis described the individual as part of a group seeking to undermine leadership from within.
“There’s always going to be aggrieved people who think they can do it better,” he said.
“One of these people that I identified was someone who’s – well, they all smiled at his face and stab him in the back if they get the chance. And one of them is a wannabe prime minister. And he thinks he should be.”
Justice Ashton-Lewis said despite public shows of loyalty, his inquiry findings painted a different picture of the politician.
“Well, if Sitiveni Rabuka acts, he’s never going to be Prime Minister, because I’ve found disgraceful things that he was doing.
“Yet smiling to the Prime Minister, ‘I’m your greatest loyal man.’ Well, he wasn’t.”
He went on to suggest that those who protest the loudest often have the most to hide.
“And in law, you’ve heard me say, none protests their innocence so loudly as the guilty, None protest their honourability so loudly as the dishonourable, where he fits into that category.”
