pn924. The National Federation Party holds the key. See also pn923

The Fiji Government is a coalition of three parties. The largest, the People's Alliance, has 21 seats, all but one of whom is an ethnic Fijian i'Taukei. This is followed by the National Federation Party with 5 seats, 3 Indo-Fijian  and 2 i'Taukei members. The last and smallest with 3 members is SODELPA, a traditional i'Taukei party and all 3 members are i'Taukei.  Combined the three parties have 29 seats in the 55-seat parliament. 

The Opposition Fiji First Party is the largest party in parliament with 26 seats. It is also the most racially diverse with 11 i'Taukei and 15 Indo-Fijian members. Government has a very small, one seat, majority.

This posting proposes that the NFP is uniquely positioned to restore much-needed government credibility and create a better atmophere for national unity by improving relations with Fiji First.  

It can do so because it has the option to leave the coalition and bring down the government, and because all  of its five members are people of high repute and capability.  

Deputy PM Leader and Minister of Finance, Strategic Planning, National Developments, and Statistics  Professor  Biman Prasad is a distinguished former academic. He was  Professor of Economics and Dean of the faculty of Business and Economics  at the University of the South Pacific.

Party President and Minister for Home Affairs and Immigration, former Lieutenant Colonel  and Chief of Staff of the Royal Fiji Military Forces (RFMF) Pio Tikoduadua  was a Fiji First member who left the party because of his doubts about some of its practices.

Minister of Employment, Productivity and Industrial Relations former broadcaster and  public relations consultant  Lenora Qereqeretubua is the Deputy Speaker of the House and Assistant Minister for Housing, Local Government and Foreign Affairs.

Former Labour Party MP  Agni Deo Singh served as general secretary of the Fiji Teachers Union (FTU) from 1999 to 2006, and again from 2007 to 2022.  As FTU secretary, he campaigned against the racist education policies of the Laisenia Qarase-led government.

Finally, Assistant Minister of Women and Children and Assistant Minister of Poverty Alleviation Sashi Kiran is the Founder and former Chief Executive of FRIEND,  the Foundation for Rural Integrated Enterprises and Development, a rural-orientated NGO  that works on poverty alleviation through socio-economic and health empowerment programmes.

The fact that all five NFP MPs are cabinet ministers clearly shows their capabilities are recognized by PM Sitiveni Rabuka and senior People's Alliance members.   They have the power to change many things for the better if they choose to use it.

This is what I think they should do:

■ First, Biman must clear the accusations of personal tax evasion so there is absolutely no doubt that the accusations are false. 

■ Then NFP should exercise pressure to stop the hounding of Voqere Bainimarama.  It serves no good purpose and creates division when national unity is needed. Further, Bainimarama's three year suspension from Parliament for questioning the President and Parliament on the illegal appointment of judges should be rescinded.

■ Salesi Temo should not be confirmed as the new Chief Justice. His biases are only too obvious.  The successful appointee should be decided after wide consultations which include the Fiji Law Society.   

■ The illegal appointments of John Rabuka as Acting Director of Public Prosecutions and Alipate Qetalu as a judge should be reversed, and Christopher Pryde restored as Director of Public Prosecutions.  The charge that he was seen talking to Fiji First's Ayaz Sayed- Khaiyum at a cocktail party and is therefore biased towards Fiji First is the most ludicrous thing I've heard for a long time.

■  Former Assistant Director of Public Prosceutions  Elizabeth Rice who was sacked by John Rabuka because he wanted an i'Taukei ADPP and not a European should be returned to office. 

■ Prosecuting lawyer Losalini Tabuakoro should be dimissed. Her behaviour at the Bainmarama hearding when she didn't get the jail sentencing she wanted  from Magistrate Seini Puamau is unacceptable. As Graham Davis in Grubsheet says, it is a  "breathing example of the folly of getting rid of professional senior lawyers with judgment to prosecute cases on behalf of the state and replacing them simply on the basis of ethnicity."

■ Lynda Tabuya should be demoted (see pn923) and Sashi Kiran appointed Minister of Women and Children, and Minister of Poverty Alleviation with adequate resources and support to perform well in these roles. 

■ More generally, NFP should push more strongly for what Pio wanted in the 2018 elections:

"We want a Fiji where everyone works together for a brighter future. We will march forward in unison and harmony as a mighty collective force to once again restore power to all of you. Because it is you who have shaped our policies. It is you we have listened to. And we want you to proudly take ownership of the government and its policies.

Simply put, NFP will be a government of Team Fiji that make up our multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-religious nation.

First, we must all be economically secure. That is why we want a fair living wage for our workers and our farmers. Our economy depends on them. Next, we have to get rid of the climate of fear that covers our country. People must be free to speak up so that they can contribute their ideas.

Then we need to begin the massive task of rebuilding. Because education will decide our future, we need an education system – including university education - that works. We must have a good health system. And we must ensure that every family has that most important thing – a good home.

These are our priorities. They are not the only things we will do. You can read more about our plans in this manifesto...

God Bless Fiji."

Disclaimer.  Biman Prasad is a former USP colleague who proposed my appointment as an Emeritus Professor.  Sashi Kiran and I circumnavigated Viti Levu  and Vanua Levu together while I was engaged on a consultancy. Sashi was also later one of my Development Studies students. I don't think my assocation with Biman and Sashi has distorted my judgment. If anything, it has improved it.  -- ACW