THE HANDSHAKE PHOTO THAT IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS
It’s a wonderful gesture to see two political rivals, Bainimarama and Rabuka meet and talk It sets an example that politicians can differ on a number of issues without rancour
It was a classic photo of Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama and SODELPA leader Sitiveni Rabuka on the front page of the Fiji Sun yesterday. Classic because the meeting is happening on Mr Rabuka’s home turf, at his village of Drekeniwai, Navatu, Cakaudrove in Vanua Levu.
Classic, also because this is the first known public meeting of the two leaders since Mr Rabuka was elected as SODELPA leader. We have always heard them take sniper shots at each other in a rhetorical sense.
But they have shown that we can differ without rancour, no matter how bitter we become in political exchanges.
The Drekeniwai meeting is significant in many respects.
First, their willingness to put aside their political differences and support a worthy cause. Mr Bainimarama knows Drekeniwai is Mr Rabuka’s village. If he was to play extreme politics, his Government could bypass Drekeniwai District School and take the solar project development to another school. But that is not in Mr Bainimarama’s nature and political belief. Development should not discriminate on the basis of political affiliation or other considerations. It should be apolitical.
Any Government worth its salt should uphold this principle. This week’s Northern tour by Mr Bainimarama and his delegation that includes Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum and Commissioner of Police Brigadier-General Sitiveni Qiliho, shows the FijiFirst Government is sticking to this principle.
This week Mr Bainimarama commissioned boreholes and water and solar projects among other projects In his four-day tour, Mr Bainimarama traversed the heart of the so called “enemy or opposition territory”. This was usually regarded as blue-ribbon electorate for SODELPA through its members of Parliament, Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu, Mosese Bulitavu and Niko Nawaikula.
Even Ratu Naiqama, the Tui Cakau (paramount chief of Cakaudrove) did not have it his own way in the 2014 general election. Mr Bainimarama won a sizeable number of votes in the province and proved that iTaukei voters could separate politics from tradition/ culture.
Mr Rabuka could have deliberately boycotted the event in his village because this is a Government initiative and Mr Bainimarama would take the credit for it. Instead, he was not only present, but was a member of the welcoming group.
He presented the qaloqalovi (presentation of the tabua) and welcomed Mr Bainimarama and his delegation. After the traditional formalities, they hugged and shook hands.
Right there and then, they demonstrated to the rest of Fiji, particularly the various leaders, the best and ideal way on how to behave as politicians
There was mutual respect and recognition of the different roles they play between them – Mr Rabuka in opposition, Mr Bainimarama in power.
No doubt, members of the antimob will come up with their own interpretation. They will ridicule it and shoot it down as a political ploy by both leaders.
Mr Rabuka, with his experience as a Prime Minister once, knows the value of development to the people and the country.
If politicians meet their needs, they will get their votes in a general election. It is as simple as that. Many of our people, especially those in the rural areas, have had bad experiences about hollow and unfulfilled promises in the past. They will only believe them when they see them.
That’s why the FijiFirst Government won the mandate in 2014, to form the Government. Since its election it has continued its relentless push to deliver on its promises because it knows that come this year’s election, they will be held to account through the ballot box. Mr Rabuka knows it’s a formidable mission, even seemingly impossible mission at this stage, to topple the FijiFirst Government. That’s why he has been keen to forge a national coalition of opposition parties to stop the Bainimarama juggernaut.
Individually, he knows they cannot do it.
The closest he has gone in this crusade is a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Lynda Tabuya’s group from the suspended People’s Democratic Party (PDP). This has happened at the expense of PDP which faces deregistration. Questions have also been asked within SODELPA over the MOU. Mr Rabuka has done the right thing by welcoming Mr Bainimarama in his village.
The cultural significance of the
qaloqalovi presentation is highly valued because the tabua is at the apex of iTaukei traditional wealth.
There would be a positive political spinoff for both of them from the Drekeniwai meeting. As the English idiom says their handshake photo “is worth a thousand words.”
Development should not discriminate on the basis of political affiliation or other considerations. It should be apolitical.