Does Everyone Have a Price?
I believe that Unity Fiji presents this credible alternative to the people. We claim to be credible because we will do what we promise to do. We have people that have served our country with loyalty and distinction.
There is a mantra that says that everyone has a price. This implies that anyone can be bought if the price is right. I think that this mantra is increasingly relevant for Fiji as we near the 2018 general election.
We know that this a defining election for Fiji. We have heard the cries of our people to lighten the heavy burden of their everyday lives.
The escalating cost of living is hurting them. Salaries are not keeping pace. It is a daily struggle to put food on the table. Jobs are hard to come by.
House prices are way beyond the reach of families. The cars are piling up on our roads. The poor are paying their bus fares days before they catch the bus. The rich are getting richer.
In my assessment, there is fear, favouritism, victimisation, and widespread cronyism and nepotism.
We have heard the cries of the people who are shouldering the inequity of adjustment imposed by this Government.
Workers have been dismissed without reasons. Some are enduring work contracts of three months or even shorter.
The morale of the civil service is rock bottom. And tragically, some of us are still living in tents more than two years after Cyclone Winston.
We have endured hardship, pain and suffering because of the choices that we have made. We are paying a very high price for those decisions.
Like many of us, I yearn for a fairer, freer, and just Fiji--the way the world should be!
I have watched with amazement the unethical practice of Government throwing money at us to cover up for its economic and financial mismanagement, wastage, injustices, vindictiveness, deception, and hidden agenda.
Vote buying
In my view, this vote buying should be taken for what is – an insult to our value of fairness and justice. Is this the price that we are paid to close our eyes and our ears to the injustice and the inequities? Aren’t we selling the lives of our future generations cheaply? Please remember, the Government is paying us from our own money!
We are facing these problems together irrespective of our ethnicities or where we live. Throwing money away is a short-term fix. We know that their impact is temporary--here today, gone tomorrow kind of fix. It is like taking drugs. It feeds our habit and we crave for the next fix.
This is obviously not the solution to our hardship. In fact, it creates more problems than it fixes. I don’t believe that there is disagreement against this analysis.
People have clearly told us that they will accept what is given but will choose a team that has the necessary credentials to take the whole of Fiji forward in a new direction of tolerance, transparency, and accountability.
Yet, sadly, we hear people supporting this vote buying tactic. I guess they have a price tag which may have been paid.
The answer to rising poverty is good economic and financial management. We must choose a team that is knowledgeable and experienced in these areas. That must be our answer.
Choosing the same old team will worsen our situation. Someone at some point will have to make adjustments to pay for the excesses that this Government will leave behind. Is this the legacy that we want to leave behind to our grandchildren or do we not care what we leave behind?
In our consultations across Fiji, the people’s thirst for change to something better is getting intense. They want a change that will give them hope, a political leadership which can unite everyone, a change that will bring us peace and happiness.
Feedback
As we continue to meet with the people, they tell us that they want an alternative political choice at the next elections. They acknowledge that national unity can only be achieved by a political party that is truly inclusive.
The large number of undecided voters only a few months before the elections clearly reflect these sentiments.
I believe that Unity Fiji presents this credible alternative to the people. We claim to be credible because we will do what we promise to do. We have people that have served our country with loyalty and distinction. Unity Fiji will unite this country through a shared vision of “Unity in Diversity”. A united country is a peaceful and happy one.
The choice is ours to make at the polls. We can either accept our price tag and close our eyes to what this Government is doing to us or stand firm with our values of fairness and justice. My plea is that we must prove the mantra wrong and loudly proclaim that we cannot be bought at ANY price.