Rabuka: Surrender not an option
Surrender is not an option. This was the response by Social Democratic Liberal Party (SODELPA) leader Sitiveni Rabuka to a suggestion by Labasa businessman Charan Jeath Singh during a panel discussion and public forum at the Wesley City Mission Church Hall in Butt Street, Suva, last night. Mr Singh reminded the party leaders that all votes counted.
“My concern is that since all the political parties are here to see the defeat of FijiFirst, if the smaller parties get votes but not meet the threshold, you are really wasting the votes,” he said.
Mr Singh urged the leaders to make wise decisions if they want to defeat FijiFirst.
“If you want to defeat FijiFirst, you’ll have to have a coalition of parties in one form or another,” he said.
Replying to Mr Singh’s suggestions, Mr Rabuka said it was not just about defeating a political party.
He said it was more about navigating themselves on what was right and what was to be done more than just defeating a party that opposed them.
“We may have sounded like a group that is bent on the objective of defeating FijiFirst, we are trying to make Fiji free,” Mr Rabuka said.
“We are here to restore a respectable society, a society where people are free.
“We are free because people love freedom. We are free people who respect the law. “We are free because our leaders have compassion for us and will not bully us using their powers. We try and form a united party where we come together and fill 51 seats.
“It is not just to get rid of a political party. For me personally it is creating a nation where people are determined to do what is right.
“Just don’t give up. Surrender is not an option.” Meanwhile, more than 80 people attended the discussion last night. Edited by Epineri Vula