NFP Manifesto Fails to Lure Voters: Poll
The National Federation Party’s (NFP) manifesto has failed to lure voters to its camp. In fact, a notable swing of Indo-Fijian voters back into the FijiFirst camp has been noted in the latest Fiji Sun Western Force survey. In the phone survey, where 1062 voters were asked their preferred political party and their preferred Prime Minister, FijiFirst party and its leader Voreqe Bainimarama came out leading the pack with 64 per cent preferring him and his party. While one would have assumed that in light of NFP’s manifesto launch, there would be a rise in their poll rating, it remained at 9 per cent. A further breakdown of the polling showed Indo-Fijian voters who had contemplated voting for NFP now firmly backing FijiFirst. While NFP’s trump card had been its manifesto, poll figures showed it did not impress a lot of voters. The NFP gave its all, from promises to reduce VAT to increasing pension, but the party’s inability to answer how it would fund it and how much debt it will push Fiji further into has not gone down well with those polled. Interestingly, Ro Teimumu Kepa has also made a comeback. While SODELPA Sitiveni Rabuka polled 19 per cent, Ro Teimumu polled 7 per cent with a number of those polled deciding to back her given the uncertainty surrounding the appeal decision in Mr Rabuka’s case.
Unity Fiji failed to impress voters. Neither the party nor the leader Savenaca Narube were mentioned even once in the poll. Tupou Draunidalo’s HOPE received a lone mention.