What We Expect of MPs, Civil Servants
All civil servants, all elected Members of Parliament and any person holding a high office in public service need to adhere to certain standards.
This should go without saying.
There is an expectation that those who represent the people in Parliament will be held to the highest of the standards and when they deviate from such standards, they ought to be taken to task.
What are the expectations of the public? We as public expect every MP, for example, to be honest and fair in all their dealings, to maintain a certain level of decorum inside and outside Parliament, not to engage in lewd discussions, and to be honest and transparent in all their financial dealings.
Finances:
While engaging in any form of financial dealings, all civil servants and those elected to represent the people, need to be very transparent. They do not hold those positions to fill their own pockets.
They have not been placed in the civil service and in Parliament to look out for their own selves. They should not see their seat in Parliament and committee sittings as a means to earn hefty allowances.
Instead, all MPs who sit in committees should be mindful of the fact that the longer they sit on a particular bill, the more money taxpayers pay them.
They should not dilly dally on issues but in an open and transparent manner deal with issues expeditiously.
Public behaviour:
All MPs, civil servants are expected to maintain decorum at all times. We used to hear stories of late night parties where tax payer funded alcohol and kava was consumed like water.
Thankfully, this has not been the case under FijiFirst’s watch but this is a pertinent issue which all MPs need to be aware of. People do not expect our elected representatives to be out drinking the night away at taxpayer funded events.
Service for all:
One issue that FijiFirst and its leader Voreqe Bainimarama took head on was to do away with racial representations. The one man, one vote was the step in this direction.
Every MP and civil servant need to remember that they are in office for every Fijian and not people from their own village or town or neighbourhood only.
They are not in the office to serve people from their own religious groups, or the Old Girls and Old Boys of their former schools. Every MP and civil servant need to remember that they serve all Fijians.
Assistance such as post-Cyclone food distribution should be done without any form of discrimination. This is where post TC Winston food packs made by Government was a right move.
Each family based on the size of the family was handed one or two packs. This is a practice that needs to be maintained at all times. And, the onus is on civil servants, the elected representatives- the MPs and Ministers to ensure that this practice which stems out any form of discrimination is upheld.