Gender Bias, Racist Ideas Belong to a Dark Past

We hope it is not true that an anti-women and anti-Indo Fijian sentiment was allegedly expressed by supporters of a meeting of a faction of the Social Democratic and Liberal Party (SODELPA) Kshatriya Hall in Suva on Saturday.

It’s a sad day for this country if it is true. That kind of talk takes us back to a dark past that we have left behind. It should be condemned in the strongest possible terms because it is discriminatory and racist. We should not be entertaining any discussion that is divisive and incites gender bias and racism.

Fiji has come a long way from this evil practice like the rest of the progressive and modern world. We now live at a time of gender and racial equality – promoted, encouraged and guaranteed by the 2013 Constitution. These are universal principles that many modern democracies have adopted in order to move forward with peace and stability, progress and prosperity. It is common knowledge that some among us still harbour those evil and regressive thoughts and feelings that rear their ugly head from time to time.

These elements, at this time, have brought SODELPA to its knees, teetering on the edge of a precipice. It is a serious concern, if the allegations are true, that women are being denigrated to second class status, not fit or ready for leadership. Not only is this kind of garb sexist, it is male chauvinism and bigotry, morally repugnant and ultra vires constitutionally.

All righting-thinking people must not accept the promotion of such ideology even if it is part of a culture. The country has taken great strides in the elevation of our women to equal status as men. We do not only talk about it, but we do it too. More women now sit in our Parliament and they have now risen to leadership level in many facets of national life. There are so many of them now that it would be difficult to count them all using our fingers. That’s the reality and it blows to smithereens any notion that women are not fit to lead.

This newspaper has women dominating management positions in various departments. That has been replicated right across the workplace in Fiji. Women have proved that they are just as good and reliable as men, if not better. In politics, they are capable of holding leadership positions. They can do a better job than men. Look at Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand. She is doing so well in the current COVID-19 crisis that she has jumped to more than 60 per cent approval rating in the latest public opinion poll on the preferred Prime Minister stake. She becomes the most popular PM in the country’s history. Her popularity surge led to a leadership tussle in the Opposition National Party that saw Todd Muller emerge as the new leader beating Simon Bridges in a caucus secret ballot.

Those who are saying that women cannot lead a political party, even SODELPA, are wrong and better think again. There are enough capable women in that party who can lead, and they must be given that opportunity. Those who disagree are living in the past, caught in a time warp.

On the other issue of race, if SODELPA really professes to be multiracial, then it should show it. Action speaks louder than words. Caretaker party leader Sitiveni Rabuka again has reiterated that they are a multiracial party. Let’s wait and see if his group is genuine.