High Time to Pen Submissions
The Social Democratic Liberal Party (SODELPA) moved a motion to have a bipartisan committee to look at the cost of living. On the face of it, it may seem that the Opposition truly wants to help, but there were obvious flaws in their motion, which they refuse to acknowledge.
Why does the Opposition need a bipartisan committee to make any contribution? So, we have a committee, pay them $200 per person, per sitting to discuss what we can do about the cost of living? How does that make any sense?
Had SODELPA thought about who from their two factions would sit on the committee if any such committee was going to be formed? Will the Members of Parliament from Holiday Inn faction take charge? Where does that leave the mover of the motion, Niko Nawaikula, who was absent from both meetings, but would dare not go against the Cakaudrove team who were backing the Kshatriya Hall faction?
Would the “mediator”, Sitiveni Rabuka, take the mediation hat off and decide all by himself who would have been on such a committee? He cannot get his party to hold one Management Board meeting, what makes him think that he would have been able to finalise the names of SODELPA MPs on the committee?
Is this a laughing matter for this Opposition, who are fast emerging as clowns of the Fijian political scene?
Now coming to National Federation Party. The “economist” leader, Biman Prasad, no doubt has experience in classrooms, teaching about economics.
But, does he really need a committee to give his input? No one has stopped Biman or his team of two from making any contributions or submissions on budget.
Perhaps instead of backing a political grandstanding in Parliament, the trio need to put their heads together, put their ideas to paper and submit it to Government.
Of course they can then go ahead to upload the documents to their social media pages and give it to their favourite media.
This will ensure that the limited people who read their pages and their favourite media will know what their contribution has been. Neither NFP nor SODELPA needs a committee to make their views known.
They can and should make submissions on budgets and on any issues directly.
Nobody will stop them and they would not be restrained by the committee in sharing all they want to. Perhaps NFP could take its cue from its former President, Tupou Draunidalo, who makes suggestions when she sees fit.
NFP would have been better placed keeping her within the party instead of getting somebody on board, who has a personal axe to grind with Government.
If the Opposition is really genuine in helping Fijians right now, they can do so by informing Government of their plans.
We need genuine plans, not $5 per hour wage rate plucked out of thin air kind of plan, but serious doable suggestions which would assist one and all.
Make it count, Opposition.