POLITICS FRACTURED SUSPENDED SODELPA SINKS DEEPER INTO QUAGMIRE

THE BATTLE LINES APPEAR FIRMLY DRAWN AND THE WORDS VITI VOU ARE IN THE WIND. Talk of a new political party grows louder and louder as a last resort.

The suspension of SODELPA may be lifted as soon as next week.

That’s when the suspended party appoints a new general secretary. But it won’t end the woes threatening to choke the life out of the suspended party.

Some elements in the conservative right wing faction led by Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu, Sitiveni Rabuka and Adi Litia Qionibaravi are already talking about the rise of a new party.

Its proposed name is Viti Vou meaning New Fiji. The proposed new party is the last resort that the right wingers have up their sleeve if they fail to regain control of the suspended party. Recapturing that control seems impossible now.

The opposing moderates led by Vijay Singh are not going to abort the purge of extremist elements and reform of the suspended party by restoring good governance principles.

That is why there has been an attempt by some right wingers to rescind an agreement that allowed Mr Singh and suspended MP Lynda Tabuya to cross the floor from the People‘s Democratic Party and joi n SODELPA before the 2018 General Election.

They believe that if the agreement is torn up then the pair would lose their membership and positions in the suspended party. Mr Singh was president and Ms Tabuya was leader of PDP.

Suspended caretaker party leader and Opposition leader Sitiveni Rabuka had signed that agreement to broaden the power base of the suspended party and give it a multiracial image. Mr Rabuka was caught in the middle. It made it even more difficult for him in his efforts to broker peace and reconciliation between the factions. His PDP agreement was passed by the Management Board amid controversy which has now been resurrected. What was surprising was that when the split came out into the open, the three went their separate ways. According to some right wingers it effectively ended that agreement. But it is as simple as they think because of the associated legal implications.

Ms Tabuya perhaps still has that soft spot for Mr Rabuka because he was responsible for convincing the Management Board to accept them, She had worked closely with him in the run up to the 2018 election.

But the contest for the party leader role is likely to end that link. She wants to become party leader but Mr Rabuka and MP Aseri Radrodro are among others who stand in the way.

While Mr Rabuka attended the meeting that voted out the right wingers he is likely to join them in a new party because most of his traditional allies and political friends are in that camp,

If they go with the proposed New Fiji (Viti Vou) it comes as no surprise. Viti Vou was among a number of NGOs that had advocated Indigenous interests after the 2006 takeover. Adi Litia was s key figure in Viti Vou. Other similar organizations included the Fiji Tribal Congress, Fiji Indigenous Forum, Democracy

for Fiji and Nehemiah. Suspended MP Niko Nawaikula was the spokesperson for the congress which was endorsed by the two High chiefs and colleagues Ro Teimumu Kepa snd Ratu Naiqama. Ro Teimumu appears to have mellowed. She has embraced Fijian as a common name under the 2013 Constitution which was heavily criticized by the indigenous advocates.

Some of these indigenous issues are resurfacing with the backing of a splinter group in divided SODELPA USA. This group is prepared to fund the proposed Viti Vou.

As the doors begin to shut for a comeback by the right wingers including a failed attempt to reinstate Adi Litia as general secretary, the emergence of a new political party is no longer a distant dream. It’s a real possibility.