Rabuka’s Days Are Numbered As The Moderates Consolidate Their Hold On Suspended SODELPA
Sitiveni Rabuka’s days in suspended SODELPA are numbered as the moderates consolidate their hold on it.
The suspended caretaker party leader and Opposition leader continues to drift away as he tries to seek unity by attempting to bring in the conservative right wing. He knows it is not working. It is like trying to mix oil and water. Many of his ardent supporters are the right wingers from the Cakaudrove/Bua/Macuata bloc and pockets in Viti Levu.
They wanted the suspended party to cancel an agreement between it and the People’s Democratic Party which allowed former PDP officials Vijay Singh and Lynda Tabuya to come in.
Mr Singh and Ms Tabuya are key players in the moderates camp. The
right wingers want them removed but have failed.
The second failed bid was to reinstate Adi Litia Qionibaravi, as general secretary. She is an influential figure in the conservative right
wing led by Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu .
The Management Board’s decision yesterday to confirm Emele Duituturaga, a strong pillar of the moderates, as the new general secretary heralds the changing of the guards at party headquarters.
Her selection settled once and for all that the power has definitely changed hands and the right wingers either swallow their pride and fall in line or quit, form a new party or join an existing party.
For Mr Rabuka, he has come to the end of the road. He has tried everything possible to reconcile the two factions but has failed. His hopes of leading suspended SODELPA into the 2022 General Election have crashed. That would have fulfilled his ambition to have a final shot at leading a new government for the second time. The first time was when he led the Soqosoqo ni Vakavulewa ni Taukei (SVT) in the 1990s.
He knew when he became party leader that toppling the FijiFirst Government would not be an easy prospect, certainly within the first two elections after our return to democracy. It must have surprised him when they came close in 2018, winning six extra seats. It was logical to start dreaming that they could actually cross the line in 2022. He must be having doubts now with the split in suspended SODELPA. They had faced a similar situation leading up to 2018. The difference was that they came together and fought the election on a united front and almost caused an upset. That’s why Mr Rabuka had been working hard to replicate it.
But it has slipped from his grasp because the right wingers will not play second fiddle to anyone.