Rabuka’s 2022 Poll Talk Personal or Official SODELPA Position?
When Sitiveni Rabuka said in a West meeting that SODELPA did not need to coalesce with any party to contest the 2022 General Election, he had surprised some members.
They have asked questions. Was that his personal view as Opposition leader and caretaker party leader or the official position of the party?
Whatever the answer, he has poured cold water on the proposal to form a United Coalition of Opposition parties, with the sole aim of defeating the FijiFirst.
He has tried to downplay his joint tour of the West with National Federation Party leader Biman Prasad because it could potentially backfire on the party as it happened in the 1999 election.
Mr Rabuka, then leader of the SVT (Soqosoqo ni Vakavulewa ni Taukei) and Prime Minister, teamed up with then NFP leader Jai Ram Reddy in a coalition and lost to Fiji Labour Party leader Mahendra Chaudhry, who became the first Indo-Fijian Prime Minister. The SVT retained only eight of the 31 seats it previously held while the NFP lost all 20 seats it had. It was the first time the NFP had not won a seat in an election.
The ignominious defeat continues to haunt both parties. The two leaders had been cautious in showing a united front because of that fear, until last week.
While it can be argued that we may be reading too much into a normal joint parliamentary exercise the significant aspect of it was that this was the first time that Mr Rabuka and Mr Prasad were seen together publicly on tour.
While they describe it as a listening tour, Mr Rabuka’s declaration that SODELPA would contest the 2022 election alone was designed to appease members who might have interpreted the tour as a campaign launch for a working arrangement for 2022.
It came out of the blue and many members did not see it coming, subsequently triggering all kinds of rumours and speculations. SODELPA has not issued a public statement on its position about the proposed united coalition.
Some questioned why Mr Rabuka invited Mr Prasad on the tour when SODELPA was doing well in the Fiji Sun- Western Force Research opinion survey last month by overtaking FijiFirst for the first time in the party popularity rating.
The only plausible explanation was that Mr Rabuka was trying to change the deep-seated resentment that the Indo-Fijians have held against him for his racist military coups against them in 1987, which was responsible for the 1999 election debacle.
He may not be reappointed party leader in November so who has given him the mandate to make that announcement?