Ratu Epenisa Scores 10 out of 10 in his Handling of Management Board meeting
Ratu Epenisa Cakobau emerged from SODELPA’s Management Board meeting on Friday with a scorecard of 10 out of 10 as party president. Ratu Epenisa did exactly as he was expected to do and came out with flying colours.
In the face of a boisterous crowd, who objected to his leadership, he stood his ground and symbolised the victory of governance compliance over reckless disregard of the rules of engagement. Fortunately, that crowd was part of the minority with leanings to the conservative right wing of the party.
Ratu Epenisa showed decisive leadership which has been missing from the party since 2014. It was not an easy meeting to chair. He even survived a no confidence vote on a motion from the conservative right wing and came through accomplishing more than he expected.
The motion was defeated. 19 voted against it and 13 supported it. Decisive leadership is the one big difference between SODELPA and FijiFirst.
It’s the hallmark of Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama’s leadership and contributes to the stability of the FijiFirst Government. Despite what his (PM Bainimarama) critics say about him, his record speaks for itself.
Ratu Epenisa winning against a no confidence vote showed that members are pinning their hopes on him for better days ahead for the party.
Decisive leadership helps the country and our people who as tax payers pay for the costs of parliamentarians upkeep.
SODELPA MPs need to be reminded that apart from Mr Rabuka, none of them individually met the required voter threshold to be in parliament.
So, they cannot claim it’s the people’s votes that put them in Parliament’s.
It’s the collective votes of all 51 candidates in the last elections including those that failed to make it. It’s how the D’Hondt method works.
The lack of good governance in political parties will rob tax players the right to have access to good health care, good educational programmes, increased social welfare assistance, good roads and water provision.
These are issues that become void when corrupt leaders are at the helm of governance.
The leadership displayed by Ratu Epenisa is strong and is a breath of fresh air compared to an era where leadership by chiefs have been questionable. However, he needs to remain consistent and firm.
It’s likely with the way that SODELPA politics has evolved in the past, that the other two paramount chiefs who share the SODELPA leadership with him will try to influence him to favour chiefly leadership over democratic governance, where the law is adhered to and used to guide those in crucial decision-making positions.
Politics is fickle and can change overnight and Ratu Epenisa will do well to remain firm and ethical. He has come a long way and he cannot afford to go back.
Fiji in its current trend and political landscape has some very interesting perspectives with a lot of undecided voters as per Fiji Sun poll. Who takes up those undecided votes will come down to a matter of trustability.
It is less than 18 months to the elections and a lot is riding on Ratu Epenisa, party leader Viliame Gavoka and senior politicians like Aseri Radrodro to help steer SODELPA to calmer waters.