Unity Fiji Calls for Applications for 2022 Election
The onus is on Opposition parties to prove to voters why they are worth their votes, says Unity Fiji Party Leader Savenaca Narube.
A year away from the 2022 General Election, his party has called for expressions of interest from those who want to contest the election under the Unity Fiji party banner. To make it easier, there are no minimum qualifying requirements to join.
After the expression of interest process, the party will then start accepting applications for candidacy for the 2022 election. “We’ve started early just to see what the interest from people out there is. We have one year to go. We need to have a balance on ethnicity, gender and age. There is no qualification, anyone can apply and express their interest, and it’s open,” Mr Narube said. “We rushed through 2018, the party was new. We had only 10 months to prepare. This time we are better prepared, people know us and the awareness of what we stand for, and we hope that will create good momentum.” Reflecting on his experience from the 2018 election, he said the political climate in Fiji was not kind as it does not give small parties a fair go.
“Some of the areas that we are struggling with is fundraising and also opening up the media to all parties not just concentrating on the big ones. I think we have more to offer on some of those areas then those big ones but because of the nature of the media we were shut out so it’s a big disadvantage for us thank God for social media otherwise we will be lost.”
Mr Narube said the party has learnt its lessons on the importance of preparing early for election and the need to retain the interest of voters.
“We have to understand what drives voters around Fiji, different types of voters. We have to inform them that the issues are the most important, vote for the ones that will lead and manage this country better. Many of our voters are voting blindly. They are just following one another. That to me does not give us a fair chance to choose the most credible, so that’s going to be a long term education but we hope that we can influence them.”
Convincing the more than 160,000 voters who did not vote in the 2018 election to vote is another issue that Mr Narube hopes to address during his campaigns.
Furthermore, the party hopes to raise close to $1million to fund their campaigns for 2022.
Youth President Ilisoni Tagica said they hope to include three youth candidates in the next election.