People’s Alliance Struggles to Rein in Outspoken Members like Tabuya as it has not Released its Manifesto
Lynda Tabuya has continued to maintain her public profile after leaving SODELPA and joining The People’s Alliance.
Her attack on Energy Fiji Limited therefore should come as no surprise.
Her outspokenness on issues she is strongly aggrieved about defines her public persona and has helped her build her fan club.
Her style of politics is believed to have made some in The PA uncomfortable - including those who were in SODELPA with her.
There is not much that The People’s Alliance can do with members like Ms Tabuya because there is no clear guideline on what they can say and what they can’t say in the absence of a manifesto.
It did not help when Ms Tabuya is a deputy leader.
Rabuka’s damage control
Mr Rabuka went into damage control but made it very messy when he dissociated the party from her comments, obviously on advice from his close advisers who felt the party had taken a big hit with her EFL comments.
From her background as a champion for workers’ rights, better pay and working condition her criticism of the pay increase and bonuse for staff were seen as contradictory.
She had made the criticism in the context of what she described as poor and unacceptable service by EFL in respect of power cuts and disruptions.
Very few were buying it in the party, concerned about the impression that it might have created that The PA does not support pay rise and bonuses for workers.
Mr Rabuka’s statement distancing the party from her has in a way left her in a precarious position. But does it worry her? Not according to those close to her.
But it is not a good look when the party leader and deputy party leader are not on the same page.
This is not the first incident of this type.
Sakeasi Ditoka
When Sakeasi Ditoka, the party’s general secretary, said Mr Rabuka had gone to India on the invitation of the Indian military attaché, Mr Rabuka refuted it saying the trip was for medical reasons.
It’s a challenge for the party’s communication arm to sort out.
But Ms Tabuya is a marked person in The PA.
She will be under scrutiny for every word that proceeds from her mouth. She and other vocal politicians like her could be advised that they need to be careful of what they say publicly.
New The PA members are wary of inheriting the hangover from SODELPA and other parties. They do not want to have to deal with problems that plagued other parties.
That’s a difficult proposition because it is inevitable they will have to solve the differences that people take with them into The PA.
For Ms Tabuya, she is a valuable asset to The PA just as she was when she was in SODELPA. And they need to handle her with care.