FijiFirst: Anare Jale Failed to Present Full Submissions, Biased
FijiFirst General Secretary Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum has called out Social Democratic Liberal Party’s Chief Negotiator Anare Jale for being disingenuous when he failed to present FijiFirst’s full written submissions to the management board.
Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said prior to their presentation before the board on Tuesday the party had several meetings with SODELPA’s 8-9 member negotiation committee over the weekend and also submitted written submissions to Mr Jale.
“When we went to make our submissions we discovered that when Anare Jale had presented our side of the submissions, he had not presented everything that we said we were willing to offer. He only presented small parts and bits of what we presented which we found rather astonishing that he obviously was very disingenuous in the manner that he presented our submissions.
“Why didn’t Anare Jale present our full submissions to the board? Is someone taking something under the table?” Mr Sayed-Khaiyum questioned.
It was Mr Jale’s fiduciary duty, he said, to present the full details
of their offer to the board.
“If you’re going to present the full details of PA (People’s Alliance) but only present a third of what we presented then it already creates a disparity between the two parties because we’re supposed to be dealt with fairly.
“It’s only fair and right. So then you can in a way adulterate the minds of those people who are sitting there making a decision so there’s a particular bias on the part of Anare Jale.”
However, Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said FijiFirst respects any negotiations and they are prudent about it as they believe in decorum and finesse.
He added that they want to have a matured, respectful and equal relationship with SODELPA.
“We want SODELPA to be a relevant political party for 2026 and we believe that their relationship with us will help them position themselves much better for the 2026 elections as opposed to being the third player in that so-called coalition where they’ll be extremely the minority, a junior partner and will get treated like the poorer cousin.”
Attempts to get Mr Jale’s response was unsuccessful as he was in a meeting.
Fresh Elections
When questioned on their chances in the event fresh elections were called, Mr SayedKhaiyum said Fiji had the finances and resources to conduct another election and that FijiFirst was confident of winning.
“A lot of people now know the outcome. A lot of people did not vote and knows the result of not voting, it relates to instability, already a lot of people are concerned about wanting to shut down their businesses, small businesses.
“We believe our chances are extremely good if we go to fresh elections.”
Meanwhile, in a press conference at 10pm last night, PA deputy leader, Manoa Kamikamica, urged FijiFirst to concede and move forward.
“50 per cent of Fiji said ‘no, we don’t want you’,” he said.
“In a true democracy, the Prime Minister would have conceded.”