Don’t be swayed by small political parties: Baba pleads with villagers
‘Think wisely before casting your votes and choose a party that will work for the interest of the iTaukei people’
SODELPA awareness manager Jale Baba has called on supporters to remain firm and not be swayed away by the agendas of “small political parties” in the upcoming general election.
He made the plea during a consultation at Yako Village in Nadroga on Wednesday night.
“Think wisely before casting your votes and choose a party that will work for the interest of the iTaukei people,” Mr Baba said.
He told villagers to vote for a political party that would protect land and fishing ground rights of the iTaukei people.
In any system, he added, SODELPA would belong to the right wing because it advocated indigenous rights to protect their inheritance while others on the left wing had their own personal agendas.
“Then there are the moderate parties, they are always in the centre and they are political parties that are confusing people,” Mr Baba said.
“The small political parties don’t belong to the right wing or the left wing because they will always be small without much influence in their areas of campaign.
“They confuse the choices of people and the general election, even in the last general election all these small parties lost including the Fiji Labour Party. The fact is they will need to share the five per cent votes,” Mr Baba said.
FLP leader Mahendra Chaudhry refused to comment on the issue when questioned yesterday adding he would consult Mr Baba first. Mr Baba further said an example of someone, who was part of a small political party was Lynda Tabuya, who left PDP to join SODELPA, after realising the truth. SODELPA provisional candidate, Ms Tabuya and HOPE Party president, Tupou Draunidalo could not be reached for comments when this edition went to press.
“What I stated were facts without trying to discriminate or to cause conflict with others, but solely on what I believed,” Mr Baba said. “SODELPA’s aim is to protect what God has rightfully given the iTaukei to inherit.
“Not all political parties have the same beliefs.”