Opinion piece on SODELPA
THE TWO FACTIONS ALSO NEED TO BE REALISTIC IN THE SENSE THAT THERE IS ONLY ONE NATIONAL CONSTITUENCY.
The fear of the Khatriya Hall faction is that rebranding the suspended SODELPA party as a multiracial one will alienate their base of supporters especially in their Northern heartland
To the uninformed reader, the current suspended SODELPA Party impasse between its two factions seems like a ‘no brainer’.
The public perception is that the two groups should come together and solve their issues.
The thinking is that they should use the iTaukei cultural and Christian values to look for a middle ground for finding unity.
This is naïve and sentimental thinking that does not take account of the historical context of iTaukei politics from 1987 to the present time.
The reality is more complex and even comments in mainstream and social media to get rid of the ‘old guard’ and get in younger talented people will not happen.
The current battle is over the heart and soul of the party. Should it continue with its social democratic platform with a pro-iTaukei ideology or should it adapt the multicultural model brought in when the PDP was subsumed into it?
In this article I provide insights into the thinking behind the faction that met at Khatriya Hall. This faction is pro-iTaukei with a nationalist slant and they have a substantive base of support in the North with substantive pockets of believers in 11 other provinces.
Notice that when the two factions met at Khatriya Hall and Holiday Inn, Rabuka cast his lot with the Khatriya Hall faction when perhaps the wise thing to do was to refrain from attending either factions’ meetings so as to show neutrality given his role as mediator.
Rabuka was learning from the lessons of his Soqosoqo ni Vakavulewa ni Taukei Party (SVT) Party. He knows that Ratu Naiqama commands cult like devotion in Cakaudrove. For Rabuka to retain his base of support, he needs the Tui Cakau’s support.
History repeating itself?
The fear of the Khatriya Hall faction is that rebranding the suspended SODELPA party as a multiracial one will alienate their base of supporters especially in their Northern heartland. They fear that if they take this route, other disgruntled chiefs in the North may form a pro-iTaukei party linking up with like minded chiefs in 11 other provinces.
Their strategy is that if they remain a predominantly iTaukei party, then the National Federation Party can provide the Indo-Fijian dimension. (There has been talk of Niko Nawaikula forming a new party. He has denied this. That talk is being discussed vigorously around kava bowls!)
The pro-iTaukei groups reference point is the sad history of the SVT Party which had initially been set up by the Chiefs.
In 1999, Rabuka formed a multi-racial political marriage between his
iTaukei based SVT with the Indo-Fijian based NFP and the United General Party. Rabuka’s flaw was that he had not consulted the 14 provinces and their chiefs.
The terms had been dictated to them. There was naturally a feeling of betrayal by some iTaukei especially in Viti Levu. In the confusing landscape of the 1999 elections, three Fijian parties siphoned votes from SVT.
The Tailevu-based Fijian Political Party garnered 10 parliamentary seats to SVT’s 8. The Western based Party of National Unity (PANU) took four seats and the nationalist Christian Democratic won three seats. In the 2001 elections, the SVT received 5.5 per cent of the national vote and did not win any seats.
The SVT also did not win any seats in 2006 and was disbanded shortly afterwards.
The fear driving some of those in the Khatriya faction is a possible case of history repeating itself. The thinking is that if they take this multiracial route, another party with nationalist iTaukei leaning might spring up to sway their base especially in the North.
There is also the fear that given the single constituency system, the rebranded party (with a multiracial manifesto) might struggle to win the confidence of the base of dedicated pro-iTaukei supporters.
Times have changed
Those who pine for a return to the glory days of nationalism should be aware that we now have the multicultural 2013 Constitution.
If some of the Khatriya Hall faction are thinking that it might be pragmatic to let the suspended party die a natural death and recast the new one with a pro-iTaukei slant, then they need to mix some more grog and have a rethink of their strategies.
The world has changed and urban iTaukei have learned from the lessons of the past. Past iTaukei parties tended to support the elite and there was a perception of rampant cronyism and tribalism.
Chiefs now have a diminished status especially amongst young urban iTaukei who seem indifferent.
The two factions also need to be realistic in the sense that there is only one national constituency. One of the main bone of contention in their conflict was the 2018 strategy of getting voters to vote for constituency candidates. The last-minute strategy of getting voters to vote for the party leader generated the factional in-fighting. One view is that although a party may internally divide up the national electorate into 51 constituencies, the reality is that a substantive chunk of unsophisticated voters will vote for the Party Leader out of convenience.
They get a ballot paper the size of a small table cloth with hundreds of names and they pragmatically tick the number of their preferred political leader which they have memorised. Shuffling through pages of enhanced images of candidates can be tedious.
Role of Chiefs
While chiefs held sway in previous elections before 2006 due to their unity, the story is different in 2020.
For the suspended SODELPA Party to rebrand itself as being inwardly conservative and pro-iTaukei does not mean that they will automatically get the votes of the people.
They may get some Chiefs supporting their nationalist cause. Other chiefs like Ro Teimumu Kepa and Ratu Epenisa Cakobau are supporting the multiracial Holiday Inn faction. Much has been said about Ro Teimumu as a Chief with diminishing status in the political landscape given the low number of votes she received in 2018. What is conveniently forgotten is that she had been magnanimous in requesting Rewans to provide first preference to her nephew Ro Filipe.
She also has a sizeable following amongst young people.
One suggestion going up around the grog bowl discussions is that perhaps the paramount chiefs should remove themselves from the conflict situation by not taking sides.
This would mean that Ro Teimumu defers to Ro Filipe and Ratu Naiqama passes the baton to Ratu Atonio, his highly regarded son.
Under this scenario they would play a role rather like the one the Gone Turaga na Tui Nadi currently does.
He is perceived as being the chief of not only the Nadi people, but all the people who live in the Nadi area.
He is sought after by everyone to solve conflicts and get development going. He actively supports business development in Nadi and supports his people to be integrated into the economic sector. While his people subscribe to different political parties and beliefs, he is a peace building stabilising figure whom everyone can come to for guidance.
The suspended SODELPA party narrative is still unfolding. We can give suggestions. But at the end of the 60 days, the factions must solve their issues amicably for the good of the nation.