THE WOMEN IN SUSPENDED SODELPA DRAMA
They are being looked at to clean it up and reset its journey But are the men prepared to allow them to go in and do whatever is necessary to strengthen suspended SODELPA?
Adi Litia Qionibaravi.
One of the prominent features of the split in suspended SODELPA is the presence of women on both sides of the political divide.
They have played an influential role in the lead up to the current situation.
The faction headed by Vijay Singh is stacked with them. In fact most members of the suspended party’s Women’s Forum are part of a movement to clean it up and put it back on the right course . They are fed up of the internal squabbling and the absence of a duty of care to respect good governance principles.
Leading them are four women leaders in their own right. They are Rewa and Burebasaga Confederacy paramount chief and suspended MP Ro Teimumu Kepa, successful businesswoman Mere Samisoni, civil society leader Emele Duituturaga and suspended Opposition Whip Lynda Tabuya. They are up against suspended MPs Adi Litia Qionibaravi and Salote Radrodro.
It’s been awhile that we have seen women in the forefront of politics. It is reminiscent of the days of Irene J Narayan and Ro Asela Logavatu in the ranks of the Opposition National Federation Party Mrs J Narayan became one of the leaders of the Flower Faction when the NFP split into two factions along religious and ideological differences.
The other faction, The Dove, was led by well known lawyer Siddiq Koya. The split in suspended SODELPA is based on multiple grounds, governance being top of the agenda. There is also a growing feeling that the old guard should give way to the younger generation to lead the party into the future,
While both sides promote iTaukei interests, the Vijay Singh group is more moderate than the conservative right wingers in the opposite camp.
There are elements In the conservative group who still harbour the feelings that men should lead a political party. It was acceptable for Ro Teimumu to be party leader at one stage because she is a chief.
It is this kind of warped thinking that has pushed many women to the moderate crowd.
They feel it is out of kilter with modern-day practices where women are treated as equals and enjoy equal opportunities.
On equality, there is no better example than Ro Teimumu. When she was Opposition Leader she took a bold and principled stand when she publicly announced in Parliament that she had accepted and embraced that all citizens be called Fijian despite their ethnicity. Members of her own party were shocked because they had opposed it.
She also gave her blessings to the late Tui Noco in Rewa to accept descendants of Indian indentured labourers as members of his chiefly household or “luvedra na Tui Noco”.