Mystery of Oath of Allegiance Pledge Adds More Intrigue to Query Over Rebels’ Loyalty

There is one way of finding out whether SODELPA’s Members of Parliament are loyal to the party.

There should be documents in the party’s records of their oath of allegiance pledge they signed after their election in the 2018 General Election.

The problem is those documents can’t be found. They appear to have gone missing.

No one seems to know what happened to them. The current leadership executives want to cite them as a guide to determine the status of rebels now challenging them.

They can say that they have evidence of their pledge and their act of defiance is a breach of that pledge.

All the MPs including the rebels maintained they signed the pledge.

It is understood that the party wants them to sign a new pledge. Some MPs are willing to re-sign but others particularly from the rebel group are resisting saying they have already signed .

It is understood that they realise it could be used against them as the party cracks down on people trying to undermine the party’s preparation for next year’s election.

The rebels, belonging to the conservative right wing faction, had defied the directive of president Ratu Epenisa Cakobau to select party leader Viliame Gavoka as Opposition leader instead they voted for Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu.

Some of them were behind a failed attempt to move a vote of no confidence in Ratu Epenisa in a recent Management Board meeting.

Party executives realise that they need to bring this conflict against the rebels to a closure so they can focus on preparing for the election.

The only way to deal with it is to enforce the provisions of the party constitution and discipline the rebels.

They should begin by deciding the fate of the five party members accused of helping Sitiveni Rabuka’s proposed new party registration drive.

A report is due from a committee that was tasked to carry out the investigation.

Once this is sorted, they can move on to the loyalty pledge. They need to know who is on their side and who is not.

TOMORROW:

How is the signature drive for Sitiveni Rabuka’s proposed new party going?