History does have a way of repeating itself
How can a political party publicly announce their provisional candidates without doing their due diligence?
Alook into Sitiveni Rabuka’s political career will show that the issues within the People’s Alliance is not new. Every political party Mr Rabuka has led, has ended up breaking up into factions. This has been the case since the 1990s and nothing has changed.
This is the hallmark of a leader who is a people pleaser and one who is not able to make decisions without wanting to please everyone. In the end, Mr Rabuka ends up not pleasing anyone and we end up with disillusioned people such as Abel Camillo openly criticising his leadership.
But, that is not all. The revelation by Mr Rabuka that his Party is announcing candidates without doing their background check such as criminal conviction is shocking. This is putting the cart before the horse. Mr Rabuka’s reasoning is illogical at best and his advisors have not done him any favours. But then this is not the first time Mr Rabuka’s reasoning has not made sense. His attempt to backtrack on civil service salary comments was yet another example of this.
How can a political party publicly announce their provisional candidates without doing their due diligence? Is the Party doing a criminal/police clearance check only because it is required by the Fijian Elections Office?
The fact that they opted not to check the background of any of their candidates makes one wonder what really the selection criteria was.
Mr Rabuka was chosen to lead Soqosoqo ni Vakavulewa ni Taukei (SVT) in 1991. This party won the parliamentary election of 1992 and he became Prime Minister. But, his leadership was challenged by former Finance Minister Josefata Kamikamica.
In 1994, Mr Kamikamica left the party with five of his supporters, and this meant Mr Rabuka no longer held a parliamentary majority. This is the scenario which could be repeated if the National Federation Party pulls back their support from any post-election coalition they may form.
After Mr Kamikamica left the party with his supporters, a parliamentary election to resolve the impasse was held three years early.
Mr Rabuka formed a coalition with the small General Voters Party, a small party supported almost entirely by General electors, who comprised Europeans, Chinese, and other minorities. In an attempt to salvage his drowning political career, he joined hands with NFP’s then leader.
That was NFP’s worst defeat in any election held till date which saw Fiji Labour Party emerging as winners.
History does have a way of repeating itself.