Lost chance

ALLOW me to express my dismay at what transpired in Parliament on the night of March 26, 2020.

For the past six or so years, we — the people of Fiji — have been subjected to the tensions which appear to be not just political but very personal and ingrained, among our elected leaders.

Fiji’s current political landscape is being, sadly, carved in stone by the determination of some of our leaders to continue to be confrontational and to place political “upmanship/ point scoring” at the fore of national debates.

We, the ordinary people who voted our leaders in, appear to now be mere bystanders, subjects and pawns in their ongoing across the floor political battles.

On that March 26 evening, the nation witnessed an opportunity at bipartisanship go to waste — an opportunity for the political leaders to take the first step towards real nation building and even possible unanimity in the passage of the Supplementary Budget.

Sadly, the Government’s offer to extend the time allocated to debate the budget, was brushed aside and immediately “strangled” before it could even take its first breath.

I am of the view that the Speaker should have allowed the Attorney-General to move an amendment motion to allow the process to take its course.

After all, most of the night’s sitting was taken up with across the floor accusations and counter accusations about two issues: attempts to circumvent Standing Orders and the intentions behind the Supplementary Budget Bill.

The Government, through the AttorneyGeneral offered to accommodate the wishes of the Opposition members to extend the time allowed to discuss his Supplementary Budget.

If allowed, this would have taken onboard the complaints from the Opposition members about the need for more time to properly analyse and debate the budget.

It would have also demonstrated to the nation the willingness of our leaders to come together in a united front at times of national chaos.

Even in the United States — all the name calling, political power play and acrimony from the recent impeachment attempts were put aside to allow passage of recovery packages aimed at assisting the ordinary American citizens and American business.

That, is what leadership should be — a willingness, in crisis situations - to work together in the interests of the nation.

Sadly, our Speaker’s intervention cut that short. DENNIS ANTHONY ROUNDS Lautoka