Busy week with FICAC
LET’S respect each other as we campaign. Greetings readers and what an interesting week it has been.
Firstly, The People’s Alliance’s popular provincial candidate, Sajal Narayan, was taken in by the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC) for questioning.
What was supposed to be just a friendly chat within minutes quickly turned into a search warrant being served and Sajal being marched off to his home where his car and house were searched.
The following day, he was once again summoned to FICAC to verify certain documents and released again.
A few days later, FICAC returned with another search warrant and searched his house again. All this was expedited. There was no caution interview and no charges were laid.
Unfortunately, there was fear and grief for Sajal and his entire family Fiji-wide – plus there was fear and worry from his loved ones in America and elsewhere.
Sajal even visited his beloved grandmother, grandfather and his relatives in Labasa for one day to reassure them to be calm and not be fearful.
Next up, PA deputy leader Lynda Tabuya – the highest-ranking female vote winner in the last election who won more votes than all the FijiFirst female cabinet ministers put together – was called in for questioning by FICAC.
Once again, uncertainty and fear spread through her large family and thousands upon thousands of her supporters, as well as her 100,000-plus Facebook followers who waited anxiously as she was taken in. The questioning at FICAC continued for a second day and once again, no charges were laid.
Then, just as we thought we could regroup and strategise our next move, lo and behold, the party leader of The People’s Alliance and the very cornerstone of our movement, Sitiveni Rabuka, was called and asked to be at FICAC.
Calm and collected
The 100,000-plus Facebook followers of Mr Rabuka would have been very anxious, but as usual, he was calm, strong and collected, as any good leader would be. No caution interview was carried out, and no charges were laid.
The incredible strength and fortitude shown by these individuals and their ability to comfort those around them was a credit to their forgiving nature and calling for calm among all their respective supporters.
This makes a total of three high-profile individuals who have been to the FICAC office in the last week as we look towards more of The People’s Alliance executives and provisional candidates being brought in for questioning over the following weeks.
I have heard that in the FICAC interview room there is a huge whiteboard with timelines and many of our top executive members’ names are scribbled on the board for what we assume could be the list being called in for questioning – my name included.
We will obviously accommodate FICAC, but let us hope that all due respect and courtesy is shown at all times to those party members who will be brought in.
We pray for all their families, friends, many party supporters and loved ones to be calm and also forgiving.
Without hatred
Interestingly, having personally engaged with the majority of our The People’s Alliance executives and provisional candidates, the vast majority of them have told me they don’t have any malice or hatred for any of our political opponents, but will only pray that we all embrace the spirit of democracy.
Surely we can solve our issues through the ballot box and if the coalition of The People’s Alliance and National Federation Party win so be it. If FijiFirst wins, so be it, but whatever the result, let the citizens of Fiji decide without malice or hate in their hearts as to who they want to lead the nation.
We have all got to stop for a moment and think, it can be a simple and seamless process.
we have approximately 600,000-plus eligible voters
if a majority cast their vote for one political party, they win
if a majority of votes are cast for a coalition of two parties, they win
simple as that, let the citizens have their say and we are done
We have waited patiently for the election dates to be announced. Let the process start, let the people cast their vote and let the most popular party or coalition party win.
This process isn’t rocket science. It’s very simple and considering only approximately
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600,000 people will eventually vote, it is like the size of a large village in India voting.
Let us all come together in the name of democracy. Let us all respect our citizens and their choice of who they want to lead the nation.
Finally, let’s just get through this process without malice, hatred and without revenge. Let’s just respect each other, respect the ballot box and respect the outcome of the people’s choice in the election.
I am sure this is what the vast majority of the citizens of our beloved nation want. I am also sure they would like to get the process over and done with in a decent, courteous and respectable manner.
■ AJAY BHAI AMRIT is a founding member of The People’s Alliance
party and is also a freelance writer. The views expressed in this article are his and do not
necessarily reflect the views of this newspaper.