Sharma for We Unite Fiji

NITISH Sharma is a familiar name among avid TikTok users in the country.

Thus, when he announced he was standing as a candidate in the 2022 General Election, many of his followers on social media were unsure whether the 22-year-old medical student was serious or pulling their leg.

The Cuvu, Sigatoka, lad said he was serious, and that decision to contest was not an easy one to reach. He planned to run as an independent candidate initially, but eventually settled on contesting the election under the We Unite Fiji banner.

“Growing up, I did not like politicians, so I was never interested in politics to be honest,” he said.

“I wanted to migrate because when I go abroad and see the facilities and infrastructure and compare it with what we had in Fiji, I envied it and I wanted to move out.

“Then when I was in Form 5 (Year 11), I had this flip of a switch and I started to like Fiji more and instead of seeing how I can just go out and get better opportunities abroad, I started thinking of how I can bring those opportunities here for myself and everyone else.

“I used to be a FijiFirst supporter, but a few of their actions made me choose otherwise and the Opposition parties did not appeal to me too.”

Mr Sharma, who was in his fourth year of the MBBS program in Suva prior to filing his candidacy, was disheartened after he witnessed for himself what he called “a poor health system”.

“I saw things happening in our health system, especially from this year, because for the first three years, I was studying and we had COVID, so I was mostly at home,” he said.

“So from this year when I started going for clinics, I saw that our health sector lacks a lot of resources and that our medical officers are overworked, stressed and do not have the resources.

“The main reason why most people leave nowadays is because Fiji does not have great healthcare. I did not like the things that were happening.”

Mr Sharma said he soon realised that even if he were to graduate as a doctor, he would not be able to change anything in the health system.

“I realised that even if I became a doctor, I would not be able to change the system. The health system would still be broken because there are doctors in Fiji who would love for things to change, but they do not have a say.”

He said there was still a stigma associated with youths not being experienced enough to enter politics, however, Mr Sharma said anyone could make a change.

“I hope that a lot more youth go out and vote and regardless of what the outcome of this election is, whichever party wins, I hope there is a peaceful transition of power.

“I personally look forward to working with all parties because they represent a certain group of people and as politicians, we must respect everyone.”