Looking for a Fiji for all
WHEN Tupou Draunidalo chose to leave the Opposition National Federation Party earlier this year, political commentators wondered about the wisdom of such a move. For there are many who believe that without the support of the NFP and its huge support in the cane-growing areas of Fiji, Draunidalo will have little backing ahead of Fiji’s 2018 polls.
But the fiery lawyer and former Parliamentarian has chosen to step away from the Federation to set up a party inclusive of all ethnicities and genders – what she describes as a truly representative political movement. “I believe that the Fijian electorate largely, like many electorates overseas, falls in the middle,” Draunidalo said. “At the last elections, the ruling (FijiFirst) party successfully painted itself as a middle party.
Fiji has seen that that is far from the truth.’’ Fiji’s Prime Minister, Rear-Admiral Frank Bainimarama, drew up a Constitution which included a provision for all people to share the name Fijian – once the exclusive domain of the indigenous population. This single move has been credited with winning many Indo-Fijian votes in the 2014 elections. The Indo-Fijian populations has considered itself second class citizenry due to discriminatory laws in place during colonial times and after the 1987 coup. Now the indigenous people are called iTaukei – ironical because the term means “owner of the land”.
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