Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama says his comments on SODELPA MP Salote Radrodro are not sexist.

He was responding last night to National Federation Party leader, Biman Prasad, who accused the PM of making “sexist comments” in Parliament yesterday.

Mr Bainimarama said earlier that Mrs Radrodro should spend more time to think of what she said in Parliament than dressing for the camera if she wanted to make a good parliamentarian.

He said he was disappointed with the statement made by Mrs Radrodro on a number of issues.

But Mr Bainimarama said he did not see anything wrong with his statement compared to Mr Prasad’s “skirt journalism” attack on Fiji Sun’s managing editor news, Jyoti Pratibha, last year.

Mr Prasad had said then that skirt journalism was given a new meaning via Ms Pratibha’s editorial comment.

He implied that Ms Pratibha was linked to skirt journalism.

The term, skirt journalism in Fiji is commonly understood to be sexual liaison between female journalists and male new source.

Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum has several times in Parliament called out Mr  Prasad on his dramatic tactics and also said that Mr Prasad was putting up a show for the cameras and was camera ready.

This was in no way sexist.

Mr Prasad had called for a point of order, while the PM was speaking.

However, Speaker of Parliament, Dr Jiko Luveni, said the point could not be accepted because Mrs Radrodro was not in the House to support it.

Meanwhile, Mrs Radrodro said outside Parliament that she would lodge a complaint against the PM to the Speaker.

Mr Bainimarama said the Opposition had no respect for Parliament.

He said the issue of favouritism that Mrs Radrodro talked about was not present in Fiji.

Mr Bainimarama said a serious legislator would look in their facts before making any statement against the judiciary.

“The independence of the judiciary is evident every day,” he said.

Edited by Naisa Koroi