The Fiji Independent Commission against Corruption (FICAC) yesterday revealed that one Government Member of Parliament and eight Opposition Members of Parliament were being investigated following a complaint lodged by Secretary-General to Parliament, Viniana Namosimalua.

Who are they?

FijiFirst party general secretary and Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum when asked about the identity of the Government MP, said: “Yes, we understand Honourable Vijendra Prakash’s name was one of the names given by the Secretary-General of Parliament to FICAC. Once this matter was reported to FICAC, we subsequently requested all our MPs who claimed allowances to provide documents to help us to determine the authenticity of claims.

“It became apparent that we could not access all personal information and documents, which FICAC can, to arrive at a conclusive determination.

“FICAC is currently carrying out its own independent investigations, which should not be prejudiced nor interfered with.”

Opposition:

Confusion still reigns within the suspended main Opposition Party. While National Federation Party has come out and said none of their MPs was being investigated, SODELPA (in suspension) hierarchy had no clue which of their MPs (in suspension) were implicated.

When contacted yesterday, the suspended Party’s MP Sitiveni Rabuka said they had not heard anything from FICAC.

In yet another show of poor and weak leadership, Mr Rabuka and his MPs have confirmed that in the suspended Party the right hand is not aware of what the left hand is doing. In contrast, FijiFirst has started taking steps to verify the allegations and NFP has ruled out all their MPs.

How will this affect the SODELPA (in suspension) management board meeting, which is scheduled to be held on Friday? Fiji Sun believes that a number of the MPs being investigated are from the Kshatriya Hall faction.

FICAC:

In a statement yesterday, FICAC said: “In response to numerous media queries, the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC) wishes to confirm the receipt of the complaint referred to FICAC by the Secretary-General of Parliament regarding the alleged breach of the Parliamentary Remuneration Act of 2014.

“FICAC confirms that the complaint was received last month and involves allegations made against eight (8) Opposition Members of Parliament (MP) and one (1) Government MP. The nature of the complaint alleges that these MPs claimed travel and accommodation allowances they were not entitled to and in doing so, breached the above-mentioned Act.

“The Commission is carrying out the investigation and ensuring that the due processes are being followed and done so with integrity.

“Once all the relevant evidence is collated and analysed, a decision will be made and necessary action is taken, should it be required.”.

Edited by Naisa Koroi

Feedback: jyotip@fijisun.com.fj