Think Of Our Future, Country Stability. Not Facebook Likes: A-G
Making tertiary education free is not sustainable,
Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum was referring to SODELPA’s proposed policy to make education free until tertiary level.
“It is simply a ploy to get votes,” he said.
“They just want to get the votes, but it’s not sustainable. You can’t continue to do that, it will cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
“Where will they get the money from? They’re going to cut the budget for roads, they’re going to cut the budget for the Ministry of Women, what will they do, so it’s all about a balancing act.”
He said a targeted approach by Government was the free education initiative.
“We introduced free education in Fiji because we know that 70 per cent of the population in Fiji is below the age of 40. 65per cent of the population in Fiji is below the age of 55. We need our people, they are our greatest asset, we need them to be educated.”
Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said members of the public must consider how the party they would vote for in the 2022 General Election would bring about stability.
He also questioned the policies of National Federation Party leader Biman Prasad who said his policy was to get rid of the current government.
“What kind of policy is that? You must have policies. What is your policy on education, on tourism, on the economy?
“That’s what you need to ask yourself.
“What are these people saying to you? Who is making more intellectual sense, who is being more transparent and what is the reason they want to come into government?”
He said a few individuals wanted to get into government for the sake of holding ministerial positions.
“They just want to get into government, they want to have power not because they want to improve the country, not because they want to put in place good policies. You ask them, nobody’s telling you what it is, nobody’s released their manifesto, none of them,” he said.
Social Media
Meanwhile, he stressed that running a Government was more than social media likes.
Leading government, he said needed to be based on future insight and not social media presence.
“When you run a government, you don’t think about your Facebook, how many people liked you on Facebook, you don’t think about the likes,” he said.
“You think about the future if you’re interested in fixing up your country, about meeting challenges.
“When you think about elections, who you’re going to vote for, you must think about the future, about people who will give you stability, whose policies are transparent people who will think about the future.”
