Bainivalu: Women vital to People’s Alliance 2026 push

Women will play a crucial role in the People’s Alliance Party’s preparations for the 2026 General Election, Minister for Fisheries and Forestry Alitia Bainivalu says.

Speaking at the party’s Women’s Wing Special General Meeting on Saturday, Ms Bainivalu told hundreds of women gathered at the Suva Civic Centre that their contribution would be vital to campaign success.

“The efforts of women is very important in the lead up, in the preparation for the upcoming general elections, because they always try and go out of their way to make things work,” she said.

“They have these skills inbuilt in them naturally, that enable them to carry out the various functions that is needed in a party, whether it be organising skills, whether it be decoration skills, or just getting things ready.”

Ms Bainivalu also shared her personal journey as encouragement for women considering political participation.

After completing her Master’s degree in Marine Science in Japan in 2020, she returned home to find her position at the Ministry of Fisheries had been filled.

“I was without work for two months,” she said, adding that repeated applications to return to the ministry were unsuccessful.

She later worked as a research officer at the Opposition Office for nearly two years before being given a party seat in 2022.

“After 18 months, I was then appointed Minister for Fisheries and Forestry. God brought me back to the very ministry where I once had no job — not as an employee, but as a Minister,” she said.

Ms Bainivalu confirmed she intends to contest the 2026 General Election under Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka’s leadership.