Finance Minister admits Coalition Government yet to deliver all election promises

Minister for Finance Esrom Immanuel admits that the Coalition Government has yet to deliver all the promises made to the people in the lead up to the 2022 General Election.

The Coalition Government was sworn into office on December 24, 2022, marking the upcoming Christmas Eve as their third year as Government.

In winning the election, the People’s Alliance (PA), the majority party in Government, had outlined a 100-day promise to implement changes in Fiji’s governing system, some of these, the Minister for Finance hopes will be achieved next year.

“For the promises, I think there’s only a few that are left. So that will probably take us through the next year,” Mr Immanuel said.

Among the key changes that have yet to be achieved are the review of the 2013 Constitution, local government elections, and the phasing out of the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption – an institution that sparked national controversy with the appointment of its two commissioners under the current Government.

Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka said in an earlier media report the Government would need to amend the constitution before the election.

“I think we’ve done a lot in almost three years. However, when we came in, we faced a lot of challenges,” Mr Immanuel said.

“We did what we call clean-ups. Even though we’re still cleaning up, that’s a challenge. But I think we’ve achieved what we’re supposed to achieve.

“One good indication is the number of Bills we’ve turned into law. Last week alone we turned eight Bills into Acts.”

Some of these were achieved, although not within the 100-day timeframe, including the establishment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, increasing the retirement age from 55 to 60, restoring annual grant to the University of the South Pacific, and reviewing of the baseline tariffs of water and electricity.

When contacted for a comment, the president of the PA, Joe Dimuri, said the party would need time to review its manifesto and respond to questions.