SODELPA Has Chosen Best Option to Ensure it’s Longterm Political Future
To be successful, a working relationship in a political coalition and in a Cabinet Government has to be based on respect for the authority of the PM.
Monday 29 January 2024 | 16:41
Joji Kotobalavu. Source: The University of Fiji Students' Association -UFSA FB Page
Friday, January 26, the Social Democratic Liberal Party (SODELPA) decided to re-affirm its commitment to continue as a partner in the Rabuka-led Peoples Coalition Government.
The government comprises the Peoples Alliance with its 21 Members of Parliament, the National Federation Party with five, and SODELPA with three.
Parliamentary leader of the Peoples Alliance, Sitiveni Rabuka was elected by the House of Representatives to serve as Prime Minister and Head of Government.
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As PM, Mr Rabuka is empowered under Fiji’s 2013 Constitution to appoint ministers to serve in Cabinet and to assign their
ministerial functions and portfolio responsibilities.
Under the Constitution, the PM also has the power to dismiss a minister at his discretion.
It was PM Rabuka’s recent dismissal of SODELPA MP Aseri Radrodro as Minister for Education for “insubordination and disobedience” that led to SODELPA convening a special meeting of its management board to consider its position in the Coalition Government.
In my assessment, SODELPA has chosen wisely in re-affirming its continued participation in Government and to request the
PM to re-instate Aseri Radrodro as a minister.
Now, why do I say that SODELPA has chosen wisely and pragmatically in making this decision.
First, consider a scenario where SODELPA chooses to leave the Peoples Coalition Government and then together with the
FijiFirst Party and its 26 MPs move a motion of no confidence in PM Rabuka in Parliament.
Their combined 29 MPs [FFP 26 and SODELPA three] will easily defeat the combined MPs of the Peoples Alliance [21] and the NFP [Five].
Without any doubt, it will be PM Rabuka and his Peoples Alliance and their trusted coalition partner, the NFP.
What is the basis of this prediction?
First of all, ever since the first general elections in 2014, peoples vote for the FFP has been progressively declining.
The party received 59 per cent of the vote in 2014, just over 50 per cent in 2018, and this declined further to 42.5 per cent in 2022.
The overwhelming majority of the votes received by the FijiFirt Party were won by the two founding leaders of the FijiFirst
Party, Voreqe Bainimarama and Sayed-Khaiyum.
But these two political leaders are no longer as politically active and influential as they were when they led the FijiFirst Government.
They are out of Parliament and Government.
So, this will further accelerate the decline in voter support for the FijiFirt Party in future general elections.
Its MPs peaked with 32 in the 2014 General Election, but then fell to 27 in 2018 and further to 26 in the 2022 General Election.
For SODELPA, voter support for the party peaked in the 2018 General Election when Mr Rabuka was its leader. SODELPA
won 181,072 votes, and more than 79,000 of these votes were won for the party by Mr Rabuka.
In the 2022 General Election, without Mr Rabuka, SODELPA’s votes fell to 24,172 votes, and its seats in Parliament were reduced from 21 to three.
Bucking this trend, the NFP has reaped the benefit of aligning itself with Mr Rabuka and his Peoples Alliance party.
It increased its share of the popular vote from 33,515 in the 2018 General Election to 41,830 in 2022. Correspondingly, its seats in Parliament increased from three to five.
So, from the above analysis, it is clear as daylight that SODELPA’s best prospects in reversing the decline in its voter support would be best ensured if it continued to closely aligned itself with the leadership of Mr Rabuka and his coalition of willing political partners.
If I may offer advice to SODELPA on how to improve its working relationship with the PM Rabuka, as leader of Government, it is that some of its officials must stop the demanding “tail wagging the dog” attitude they have been displaying of late.
Being appointed a minister in Cabinet or outside it, is not to be demanded as an entitlement.
It is a privilege which the Constitution, our supreme law, has conferred upon the PM, as head of the executive Government, to bestow.
Joji Kotobalavu. Source: The University of Fiji Students' Association -UFSA FB Page
To be appointed a minister is an act of great confidence and trust by the PM. It is, therefore, incumbent on all ministers always to serve with honesty and humility.
- Jioji Kotobalavu is a former senior public service official and is currently a part-time Lecturer.
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