FWCC statement on Ratu Naiqama being nominated for President

24 Oct, 2024

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The nomination of Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu to be President of Fiji must be immediately withdrawn as it will not unite the nation but strengthen hierarchy, patriarchy, and gross inequality.

The position of President must not be for the “boys and wrongdoers.”

We cannot continue to reward coup perpetrators.

Ratu Naiqama who has shown us time and time again that he is a misogynist who was once suspended from Parliament for 2 years for making extremely derogatory comments against the late and former Speaker of the House, Dr Jiko Luveni and more recently, as Speaker of Parliament made racially charged comments, minimizing a community’s experience of slavery. Where is the Social Cohesion that this government proclaims to stand for?

The President of our Beloved Country needs to meet the moral and ethical standards of a leader that we can be proud of.

We are also very concerned about discussions that those nominated to be President need to be a chief or from a particular confederacy or province.

The will of the Fijian people must be reflected in the appointment of the President as in an elected President.

We also maintain our call that Ratu Naiqama must resign from Parliament.

Fiji must decide whether it wants to embrace universal standards of democratic governance or autocratic rule.

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