The business of entering Parliament must be a noble job.
And one which the people of Fiji are soon to engage in again through the 2022 General Elections to elect the next batch of leaders who will advocate for the ordinary person on the streets and in communities.
However, Opposition MP Aseri Radrodro added that sadly, “many of us get to this House and never go back to see the people who gave us their votes”.
“Many of us engage in lies during election campaigns and we get votes using misinformation and disinformation, and these distortions confuse our vulnerable voters to vote for leaders who, are only seen during elections campaigns and disappear into the forest for the next four years,” Mr Radrodro said.
In his contribution to the President’s address in parliament last week, the SODELPA MP said “tribalism and egoism” was at the forefront of national politics and governance by “so-called leaders over time, who instead of carrying out the crucial business of nation-building, they have contributed instead to tearing down peace, tearing down unity and stability”.
He claimed for those leaders, “their own status, their own pockets and their own families have been more important than that young person, that young mother, that farmer, that villager who needs assistance and who went to the polls because they trusted that we would get to this august House and be true to our words to look after their needs”.
“I join His Excellency in educating our people to appreciate the will to serve by those who will allow themselves to be candidates for the next elections and I call upon people to engage in meaningful discourse.
“We must do away and denounce those who tear down aspiring politicians on social media and in public.
“We must denounce the personalisation of attacks against candidates, especially uncalled for attacks against our women who are already marginalised in a predominantly patriarchal society.”
Mr Radrodro said it was important for people to understand that elections campaign was a time for careful consideration of who to entrust our lives to for the next four years as they become elected.
“… And so we must extract only the much-needed messages to make well-informed choices and any extra noise must be denounced and discouraged.”
