In an exclusive new column, Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka sits down with deputy chief of staff Cheerieann Wilson to open up about the heart of his leadership and the challenges of guiding Fiji through complex times.
In this candid conversation, the Prime Minister answers questions submitted by the people of Fiji in The Fiji Times’ “Your Fiji, Your Voice” Letters to the Editor column, giving readers an insight into his personal journey as a leader, his approach to decision-making, and how he navigates the delicate balance of managing a three-party coalition.
It’s a rare and unfiltered glimpse into how he keeps his hand on the pulse of the nation.
Don’t miss this first-hand account of what it takes to lead Fiji forward in these dynamic times.
CW: Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, there are issues and concerns about leadership and performance of your government throughout the two years since you came into office. How do you manage the pressures of leadership? Are you getting enough rest and are you looking at yourself in the mirror every day saying to yourself, we’re doing enough for people?
PM Rabuka: I will answer your last question first. I look at the mirror and I’m not happy with what I see in the mirror. But as far as the other part to your question, I get enough rest. I rest very well in the evening because I know that when it comes to the end of the day, I know I’ve done my best for the day, and the great grandchildren help a lot with relieving the pressure of work.
PM Rabuka: But as I look into the mirror and I see this old man looking back at me, I keep asking myself, am I doing enough? And I am rested, and I’m comforted by the fact that I believe I have done everything I am capable of doing in the ‘dead of day’ that I’m reviewing in the mirror every day.
CW: Selwa Nandan, a letter writer of Lautoka, states in his letter under the title “New culture”, there’s a growing concern about a culture of entitlement among those holding senior taxpayer funded positions. How do we ensure accountability and protect institutional integrity?
PM Rabuka: We only can do that when we abide by the rules and regulations and make sure that every decision we make is defensible in any court or any tribunal with our use of the laws and constitution as our defence.
PM Rabuka: I think that Mr Nandan, the culture of entitlement, has been a natural inclination of humans ever since creation when we feel that something is ours and we are entitled to. I mean, by the same token, those who point a finger at us claiming that we are claiming entitlements are stating their right on their entitlement to question. So everybody has that entitlement to question government. When you question entitlement, you also exerting or projecting your entitlement, your entitlement to the right to know.
CW: Have you had direct and frank discussions with members of your Cabinet and your team on the need to work hard so that the electoral does not set aside next year.
PM Rabuka: Yes, I think we have had,
PM Rabuka: We have general discussions in Cabinet, in caucus, but we must also understand that once you come into Cabinet, you’re no longer just a political person. You become servants of the executive arm of government, and you must serve the people, not in accordance with your manifesto, but do what is best in the interest of the people. And we do that, and because we have now a quadrilateral coalition, we have four views to be expressed during our discussions in Cabinet about certain issues that affect the people. Some may bring into Cabinet their personal views. Some will bring their ministerial views. In fact, all the ministers do that. What they think as ministers – for example as Minister for Health – what do they think as representatives of the people of the Cakaudrove who voted for you, when it comes to issues of health and health infrastructure? So, they are all discussed in much detail during our Cabinet discussion, but we do not succumb to the pools of our political leanings. We have to make decisions that are in the best interest of the people of Fiji.
CW: How is it for you as a leader managing the quadruple coalition that you have now?
Rabuka: It is very easy, because they are all mature people who have the interests of the people at heart, and they have been put into Parliament and now into Cabinet by the powers of the laws of Fiji. So, they are there. They’ve sworn their allegiance to the country and its people and also their commitment to diligence and doing what is in the best interest of all the people of Fiji.
CW: Sir, some may beg to differ with all the political drama that has been unfolding, of course, we have a freer society now where people are able to speak out. At what point do you say enough is enough with the drama?
PM Rabuka: We cannot do that and also maintain our stance on the freedom of expression and freedom of speech. The drama has, well, those that call it drama has only become evident now, with everybody now free to express their views. Before that, it was sort of a controlled stage. It was very controlled stage. You couldn’t just come in and play your part in a drama. It was very controlled. It had a very good producer and conductor, so who was controlling everything and conducting everything. So now, everybody’s free. Some play out of tune. We may think they are playing out of tune. They think we are playing out of tune. It’s a free society that we’re in now, and we’ll get used to it, but for so long we had lived in a cage and controlled with what we can do and see or say. So this so-called drama is really reality. It shouldn’t have been seen as a drama, if it was, if it had been happening all the time.
CW: Six additional portfolios to 4th party in the coalition. The Coalition Government has been described as a boys’ club. How do you respond to that characterisation?
PM Rabuka: We have two women in the in the Cabinet. We have one on the government side in the back bench at the moment, and we have one in the opposition. So, what boys club? Which boys club?
CW: Sir, we’ve been getting feedback from people about who do you turn to in terms of seeking advice when making decisions?
PM Rabuka: I turn to the people who are supposed to be giving me the advice. When it comes to legal matters, I turn to the Attorney-General. When it comes to law and order, I turn to the Minister for policing now — I have had him for a few weeks. I have very little reason to ask the Minister for Defence for any assistance in that area. But as far as health, drug enforcement — now the police, I do not go outside the Cabinet, and I prefer to stay that way, because these are tested people who have come through and they are trusted by the people to come and offer me the advice that they believe would be in the best interest of the people.
CW: Some would say that the advice, the consequences of that advice has resulted in a lot of, (what I have said before) drama. Are you satisfied with performance?
PM Rabuka: The advice I get, I have the final say on whether to accept or not. Perhaps they’re saying that the drama is that I’m on centre stage, and everybody is on the periphery of the stage. It’s not quite like that. We are all participating, and I benefit from the advice. And if there is, there is advice that has not been properly thought out, I call them up individually and talk to them. For example, there have been some decisions that are made by some ministers that could have been worse when projected in public. So, we try and manage the exposure. I try and manage the exposure by sometimes taking the punch, sometimes collectively taking responsibility for what we do.
CW: A letter by Rajan Naidu titled Role Model criticises an earlier letter by Rajesh Lingam, who describes a former minister Lynda Tabuya as a role model. Naidu says such a description shows the moral decay of the country. How would you describe your stance on Ms Tabuya? Yes, there’s been repeat offenses, but there are also people like Lingam who still look to her as a role model.
PM Rabuka: For him she is, and for Rajan, she’s not. Its in the eyes of the beholder.
CW: There is concern that Fiji’s moral and ethical standards in leadership is declining because of certain examples. How do you respond to claims that figures like Ms Tabuya symbolises this shift.
PM Rabuka: It’s for the people to either associate with or disassociate with her kind of life or lifestyle. So, it’s not something that the government decides. It is a personal inclination Whether you think that the drug lord and from South America is a hero, and you put him, put his picture in your profile, like what’s happening now — is he a role model? For whom? Those that say he or she is a role model reflect or say or confess that is what I value.
CW: Do you think that Lynda Tabuya can make a political comeback, and would you welcome her return?
PM Rabuka: She is still in. She has not been excluded from the party, and it’s up to the people. She has the right to put her hand up, and the selection process in the party will decide whether she can be a candidate in the next election or not.
CW: We’re going into 2026, in the next couple of months, a critical year in our contemporary history. Voters are now more critical and outspoken. How do you navigate increasing public scrutiny?
PM Rabuka: Well, I think the very fact that we are going into election has forced everybody to look very closely at the people they chose, who they should choose in the coming general elections. So, as far as I’m concerned, the scrutiny is being exercised by the people, and we just have to project what we feel we should be projecting as the servants of the people put in there to work in the best interest of the people.
CW: Are you going to contest the next elections? And are you confident in terms of your health and stamina to contest elections?
PM Rabuka: As far as my health is concerned, I leave that to the doctor. As far as my own feelings are concerned, yes, I’d like to be contesting again. Right now, there are three major objectives that are getting close to completion; and that is the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The next plan is the constitutional review and the ocean of peace, which is a regional objective or mission on my part. When I accomplish those, depending on when, I may continue, or I may hand over to the next 15.
CW: Sir, in the last press conference you had when you announced the additional ministers and assistant ministers, you mentioned that you needed four more votes on the floor. What can we expect regarding constitutional reforms in the future, and how will this change benefit us?
PM Rabuka: As far as the vote on the floor is concerned, I’m relying on the responsible leadership, feelings and characters of those that are already in Parliament, in the Opposition, we have at the moment – used to be the G16, whether we they still have one group of 16, or whatever the grouping now are. As far as I’m concerned that group is still on the opposition benches, not declaring themselves to be independent and in favour of government. I believe we have enough votes, and we can only see say at the end of the discussion or debate on the amendment to the various provisions of the Constitution. First of all, the Bill to amend the Constitution, which will need 75 per cent vote, which means we need four more votes from the original 28 that we had, 29 that we had, plus the nine we still fall short. I believe we can get the four when you rely on the sense of patriotism in the those that are left to come towards the directly favouring the prime minister in his leadership.
CW: The three goals that you hope to achieve when considering what your next steps will be in terms of your political career; the truth and reconciliation Commission, the region of peace and the constitutional review. Amendments to the Constitution. A letter by Anthony Sahai of Levuka Ovalau Arming the Police calls for arming the police in the fight against drugs and set into motion covert Ops with the RFMF to hunt down drug lords. The concern here is we’re going outside in terms of the work that you do externally and promoting a region of peace, in the event that we may have to have soldiers on our streets to assist the police with the work to ending the drug trade, what are the risks and benefits and how would you mitigate the optics around this?
PM Rabuka: I think there is a very wrong impression that once you talk military, you’re talking arms, we’re talking numbers, really more than arms, because the police manpower is limited, and if we have to increase their presence on the streets and in the execution of their duties of prevention and monitoring, we’ll have numbers, but not necessarily armed. We do not take arms when there are no armed elements in the criminal element involved in what we are trying to fight. So, we must, we have to respond accordingly, in the same scale.
PM Rabuka: I’m looking at if we have to invoke the powers of the various laws and constitution to deploy the military personnel, it’ll mostly be, it will all be personnel and transportation means to assist and boost the police presence, or policing presence in on the streets. At the same time, we have to beef up our surveillance capabilities at the ports of entry, airports and seaports, as well as find out from our international friends what we found last year, whether all those came through an airport or all of it came through the seaport, and whether they came all at once or in drips and drabs.
PM Rabuka: As I mentioned to the people at the International Customs Day function, I jokingly referred to the old song, Who let the dogs out – and I asked them, who let the drugs in? So, it is a question that we as legislators, as the executive will have to try and find out. We cannot really say much because the investigations are still ongoing. Perhaps the investigations are trying to identify personnel or individuals. What I’m interested in is the method of infiltrating our security arrangements at the borders, and perhaps also safeguard the exfiltration routes that they could have used if they were not found out – where was that destined for? For example, a big (drug) haul was made in Spain recently and alleged to be labelled Fiji, that they were on their way to Fiji. It was on its way to Fiji. What if they had not found them there? Would they have exfiltrated the borders of that country and tried to infiltrate ours? These are the things that are pretty high-level strategic thinking and planning that our police and our military planners will have to be talking about. And I, as Minister for Foreign Affairs, will be liaising very closely with our development partners on how we can intercept this before they even get into Fiji territorial waters.
