In a fiery rebuttal in Parliament, Minister for Lands and Mineral Resources Filimoni Vosarogo accused Opposition MP Jone Usamate of hypocrisy, defending the Coalition Government’s record while exposing what he described as systematic institutional interference under the former FijiFirst administration.
Mr Vosarogo slammed Mr Usamate’s critique of Cabinet size and civil service appointments as “dead wrong” and pointed to a trail of politically motivated sackings under FijiFirst – citing the controversial dismissal of the Bureau of Statistics CEO, the unconstitutional suspension of the Solicitor-General, and interference in judicial rulings. In contrast, he argued, the current government has respected due process in public service appointments.
“The Hon Usamate is dead wrong,” he said.
“Wrong about trying to pontificate a holier-than-thou approach to what is otherwise quite a very interesting topic to have discourse about.”
He criticised what he described as the former FijiFirst government’s systematic interference in public institutions.
“Let me remind the Hon Usamate of the deeds of the FijiFirst government. Interfering in institutions, reducing their effectiveness, forget about maintaining it.”
Mr Vosarogo referenced the 2021 dismissal of Bureau of Statistics CEO Kemueli Naiqama, claiming the move followed government dissatisfaction with his poverty data.
Citing a Radio New Zealand interview with Human Rights Coalition of Fiji’s Nalini Singh who said of Mr Naiqama’s sacking at the time: “It does signal a dictatorial move by the government”.
He also pointed to the “unceremonious” suspension of former Solicitor-General Sharvada Sharma after a failed court case, which the courts later ruled unconstitutional, awarding $3million in damages.
Mr Vosarogo listed a string of other politically-motivated sackings, including prosecutors at the DPP’s office, Fiji TV executives Tevita Gonelevu and Tanya Waqanika, and judicial officers.
He cited interference in judicial decisions, including the 10pm firing of Magistrate Mary Muir and the transfer of Magistrate Boseiwaqa after acquitting the Prime Minister now.
“All permanent secretaries post-election retained their jobs. From my understanding, some were advertised because their contracts were coming to an end. Some were moved to other ministries, as PSC had determined. This is very different… from the treatment… in 2007, when they were all hauled into Government Training Centre at Nasese and told, ‘you are fired’.
“I thank the Hon Usamate for always preaching… about hypocrisy. Today… it is proved beyond all reasonable doubt,” Mr Vosarogo said.
