Opposition MP Jone Usamate has accused the Coalition Government of losing sight of the everyday struggles facing ordinary Fijians, arguing that political and constitutional issues have taken precedence over the rising cost of living.
In a statement titled “A Government That Has Lost Its Priorities,” Usamate said families across the country continue to grapple with increasing household expenses while the Government remains focused on constitutional and legislative reform.
“The people of Fiji have been forgotten, and it is flabbergasting to witness a government that has lost its way,” Usamate said.
“While families across this nation struggle to put food on the table and manage the mounting cost of living, this government remains disconnected from the very people it was elected to serve.”
Usamate said the Government’s priorities have shifted away from the bread-and-butter issues affecting households.
“We are witnessing a fundamental misalignment of priorities, where the focus has shifted away from the bread-and-butter issues of our households and toward a narrow agenda of constitutional and legislative restructuring that provides no relief to our citizens,” he said.
The Opposition MP pointed to the increase in Value Added Tax from 9 percent to 15 percent in August 2023 as evidence that the Government had failed to deliver on promises of relief made during the 2022 election campaign.
“This administration promised relief during the 2022 campaign, yet one of its first acts was to increase the Value Added Tax from 9% to 15% in August 2023,” Usamate said.
“Although the rate was later adjusted to 12.5% in August 2025, the initial burden placed on families remains a testament to misplaced priorities.”
Usamate argued that despite enjoying a parliamentary majority, the Government has failed to focus on delivering meaningful economic reforms.
“This administration possesses the parliamentary numbers to deliver real, tangible change, yet it continues to expend its energy on internal political maneuvering,” he said.
“Even after the dissolution of FijiFirst in July 2024, which left its 26 former members to sit as independents, the government maintained a comfortable majority but still failed to pivot toward the needs of the people.”
He also questioned the Government’s emphasis on tertiary education funding, saying it has not been matched by job creation.
“We see a government that celebrates the funding of tertiary education while ignoring the reality that graduates are left without employment, effectively flooding the market with skilled workers for whom no jobs have been created,” Usamate said.
According to the former minister, Fiji’s middle class is increasingly being squeezed by economic pressures.
“The middle class is being stifled—left to struggle in a system that focuses on micro-politics and elitism while neglecting the fiscal policies necessary for a thriving economy,” he said.
Usamate further accused the Government of prioritising political survival over the welfare of ordinary citizens.
“When a government chooses to prioritize its own survival and legal optics over the survival of the ordinary Fijian, it ceases to govern in the public interest,” he said.
“The needs of the many, which must be the bedrock of our national policy, have been sidelined to satisfy the interests of a select few.”
He said families and students should not have to bear the consequences of what he described as political theatre.
“We refuse to accept the continued sacrifice of the futures of our students and the stability of our families for the sake of political theatre,” Usamate said.
Questioning the Government’s focus, he asked why political processes appeared to receive greater attention than the economic challenges confronting households.
“Why is the political process considered more important than the cost of the weekly shopping for a family?
Why is the nation still waiting for the relief that was promised?” he asked.
