COMMUNAL voting is the way forward for Rotuma.
This is the view of Oinafa resident Filipe Makrava, who told the Fiji Law Reform Commission that the current one-vote system failed to truly represent the voice and aspirations of the island’s people.
“The one vote system may be good, but for us here in Rotuma, we aspire for a person that we think will take Rotuma forward,” Mr Makrava said during his submission to the Electoral Law Review consultation.
Under the current electoral system, candidates from Rotuma often depend on party performance at the national level. But Mr Makrava said this means if the candidate’s party loses, so does Rotuma.
“All our aspirations for something better wait for the next five years.
“Whether we like it or not, the person that we voted [for] doesn’t hold any relevant position in parliament, and therefore our voices are not really heard.”
Mr Makrava also criticised the ineffectiveness of ministerial visits and government workshops on the island, claiming many initiatives fail to produce long-term outcomes.
“When you have people come to conduct workshops in Rotuma, please come back and follow up what you came here to do.
“It is not come and talk and let people laugh and go back. Because basically, it’s just wasting government money.”
He pointed to a recurring pattern where government teams arrive, host discussions, and leave, with no accountability or return visits.
“So where does it leave us?”
He said the answer lies in giving Rotuma a dedicated parliamentary seat under a communal system — representation by Rotumans, for Rotuma.
