PRIME Minister Sitiveni Rabuka says the People’s Alliance Party (PAP) will target more than 50 per cent of the vote at the next general election, aiming to secure an outright parliamentary majority and govern without a coalition partner.
However, he acknowledged that the party would need to improve its electoral performance after falling short of the support needed to govern independently at the previous election.
“I’m hoping to get as many votes as possible,” he said.
“If that pushes over the 50 per cent mark, then we have the right to govern on our own.”
Asked whether he was confident of leading the PAP into the next election, Mr Rabuka said he remained confident of support within the party.
“I’m very confident with my own party support.”
However, he acknowledged that securing an outright majority would require a concerted effort from the party.
“We will have to work on that. We didn’t get the 50 per cent plus to form a government on our own.”
Mr Rabuka also confirmed that the party’s selection committee had given him the opportunity to indicate whether he wanted the 21 MPs currently aligned with him to contest the next general election.
He said he had expressed his preference for all of them to seek re-election.
“I said, yes, I like to see them all run.”
He clarified that the decision rested with individual MPs, who were free to decline nomination if they wished to step away from parliamentary politics.
