Opposition Member of Parliament Jone Usamate has accused the Government of mismanaging the country’s economy, saying ordinary families are paying the price through rising food costs and declining public services.
Mr Usamate said governance requires “clinical precision,” but claimed the current administration has failed to address what he described as the root causes of economic drift.
“The law is a straight line and governance is about clinical precision. Instead of that we see a Government that lacks the gumption to address the root causes of this economic drift,” he said.
He criticised what he described as policy “flip flops” and questioned the state of infrastructure and service delivery.
“Having dry taps and broken roads in 2026 while food prices skyrocket is proof that this administration is more interested in political survival than in actual service delivery,” Mr Usamate stated.
The Opposition MP said his focus remains on reforming what he called the “machinery of the state” through technical discipline and structural changes.
“We do not need more history lessons or excuses about the past. We need a forward-looking solution,” he said.
Mr Usamate proposed restructuring VAT on essential goods and introducing targeted price stabilisation measures to ease pressure on households.
“We will restructure VAT on essential goods so families can breathe again and we will pair it with targeted price stabilisation measures that protect the kitchen table, not the bureaucracy.”
He concluded by saying Fiji’s challenges are reversible.
“Fiji is not broken but it has been mismanaged and that mismanagement is reversible. We need leadership that understands that every cent taken from a family grocery bag is a failure of governance.”
