29 Dec 2015

Fiji opposition says PM is 'unbelievable'

7:26 am on 29 December 2015
Frank Bainimarama

Fiji Prime Minister, Frank Bainimarama Photo: Facebook

The Fiji opposition whip, Ratu Isoa Tikoca, says it's unbelievable that the Prime Minister thinks Fiji is not faced with any critical issues.

Ratu Isoa was responding to Frank Bainimarama's comments to the Fiji Times last week when he roundly rejected suggestions by the leader of the opposition National Federation Party to review the constitution or repeal decrees.

Referring to issues of the constitution, the prime minister said Professor Biman Prasad could jump in the deepest pool with the opposition leader Ro Teimumu Kepa.

Ratu Isoa says the Prime Minister must be the only national leader in the world to publicly state in a major local newspaper that his country does not have any critical issues.

He says Mr Bainimarama professes to champion the critical issue of climate change, but is yet to formulate policy for his own country, and he openly condones military and police brutality, while Fiji has more than 250 cases of human rights abuse in 2015.

Ratu Isoa says there is an alarming increase in suicides, increases in poverty, bad infrastructure, a lack of jobs for young people, the high cost of living and low wages, widespread confusion about education policies, the continuing failures of agriculture and abuse of public funds.