Fiji opposition party's leadership under scrutiny

Transcript

An MP with Fiji's opposition SODELPA party says he is among several MPs in the party who have lost confidence in its leader.

Mosese Bulitavu earlier threatened to resign over the use of government-allocated funding for the party.

But he told Sally Round he is now confident the Party's management will conduct a fair investigation into his complaint.

MOSESE BULITAVU: Yes the money was only used to pay the salary of the opposition office staff but we were not consulted on how it was supposed to be used. If we had been consulted a more linear structure would have been followed so the money could have been divided between the opposition office and our individual constituency office from the respective provinces that we come from to make our work more effective and easy at the provincial level.

SALLY ROUND:  Are you saying you don't have enough money to run the affairs in your area?

MB: Nothing from that grant that was given to government has ever been received by us. We have been operating from our own fundraising and our own individual money that we have to do our visits and also to do our work their with the people in organising petitions and other things that people would like to bring to parliament.

SR: I understand there are others in the party who are with you on this?

MB: Of course, yes, yes there are others, members of parliament who have been bold enough to sign a document to complain. There are others who did not want to sign but they support but there is a group. There is the understanding that the whole thing is wrong.

SR: And how many people, how many within the party are unsatisfied with this?

MB: There are many people unsatisfied because it comes down to leadership, how this could have been resolved. It was a matter that a leader could have solved earlier if she had consulted members of the caucus. And also when the problem came up at the first place how it could have been slowly settled down. But the inability of the leader to settle the issue has now been escalated to a level that now the party will have to decide.

SR: Are you saying that there are more than just yourself who have lost confidence in the leader of the party, Ro Teimumu Kepa?

MB: Most of us have lost confidence, and as a matter of fact it is not only because of her leadership its the advisors that she frequently seeks opinion from. We really question and if she could remove those advisors and even first listen to us we are his members of caucus and she is our leader.

SR: And who are the advisors - are they MPs?

MB: They are not MPs they are just administrative officers in the opposition office.

SR: Are you talking about Mick Beddoes?

MB: Yea probably Mick, there is Laufitu Malani, all those people. She is also paramount chief but the way some press statements are done doesn't like sound chiefly. Doesn't create division, kind motherly, always trying to unite people. It is full of hatred and all that.

SR: Ro Teimumu says you have stirred up a crisis for no reason in the party. What do you think of her comments?

MB: I think that is not her comment it is Mick Beddoes statement but he should leave it to the management board and why should he preempt the decision of the management board.