FijiFirst Leader Voreqe Bainimarama announces his resignation from Parliament with immediate effect today on the party’s Facebook page. Image extracted from FijiFirst Facebook Page.
Report by WANSOLWARA STAFF
FijiFirst Leader and suspended Leader of the Opposition Voreqe Bainimarama has resigned from Parliament with immediate effect.
The announcement came off the back of his three-year suspension from Parliament only two weeks ago for breaching parliamentary privilege, a move he says was ‘unwarranted’ and ‘unjustified’.
In a statement, Mr Bainimarama said FijiFirst would nominate Inia Seruiratu in the next seating of Parliament to the Leader of Opposition.
“My work as Leader, with the general secretary, will be to guide our Parliamentary caucus so they can continue to fight inside Parliament while we will engage more actively outside Parliament with our FijiFirst supporters,” he said.
“You will be seeing more of me on the ground.”
Mr Bainimarama claimed that there was a growing number of unsatisfied Fijians who were now questioning their decision to vote for parties that seem to be not delivering on their promises.
He took several shots at the current government’s leadership, claiming that since December 24, 2022, the Government was not service driven or subscribed to the ‘modern ways of running a government in the 21st Century’.
“I am personally very concerned about the increase in the casual reference to racism, bigotry and statements of discrimination on social media,” he said.
“I believe that if not stopped, such behaviour could lead to a disenfranchised society.”
From FijiFirst’s perspective, Mr Bainimarama said it was important to maintain their 26 seats in Parliament to keep the Government in check and from ‘running roughshod over our Constitution’.
