Voreqe Bainimarama
Suva— “Every budget is an election budget,” Fijian Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama said, as he defended the FijiFirst government’s 2017/2018 budget as “not just imaginative” but also “brilliant.”
Speaking during the 2017/2018 national budget debate, Bainimarama said FijiFirst would be ready to govern after the next election to ensure that they continue with their vision for the country. Bainimarama said the ruling party is not fixated on short term political gain. “Our political opponents are saying this is an election budget. But Madam Speaker, every budget is an election budget. Because, Madam Speaker, we govern at the behest of the Fijian people. And we are in the business of being re-elected to continue the transformation of our beloved nation to take its rightful place in the world. Everyone knows Fiji required true transformation and this transformation must continue.” Bainarama said the Fijians’ living standards “are better than those of their forbears. And they want this transformation to continue so they can be sure that the living standards of their children and grandchildren will be better than theirs. This is not on the back of one budget but successive budgets over the past decade. Each of them building blocks that we are putting in place year by year to achieve our vision of eventually becoming a fully-fledged modern nation state.”
Bainimarama also said he will go into the next election with the Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum by his side and 49 other candidates.
“When the Fijian people put their trust in us again in 2018 it will be because each year, the budget has built on the achievements of the last. And they can look back over the past decade and see that the government’s reforms have made a real difference to their lives, the lives of their families and the life of our nation,” Bainimarama said. Meanwhile, Fiji’s shadow Minister for Economy Aseri Radrodro called the 2017/2018 budget a concoction of goodies that would be timelier at Christmas. Around the PacificNational budget in the heart of Fiji politicsSuva— “Every budget is an election budget,” Fijian Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama said, as he defended the FijiFirst government’s 2017/2018 budget as “not just imaginative” but also “brilliant.” Speaking during the 2017/2018 national budget debate,
Bainimarama said FijiFirst would be ready to govern after the next election to ensure that they continue with their vision for the country. Bainimarama said the ruling party is not fixated on short term political gain. “Our political opponents are saying this is an election budget.
But Madam Speaker, every budget is an election budget. Because, Madam Speaker, we govern at the behest of the Fijian people. And we are in the business of being re-elected to continue the transformation of our beloved nation to take its rightful place in the world. Everyone knows Fiji required true transformation and this transformation must continue.”
Bainarama said the Fijians’ living standards “are better than those of their forbears. And they want this transformation to continue so they can be sure that the living standards of their children and grandchildren will be better than theirs. This is not on the back of one budget but successive budgets over the past decade. Each of them building blocks that we are putting in place year by year to achieve our vision of eventually becoming a fully-fledged modern nation state.”
Bainimarama also said he will go into the next election with the Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum by his side and 49 other candidates. “When the Fijian people put their trust in us again in 2018 it will be because each year, the budget has built on the achievements of the last. And they can look back over the past decade and see that the government’s reforms have made a real difference to their lives, the lives of their families and the life of our nation,” Bainimarama said.
Meanwhile, Fiji’s shadow Minister for Economy Aseri Radrodro called the 2017/2018 budget "a concoction of goodies that would be timelier at Christmas."